Affect among Distance Foreign Language Learners
Abstract
Learning English at a distance is so difficult that it requires a lot of independent engagements. Research particularly into distance foreign language learning appears scanty. This study attempted to examine the affective states of EFL distance learners as they were engaged in independent learning of English. Data was collected through a comprehensive questionnaire involving wide ranging items. The results have shown that the distance EFL learners were generally apprehensive and highly anxious as they were uncertain about how much they did well in the entire course of study. In order to regulate these affective states, distance leaners employed various strategies although how much these strategies helped them seemed quite unclear. The situations, which they said, exacerbated their worries included the inadequate language learning materials (modules), ill-equipped tutors, and the commitments they had with their family and work. In the light of these results, it is possible to conclude that regardless of the benefits the EFL distance learning scheme may bring to their lives, the distance learners still demand resources that can have far-reaching impacts on their learning so that their worries over the learning scheme can be regulated meaningfully.References
Abate Kassahun (1996). English Language Classroom Anxiety, Performance on Classroom Tasks and Tests: A Study on Civil Service College First Year Students. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Addis Ababa University.
Andrade, M. S., & Bunker, E. L. (2009). A model for self-regulated distance language learning. Distance Education, 30(1), pp. 47-61.
Arnold, J. & Brown, H.J. (1999). ‘A Map of the Terrain’, In Arnold (ed.), Affect in Language Learning: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bandura A. (1995). Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bekele Birhanie (2011). Promoting Self-Regulated Learning in Writing Classes: Effects on Self-Beliefs and Performances. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Addis Ababa University.
Bown, J. (2006) Locus of learning and affective strategy use: two factors affecting success in self-instructed language learning. Foreign Language Journal, 39(4), 640-59.
Dawit Amogne (2011). Self-efficacy, sources of self-efficacy and performance in the writing skills of private and government school students: a comparative study, Ethiopian Journal of Education, 31 (1), pp. 1-31
Hurd, S. (2007). Anxiety and non-anxiety in Distance Language Learning Environment: The Distance Factor as a Modifying Influence. System, 35 (4), pp. 487–508.
Hurd, S. & Xiao, J. (2010). Anxiety and Affective ControlAmong Distance Language Learners in China and the UK. RELC Journal,42 (2), pp. 183-200.
Hurd, S. & Xiao, J. (2006). Open and distance language learning at the Shantou Radio and TV University, China and the Open University, United Kingdom: a cross-cultural perspective. Open Learning, 21(3), pp. 205-219.
Kostina, M. (2013). Student autonomy and satisfaction in a web-based foreign language distance learning classroom. Distance Learning, 10 (1), pp. 31-38.
Mills, N., Pajares, F. & Herron, C., (2006). A reevaluation of the role of anxiety: self-efficacy, anxiety, and their relation to reading and listening proficiency. Foreign Language Annals, 39 (2), pp. 276-295.
Mulugeta Teka (1997). Motivation in Listening Classes. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Addis Ababa University.
Murphy, L. (2011). Autonomy and context: A tale of two learners. In D. Gardner (ed.), Fostering autonomy in language learning (pp. 17-26). Gaziantep, Turkey: Faculty of Education, Zirve University.
Oxford, R.L. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. New York: Newbury House.
Pajares, F., Johnson, M. J. & Usher (2007). Sources of Writing Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Elementary, Middle, &High School Students. Research in the Teaching of English, 42 (1), pp. 104-120.
White, C. (2014). The distance learning of foreign languages. Language Teaching. 47 (4), pp. 247–264.
White, C. (2011). Inside independent learning: Old and new perspectives. In B. Morrison (ed.). Independent language learning (pp. 14–23). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
White, C. (2003). Language Learning in Distance Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Xiao, J. & Hurd, S. (2007) Language learning strategies in distance English learning: a study of learners at Shantou Radio and Television University, China. The Journal of Asia TEFL. 4(2), pp. 141-164.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
