A Research Design of Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety in Chinese High School English Classrooms雷涵彧1.IntroductionSinceMacIntyreandGardner1991identifiedthatlearnersfeelingsandattitudestowardsstudycanaffecttheirlearningability，oneofthemostsignificantaffectivevariablesinthelearningprocesshasbeenprovedtobeanxiety.Meanwhile，researchershaveshowngreatinterestinanxietyinlanguagelearning，whichmanyofthembelieveisthemostpervasiveobstructiontothelanguagelearningprocess.Amongallthetopicsrelatedtoanxietyinlanguagelearning，foreignlanguageanxietyFLAhasattractedthemostattention.FLAisimportantandnecessaryforresearcherstoexploreasitisnotjustatheorystudiedinlaboratorybutalsoarealityformanystudentsLiu，2020;Tran，2020.ManyresearchersalsoindicatethatFLAisalwaysrelatedtospeakingactivitiesinclassandfunctionsasaninhibitorinforeignlanguelearningMak，2020.AlthoughthereisagrowingneedforproficientspokenEnglishinChina，theattentiononspeakinganxietyinChinesesecondaryschoolsisnotenough.2.LiteraturereviewSinceKrashens1982“affectivefilterhypothesispublished，anincreasingattentionhasbeengiventoaffectivefactorsinlanguagelearningprocess，amongwhichlanguageanxietyisviewedasapowerfulpredictorandoneofthemostimportantaffectivevariablesonlearnerslanguageperformance.Inthe1970s，generalanxietyincludedtwodimensions，thatis，stateanxietyandtraitanxiety.Theformerclaimsthatasubjectivefeelingoftensionorworryarousedbynervoussystem，andthelatteremphasisesastableindividualdifferenceinanxiety.Whileinthe1980s，Horwitzetal.1986pointedoutthatFLAisarousedinspecificsituationsandshouldberegardedassituation-specificanxiety.Itmostlyhappenswhenlearnersarerequiredtocompletealearningtaske.g.speakingbyusingaforeignlanguage.Besides，inordertoexploretherelationshipbetweenforeignlanguageanxietyandforeignlanguageachievementwithapropermeasurementmethod，theycreatedthewell-knownFLCASForeignLanguageClassroomAnxietyScale.Asfortheanxietythatlearnersexperiencewhenspeakingaforeignlanguageinclass，anumberofstudiesshareanagreementthatlearnerswillfeelanxiouswhenspeakingEnglishinfrontoftheclasssuchasmakingpresentationsandroleplay，andtheiroralperformanceishighlycorrelatedwiththedegreeofFLA.InChina，studentspaymoreattentiononrotelearningandteacherinstructionsMak，2020，reasonsoftheirspeakinganxietyshouldbedifferentfromstudentsinwesterncountriese.g.Americanstudentswithfocusonself-expression.IntheChinesecontext，Liu2020investigated24universitystudentsforonetermandfoundpossiblefactorsleadingtotheirspeakinganxietyandreticenceinoralEnglishclassroomssuchasChinesemodestculture，lowEnglishproficiency，pasteducationalexperience，lackofpractice，fearoflosingface，etc.Thegapofaforementionedstudiescanbesummarisedintwoaspects.OneisthatthoughFLAisacomplicatedphenomenontoinvestigate，fewstudiesinthisfieldhaveadoptedmixedmethods，andmostofthemmainlyemployedthedataofself-reportFLCAStomeasurethedegreeofFLA，whichmightnotbeenoughtoexplorethecomplexfactorscontributingtoFLAindifferentculturalbackgrounds.TheothergapisthatlittleresearchhasfocusedonEnglishspeakinganxietyamonghighschoollearnersinChina，especiallyindevelopingregions，althoughaccordingtoWangandDing2020，thelanguageanxietyindexofsecondarystudentsinChinesedevelopingareasandruralarease.g.SouthwestChinaactuallywasveryhigh.3.ResearchdesignInordertofillthegapmentionedabove，thecurrentstudyappliestheoryintoresearchdesignwithafocusonspeakinganxietyofhighschoolstudentsinSouthwestChinaasstudentsarethedirectstakeholdersinthelanguagelearningandteachingprocess.Besides，teachersandpolicymakersshouldalsobeawareofstudentsperceptionstodevelopstudent-centredlearningenvironments，byfindingoutfactorscontributingtotheanxietyaswellasstrategiesusedtotacklethisproblem.3.1Researchquestions3.1.1TowhatextentdohighschoolstudentsexperienceforeignlanguagespeakinganxietyinEnglishclassroomsinSouthwestChina？3.1.2WhatfactorsmightexplaintheexistenceofspeakinganxietyinEnglishclassrooms？3.1.3Whatcopingstrategiesdolearnersusetomanagetheirspeakinganxiety？3.2MethodologyBothquantitativeandqualitativeapproachesemployedinthisstudyandtheproblemsolvingprocessimpliespragmatismasthetheoreticalperspectivefortheresearch，whichalsofollowsa“sequentialexplanatorydesignRobson2020，p.165，thatis，thequalitativedataareusedtoelaborateonqualitativedatainordertofindoutthecomprehensiveunderstandingofthephenomena.3.2.1FLCASSincethe1980s，FLCAShasbeenwidelyusedinFLAanxietyandshowedconsistentfindingssothatitsreliabilityhasbeenprovedMak，2020.3.2.2ReflectivejournalsTogatheradditionalinformationaboutstudentspersonalvariablesthataffectlanguagelearningandcausespeakinganxiety，thechosenstudentsareaskedtowritereflectivejournalsweeklyforseveralsuccessiveweekswithafocusontheirparticipationinspeakingactivities.Inadditiontotheitemsandtopicsadvised，theycanalsowriteaboutfeelingsrelatedtotheirlanguagelearningexperience.ConsideringtheirEnglishlevel，theyareallowedtowritethejournalsinChinese.3.2.3Semi-structuredInterviewsToobtaincomprehensiveviewofstudentstechniquesthattheyusetocopewit