Comparative Study of Stress and Anxiety in Learning of Foreign Languages (Arabic and English) at Elementary School Level in Punjab

Abstract

This comparative study focused on status of language stress and anxiety among the foreign languages (Arabic and English) at elementary school level. The major objective of the study included extent of language stress and anxiety among both language learners. Survey method was used to collect the related data for current study. The required information was collected from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) with five point likert scale. For this purpose, a questionnaire was personally administered to 320 students enrolled in various schools of district Bahawalpur. For this purpose, 32 schools from 04 tehsils were selected randomly and from each tehsil, 08 schools (04 from public sector and 04 from private sector) were included. Data revealed that students were moderately satisfied with teaching of Arabic and English at their respective schools. As compared to female, male gave more favorable opinions about teaching effectiveness of both languages. Overall, students involved with high level of stress and anxiety while studying Arabic language but in case of English language learning it remained moderate level. There was no significant difference in opinions of teachers about effectiveness of teaching languages. It is also suggested that further studies in the field should be extended to Punjab province as well as throughout other provinces too.