The geographical locations of foreign language French learners are as diverse as their needs. Consequently, teaching material in any French foreign language classroom should be revised on a regular basis. In 2012, a newly developed Creative Expression programme, which consists of a combination of African francophone music and creative writing activities, was presented to the second-year students at the French Department of the University of Pretoria, South Africa. The objective was to explore the potential of combining the use of music and creative writing in the hope that the new programme would enrich the current second-year course. Factors that contributed to the development and organisation of the programme included: the progression in the international context with regard to the French language, accentuating the importance of francophone Africa with regard to the expansion and preservation of French; the widely recognised teaching approach in foreign language French teaching (FLE), being the Approche actionnelle; reevaluating the use of song and creative writing activities in the FLE classroom and lastly, the departmental needs at the University of Pretoria. In this study, the researcher explains in detail how the Creative Expression programme was designed and also how a group of research participants experienced the classes. The following data sources and artefacts were collected: student interviews, journals and creative pieces of writing, the lecturer’s teaching diary and the teaching material of the programme. Qualitative methodologies were followed to analyse the artefacts and uncover themes that represent students’ experience of the programme. Student suggestions with regard to the programme were also incorporated in the analysis. The findings of this study demonstrate that students experienced the Creative Expression programme as contributing to the following: social interaction; the imaginative use of the French language; the development of four principal language skills (speaking, reading, listening, writing); a heightened francophone cultural awareness and a better understanding of the content of their Grammar and Cultural Texts classes. The music also lowered the students’ anxiety levels, which made them more receptive to engage in the creative writing activities. This, in turn, developed their creative expressive capacities. It is concluded that it is in fact the combination of music and creative writing in FLE that brings forth and bridges the following two notions: “Creating a non-threatening environment” and “Learning to express affect”, which are two very topical areas in FLE pedagogy. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Modern European Languages / MA / Unrestricted

Gibbons (2015) writes that speaking is considered as the most important skill in language learning. However, Lundahl (2014) states that there are some pupils, in year 4-6, in Sweden who do not speak during the English lessons. Thus, the aim of this study is to find out what the reasons behind EFL pupils' unwillingness to speak English are. Furthermore, teaching strategies to overcome pupils' speaking anxiety are investigated. There are many studies that investigate the underlying reasons. The data collection, for this thesis, consists of interviews with some student-teachers at Malmö University. The results showed that traditional teaching methods along with fear of making linguistic errors are two of the main reasons. In addition, negative evaluation from peers and fear of producing grammatically incorrect sentences are also factors that contribute to some pupils’ anxiety over speaking English. According to our interviewees, the implementation of a safe, supportive and communicative environment in the classroom is crucial for encouraging and motivating pupils in language learning. Providing different authentic communicative tasks, songs, stories, and games that are related to pupils' lives and interests, as well as their needs and knowledge levels, are some of the strategies employed by some teachers.

Language anxiety (LA) is “the worry and negative emotional reaction when learning and using a second language and is especially relevant in a classroom where self-expression takes place” (Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014, p. 14). In the present study, particular attention is drawn to the development of students’ communicative competence and speaking proficiency in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms. The prevalence and effects of foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA) were examined among Swedish EFL lower secondary school students, reporting the triggers of foreign language anxiety (FLA) and FLSA from the perspective of pupils and teachers. A mixed-methods approach was applied to collect data from pupils (N=273) where a self-report questionnaire, a modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) operationalised originally by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) is administered, plus open-ended semi-structured interviews with open-ended and closed questions were conducted with pupils (N=67) and teachers (N=5). The participants were grouped into three categories: low, medium and high anxiety, based on their scores. The results showed that 26% of the participants were assigned as low anxious learners; 59% of the students experienced medium levels of FLSA and 15% of the pupils were highly anxious language learners. Interviews with pupils and teachers explored the effects and the sources of the FLA and FLSA on pupils’ oral and general English language proficiency (fear of negative evaluation (FNE), affective variables, grades, teachers, classmates, pronunciation, and classroom atmosphere), noting that some pupils reported that monologic genres such as long episodes of speaking, evaluation situations and giving an oral presentation present the most anxiety-provoking contexts in EFL lessons.

The use of learners' first language when teaching English as a second language (ESL) is a topic which has been debated in the field of language learning. Few studies have, however, focused on the learners’ perspectives regarding a monolingual pedagogical approach in language teaching. This research review aims to uncover how Swedish middle school pupils view the use of Swedish during English classes and how a monolingual teaching approach affects learners’ foreign language anxiety (FLA). Our aim is to answer the following: 1) How do pupils view the use of their first language in the teaching of English? 2) How does a monolingual teaching approach relate to the pupils’ experiences of foreign language anxiety? Through a systematic search for and review of the current research in the field, we found strong support among the pupils for the use of the first language during English classes, where they see it as a facilitator for understanding the language. A link between a monolingual teaching approach and the learners FLA was also found, where difficulties regarding understanding the teacher is a source for anxiety. The lack of studies regarding the experiences of Swedish middle school pupils questions the certainty of our findings and implicates a need for further research. Didactical implications of our results concern the need for teachers to be aware of the pedagogical and affective effects of first language use. / I vilken utsträckning elevernas förstaspråk ska användas i undervisning av engelska har diskuterats inom forskningsfältet för språkinlärning. Förespråkare för dess användning menar på att det blir en givande ingång till elevernas språkutveckling medan kritiker menar att det snarare blir ett hinder för att utveckla en fördjupad förståelse. Trots det finns det få studier som är inriktade på elevernas inställning till en enspråkig engelskundervisning, framför allt i en svensk kontext. Med denna kunskapsöversikt ämnar vi skapa en övergripande bild av den aktuella forskningen om hur elever betraktar användningen av deras förstaspråk i engelskundervisningen samt i vilken grad en enspråkig engelskundervisning relaterar till deras foreign language anxiety (FLA). Konkretiserat syftar vi med vår kunskapsöversikt svara på följande frågor: 1) Hur uppfattar elever en engelskundervisning som inkluderar deras förstaspråk? 2) Hur relaterar en enspråkig undervisning i engelska till elevernas upplevda foreign language anxiety? För att svara på våra frågeställningar har vi på ett systematiskt sätt sökt fram, analyserat och diskuterat aktuell forskning om undervisning i engelska som andraspråk. Vårt resultat visar att elever är övervägande positivt inställda till att deras förstaspråk används i engelskundervisningen samt att det finns en koppling mellan en enspråkig undervisning i och på engelska och elevernas FLA. Fåtalet studier utförda i en svensk kontext pekar emellertid på frågan i vilken grad det går att dra en definitiv slutsats om FLA i en svensk kontext och visar på ett behov av fler studier. Didaktiska implikationer av resultatet kretsar kring behovet för lärare att bli medvetna om hur elever ställer sig till och blir påverkade av en enspråkig engelskundervisning.

Det engelska språket har genom åren börjat undervisas i allt yngre åldrar i Sverige där muntlig produktion utgör en stor del av undervisningen. För många elever är detta kul och spännande men för vissa elever uppstår talängslan. Talängslan avser att känna oro och obehag inför att tala. Den här studien har genomförts utifrån intresset att undersöka vad elever har för attityder till den muntliga kommunikationen i engelskundervisningen samt vad lärare har för uppfattningar om talängslan och hur de arbetar för att främja muntlig produktion i ämnet. Studien är genomförd utifrån både elev- och lärarperspektiv genom metodkombination där enkäter och semistrukturerade intervjuer använts. All insamlad empiri har koncentrerats, kategoriserats och tolkats utifrån en induktiv ansats samt teorin WTC och det sociokulturella perspektivet. Informanterna i denna studie var 38 elever i årskurserna 2 och 3 samt tre lärare med behörighet att undervisa engelska i årskurserna 1–3. Resultatet visar att elever i årskurserna 2 och 3 till stor del har en positiv inställning till den muntliga produktionen i engelskämnet. Sammantaget visar resultatet från både elevenkäter och lärarintervjuer att talängslan förekommer, om än i liten grad. Resultatet visar även att elevernas trygghet ligger till grund för elevernas vilja att kommunicera på engelska, där varierade arbetssätt, mindre grupper och elevernas intressen förespråkas. / Over the years, the English language has started to be taught at younger ages in Sweden where oral production forms a large part of the education. For many pupils this is fun and exciting, but for some pupils language anxiety can occur. Language anxiety refers to feeling anxiety and discomfort towards speaking. This study has been carried out based on the interest to investigate pupils' attitudes towards oral communication in English education, and teachers' perceptions of language anxiety and how they work to promote oral production in the English language class. The study is carried out from both pupils and teacher perspectives through a combination of methods where questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used. All collected data has been compiled, categorized, and interpreted based on an inductive approach as well as the WTC theory and the socio-cultural perspective. The informants in this study were 38 pupils in grades 2 and 3, and three teachers with authorization to teach English in grades 1–3. The results show that pupils in grades 2 and 3 mainly have a positive attitude towards oral production in the English subject. Overall, the results from both pupils’ questionnaires and teacher interviews show that language anxiety occurs, albeit to a small degree. The results also show that the pupils' sense of safety is the basis for the pupils' willingness to communicate in English, where varied working methods, smaller groups and the pupils' interests are advocated. / <p>Engelska</p>

A monolingual target language (TL) teaching norm has been promoted in second language learning over recent decades. Despite this, international studies indicate substantial variation in how and why teachers use the TL. This study investigates the extent of TL use during English lessons in Swedish classrooms in primary school, and how the choice of language correlates with teachers’ beliefs regarding second language learning (SLL) and the inclusion of the first language (L1). This study discusses the teachers’ didactic considerations and implementations of languages during their English lessons, and the teachers’ view on how the students are affected by the use of the TL in the classroom. Semi-structured interviews are carried out with three certified primary school English teachers. The interview data from this study show that the teachers’ main perception of TL use is that it should be used as much as possible. However, they all occasionally include the use of L1 in order to aid comprehension and prevent students’ anxiety. All three teachers emphasized the importance of a safe learning environment, especially when learning a new language. Even though the teachers agreed that the knowledge criterias for the subject of English in primary school do not place high demands on the students’ abilities in English, they as teachers place higher demands. The reason being that Swedish students’ level of English is higher than ever before and in turn teachers’ expectations are higher.

Anyone who has been learning a new language knows the feeling of anxiety when facedwith the task to use it in the classroom and in real life. Foreign Language Anxiety isconcept developed by Horwitz et al. (1986) to describe and measure this specific form ofanxiety. In this study, the anxiety levels of a class of Chinese senior middle schoolstudents taking an English class have been measured. The levels were measuredaccording to the Foreign Language Anxiety Scale, developed by Horwitz et al. (1986). 59informants participated in the study. The data were analysed to find which factors invokethe most anxiety. To gather qualitative data and gain further insight, two sets of groupinterviews were performed. The results show that a majority of the students suffer fromanxiety in class. Teacher-generated anxiety seems to be the most provoking factoraccording to the analysis. / Alla som har studerat ett främmande språk känner igen den ängslan man upplever närspråket ska användas i klassrummet eller i en autentisk situation. Språkängslan införfrämmande språk är ett begrepp som utvecklats av Horwitz et al. (1986) för att beskrivaoch mäta den här specifika formen av ängslan. I den här studien har nivån av ängslan ien kinesisk högstadieklass som studerar engelska mätts. Nivån har mätts i enlighet medskalan för språkängslan i samband med undervisning i främmande språk (författarensöversättning) utvecklad av Horwitz et al. (1986). 59 informanter deltog i studien. Datananalyserades för att se vilka faktorer som framkallar mest ängslan. För att samlakvalitativ data och få djupare insyn genomfördes också två gruppintervjuer. Resultatetvisar att en majoritet av studenterna lider av ängslan i klassrummet. Lärargenereradängslan är den mest bidragande faktorn enligt analysen.

The Swedish curriculum is and has been evolving for as long as it has existed. Since 1994 the communicative proficiency has been one of the most central aspects of the English subject in Swedish elementary school. However, an ever-evolving issue is the increasing Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) among pupils. This causes difficulties in the development of communicative proficiency. This literary review aims to find aspects of the educational situation which can be altered to decrease pupils FLA and FLCA. This paper has a basis of five articles and one thesis which have been reviewed and analyzed. The results show several aspects which can have an impact on pupils FLA and FLCA. One of which being that students are less anxious when they feel that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process. Another aspect that can decrease pupils' FLA or FLCA is when they can experience their proficiency evolving. For this development to occur the amount of time spent learning the subject is central. The conclusion of this paper brings forward several both social and organizational factors that can be altered in favor of the pupils feeling less FLA and FLCA. / Kursplanen i engelska har under de senaste 40 åren fokuserat mer ochmer på den kommunikativa förmågan. Samtidigt har elevers ängslankring att kommunicera på engelska ökat. Att elever upplever en ökadForeign Language Anxiety (FLA) och Foreign Language ClassroomAnxiety (FLCA) skapar ökade utmaningar för att i klassrummet kunnautveckla elevernas kommunikativa förmåga. Under dennalitteraturöversikt undersöks och problematiseras hur elevers FLApåverkas av tidig språkstart, men även hur man kan planeraundervisningen för att minska FLA in klassrummet. För att besvaradessa frågor har artiklar och avhandlingar sökts fram i flertaletdatabaser. Resultatet som framkommer är att elevers FLA och FLCAminskar då de inser att misstag är centrala för språkinlärningensamt att deras förmågor utvecklas med tiden. Det framkommer även attelever har en större språklig utveckling av att börja med engelska tidigt,dock är det inte fastställt att detta har med åldern på eleverna att göradå det även kan bero på fler undervisningstimmar. Sammanfattningsvisbeskrivs både sociala och organisatoriska aspekter avundervisningssituationen som är centrala att överväga för att påverkaelevers FLA och FLCA.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role that humanistic techniques play in reducing feelings of language anxiety associated with oral communication in the TESOL classroom. Students in the experimental group attended classes which incorporated humanistic techniques such as journal writing and group work and where the affective needs of the students were taken into account. Students in the control group were provided with the normal course content along more traditional lines and their affective needs were not taken into account. Language anxiety was measured by means of questionnaires, journals and interviews. The results revealed that general feelings of anxiety about oral communication decreased in the experimental group. The experimental group achieved higher scores in the final written examination although there was no significant difference in the oral examination results between the two groups. The drop-out rate in the experimental group was lower than that of the control group. / English Studies / M.A.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role that humanistic techniques play in reducing feelings of language anxiety associated with oral communication in the TESOL classroom. Students in the experimental group attended classes which incorporated humanistic techniques such as journal writing and group work and where the affective needs of the students were taken into account. Students in the control group were provided with the normal course content along more traditional lines and their affective needs were not taken into account. Language anxiety was measured by means of questionnaires, journals and interviews. The results revealed that general feelings of anxiety about oral communication decreased in the experimental group. The experimental group achieved higher scores in the final written examination although there was no significant difference in the oral examination results between the two groups. The drop-out rate in the experimental group was lower than that of the control group. / English Studies / M.A.