The Effects of Cooperative Learning on Foreign Language Anxiety: A Comparative Study of Taiwanese and American Universities

Abstract

This study investigated the level of foreign language anxiety in the classroom, plus the correlation between foreign language anxiety and cooperative learning attitudes and practice among university students at one university in the United States and three universities in Southern Taiwan. Two instruments (The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety scale by Horwitz et al., 1986 and the Style Analysis Survey by Oxford et al., 1999a) were employed along with ten questions designed by the author: five sought to establish student perceptions of their classrooms’ cooperative atmosphere and five concerned students’ predilection towards cooperative learning. No significant correlation was found between foreign language anxiety and cooperative learning at the United States University. Of the three Southern Taiwan colleges, results from only one school showed a significant correlation. This was the only school that had a Taiwanese teacher.