The Effect of Explicit Affective Strategy Training on Iranian EFL learners’ Oral Language Proficiency and Anxiety Reduction

Oct 15, 2026

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The study investigates how explicit teaching of affective strategies influences Iranian EFL learners’ oral language proficiency and the degree of anxiety experienced in EFL classrooms. A PET test was given to 120 female third-grade high school students, and 60 participants within +1 SD of the mean were selected. They were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received explicit instruction based on Oxford’s taxonomy, covering relaxation, music, visualization, humor, positive self-talk, risk-taking, and emotion monitoring, while the control group received no special instruction. Pre- and post oral tests and anxiety self-reports were analyzed, and independent-samples t-tests showed superior oral post-test performance and significantly higher anxiety control for the experimental group.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

1. Introduction

Language learning strategies and individual factors

Affective strategies and language learning anxiety

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 7 No. 4; August 2016 Australian International Academic Centre, Australia | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | Flourishing Creativity & Literacy | | | The Effect of Explicit Affective Strategy Training on Iranian EFL learners’Oral Language Proficiency and Anxiety Reduction Fatemeh Mostafavi Department of English, College of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran E-mail: [f_msv@yahoo.com](f_msv@yahoo.com) Fereidoon Vahdany Payame-Noor University, Tehran, Iran [E-mail: Frvahdany@gmail.com](E-mail: Frvahdany@gmail.com) Doi:10 .7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.4p.197 URL: [http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.4p.197](http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.4p.197) Received: 15/04/2016 Accepted: 26/06/2016 Abstract The current study aimed at investigating the possible effects of explicit teaching of affective strategies on Iranian EFL learners’ oral language proficiency and the extent of their anxiety in EFL classroom. First, PET test was administered to a total number of 120 female third grade high school EFL students. Then, 60 participants whose score fell within the range of + 1 SD from the mean score were selected for the main study. Next, they were randomly assigned into two groups (one control and one experimental) . The design of the study was Experimental comparison-group plan. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale adopted from Horwitz (1986) was used to examine the EFL learners’ anxiety level in English class. Moreover, two equivalent oral tests adopted from Heaton (1975) were administered to the participants of the two groups both at the beginning and at the end of the study served as pre and post-tests. The treatment for the experimental group included Oxford's (1990) taxonomy of affective strategies, which included explicit affective strategy instruction (in relaxation, music, visualization, humor, positive self-talk, risk-taking, and monitoring emotions) . The control group did not receive any special instruction in terms of affective strategies. To investigate the possible effects of explicit affective strategy use instruction on the participants’ oral language proficiency and their anxiety level, the pre and posttests of oral tests and the participants’ self-reports of anxiety control in both groups were analyzed and compared. The results of independent samples T-test indicated that while the two groups were homogeneous in terms of oral proficiency and level of anxiety control before introducing the treatment, the experimental group performed better than the control group in the oral post-test. Moreover, the level of anxiety control for the experimental group was significantly different and higher than that of the control group. The results confirm the positive effects of affective strategy instruction on oral language proficiency. The findings of this study provide a greater understanding of affective strategy use among Iranian EFL learners. This study might also have some implications for material developers to consider strategy use in materials development. Keywords: affective strategies, explicit strategy training, language anxiety 1. Introduction In the last three decades, the field of second/foreign language teaching and learning has focused mainly on learners’individual factors. O’Malley and Chamot (1990) draw attention to the differences between more productive learners and less effective learners and relate it to the number and range of strategies they use when learners learn a language. Recently, learning strategies have been worldwide issues in English language instruction. A survey of the previous studies on language learning and teaching reflects that researches have introduced different factors that may be related to the neurological , psychological, cognitive, and affective domains such as having an ability for language learning, learning

FAQs

What was the main purpose of this study?

To examine the possible effects of explicit teaching of affective strategies on Iranian EFL learners’ oral language proficiency and their anxiety level in EFL classrooms.

How were participants selected and assigned to groups?

After administering a PET test to 120 female students, 60 participants within +1 SD of the mean were selected and randomly assigned to control and experimental groups.

What instructional elements were included for the experimental group?

The experimental group received explicit affective strategy instruction based on Oxford’s taxonomy, including relaxation, music, visualization, humor, positive self-talk, risk-taking, and monitoring emotions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Terk