ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
Learning a foreign language has become a norm to most of the worlds’ population as the world becomes globalised and the need to become bilingual/multilingual becomes a fundamental aspect for international communication. Despite the need to learn foreign languages, it has however triggered fear or anxiety in learners. For some, fear can be a driving force towards success in language learning yet, for most learners, it tremendously affects their learning process. This study is conducted to explore the fear of foreign language learning based on the Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977) and framework of Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986). A quantitative survey was distributed through Google Form, to 202 students from seven different foreign language courses (German, Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Italian and French) at a public university in Malaysia. Findings revealed that learners developed fear and nervousness when they were unable to understand what the educators were saying or any words spoken by the educators in the target language. Moreover, learners compared their low language ability with their peers which indicates low self-esteem. They also felt nervous when having to answer questions that they did not prepare in advance. Lastly, learners feel worried about the consequences of failing in their foreign language class. This study suggests that a strong support system involving language educators play an important role to ensure that fear in foreign language learning could be avoided or improved.
Al-Shboul, M. M., Ahmad, I. S., Nordin, M. S., & Rahman, Z. A. (2013). Foreign Language
Anxiety and Achievement: Systematic Review. International Journal of English Linguistics, 3(2), 32-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v3n2p32
Awan, R.- un-N., Azher, M., Anwar, M. N., & Naz, A. (2010). An Investigation of Foreign
Language Classroom Anxiety and Its Relationship with Students Achievement. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 7(11), 33-40. https://doi.org/10.19030/tlc.v7i11.249
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Djafri, F., & Wimbarti, S. (2018). Measuring Foreign Language Anxiety among Learners of
Different Foreign Languages: In Relation to Motivation and Perception of Teacher’s Behaviours. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 3 (17). 1-15. DOI:10.1186/s40862-018-0058-y
Dörney, Z. (2005). The Psychology of the Language Learner: Individual differences in
Second Language Acquisition. Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope J. A. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 70, 125-132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1986.tb05256.x
Johnson, K. (2017) An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (3rd Ed.).
New York, NY: Routledge.
Kitano, K. (2001). Anxiety in the College Japanese Language Classroom. The Modern
Language Journal, 85, 549–566. DOI:10.1111/0026-7902.00125
Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition2. Oxford,
England: Pergamon Press.
http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/books/principles_and_practice.pdf
Krá?ová, Z. (2016). Foreign Language Anxiety. Slovakia: Constantine the Philosopher
University.
Mahmoodzadeh, M. (2013). Investigating Foreign Language Anxiety in Iranian Classrooms:
The Effect of Gender. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning. 2(1), 61-70.
https://www.academia.edu/7219900/Mahmoodzadeh_M_2013_Investigating_Foreign_La nguage_Anxiety_in_Iranian_Classrooms_The_Effect_of_Gender_International_Journal_of_Research_Studies_in_Language_Learning_2_1_61_70?pop_sutd=false
Manipuspika, Y. S. (2018). Correlation between Anxiety and Willingness to Communicate in
the Indonesian EFL Context. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 9(2), 200-217. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol9no2.14
Ministry of Education (MOE) (2015). Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025 (Higher
Education). Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/38153132/_Executive_Summary_PPPM_2015_2025_Higher_Education
Moeller, A. J., & Catalano, T. (2015). Foreign Language Teaching and Learning.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 327–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.92082-8
Oteir, I. N., & Al-Otaibi, A. N. (2019). Foreign Language Anxiety: A Systematic Review.
Arab World English Journal, 10 (3) 309-317.
https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol10no3.21
Phillips, E. M. (1992). The Effects of Language Anxiety on Students’ Oral Test Performance
and Attitudes. The Modern Language Journal, 76(1), 14-26.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1992.tb02573.x
Rahmat, N. H. (2019). Cycle of Fear in Learning: The Case for Three Language Skills.
American Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 4(1), 151–162.
https://doi.org/10.20448/801.41.151.162
Rahmat, N. H. (2020). Investigating the Cycle of Fear in Foreign Language Learning.
European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 5(1). Retrieved from https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejfl/article/view/3245
Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual or the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA:
Consulting Psychologists Press.
Tsiplakides, I., & Keramida, A. (2009). Helping Students Overcome Foreign Language
Speaking Anxiety in the English Classroom: Theoretical Issues and Practical Recommendations. International Education Studies, 2(4), 39-44.
DOI:10.5539/IES.V2N4P39
Weatherford, H. J. (1986). Personal Benefits from Foreign Language Study.
Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. ERIC Digest, ED276305.
Zhang, R., & Zhong, J. (2012). The Hindrance of Doubt: Causes of Language Anxiety.
International Journal of English Linguistics, 2(3).
http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v2n3p27
Zheng, Y. (2008). Anxiety and Second/Foreign Language Learning Revisited. Canadian
Journal for New Scholars in Education, 1(1), 1-12. Retrieved from
https://cdm.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cjnse/article/view/30393
In-Text Citation: (Fakhruddin et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Fakhruddin, S. S., Komarudin, N. E., Subramaniam, S. K., Alih, N. A. C., & Rahmat, N. H. (2022). Social Learning Theory in Language Learning: Exploring the Fear for Foreign Language Learning. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(5), 780 – 796.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non0-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode