Research Question For the purpose of this study, the following question was addressed Anxiety
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trait and state anxiety theory. State anxiety refers to the type of anxiety that might occur repeatedly and regularly in different situations while trait anxiety refers to
type of anxiety that last permanently in individual and could not easily change by time. But there is a limited of that theory,
“the source of the reported response is not specified very clearly by the
respondent” Cheng, 2009. This theory is based on the assumption of the respondent.
Since state and trait anxiety could not answer all questions related to the study of FLA, Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope 1986 formed a concept of FLA
which they called as a “type of situation specific anxiety”. Situation specific
anxiety refers to the possibility to be anxious in a specific situation such as having a test, giving a speech, or using a foreign language. The levels of anxious could be
different depends on the context. The assumption of the respondents is apparently decreased so this theory is more varied comparing from the previous theory and
the centralisation of the areas seem to show persistent result MarcIntyre Gardner, 1991. Since this theory was introduced, more researchers have begun to
use this theory and showing the consistent results. Occhipinti
2009 in his study said that learning a foreign language is “a complex process, which implies the study of a new grammar, pronunciation,
memorization of n ew words; but first and foremost it tests the learners‟ ability in
terms of his flexibility to take risks and making mistakes in front of other people”. The factors that showing those processes are: linguistic factor such as grammar or
syntax and extra-linguistic factor such as socio-contextual Schuman, 1978. Therefore, it is believed that learning a foreign language might be a stressful
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activity for some learners Hewitt Stephenson, 2011, cited in Khodaday Khajavy, 2012.
Horwitz et al. 1986 concluded that FLA usually appears in listening and speaking activities, testing situations, over studying, certain beliefs and so on.
They also classify three types of foreign language anxiety: communication anxiety, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation.
Communication anxiety
is defined as “a type of shyness characterized by fear of or anxiety about
c ommunicating with people” Horwitz, et al., 1986; and
fear of negative evaluation
is defined as “apprehension about others‟ evaluative situations,
avoidance of evaluative situations, and the expectation that others would evaluate oneself negatively” Watson Friend, 1969, cited in Occhipinti, 2009. Test
anxiety is defined as “a type of performance anxiety stemming from a fear of
failure” Horwitz et al, 1986. It means that when someone feels others evaluated himher, this type of anxiety will occur.