Examining Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety of Saudi International Students Attending Colleges in the United States of America

Abstract

The purpose of this correlational study was to investigate the relationship between academic performance self-reported GPA, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety FLCA, and The International English Language Testing System IELTS scores among Saudi international students attending college in the United States, and to discover how this relationship would be varied by a host of demographic factors. The demographic variables included gender, age, college major, college classification, length of study in the US, type of high school, funding type, and marital status. The study utilized correlational methods, Pearson product-moment coefficient, and regression analysis, as analytical statistical tools to explore the newly collected data from Saudi international students in the United States (U.S.). A total of 551saudi international students, undergraduate, and graduate attending colleges in the U.S., participated in this study, which was conducted in October 2020 using an online survey. Students' anxiety levels were measured by the FLCAS. Students were also asked to complete a demographic information sheet. The findings indicated that there was no relationship between foreign language classroom anxiety and academic performance. The findings indicated that the FLCAS and the IELTS improved the prediction of academic performance over and above significant demographics variables; moreover, the results revealed that three significant variables primarily predicted academic performance. The results indicated that the academic performance increases for Saudi international students who earned their master's degree from English-speaking countries, and those whose majors are human studies and who have a low level of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. The result concluded that Saudi international students’ academic performance is dependent on various demographic and educational factors like academic major and college preparation such as language preparation. So, recognizing these factors can play an important and effective role in improving students’ academic achievement. The current study recommended to use effective educational practice; for instance, the staff and personnel could coordinate with Saudi international students clubs to raise awareness about the potential gains in taking an active part in university or course activities in different fields in order to moderate students’ foreign language anxiety and therefore improve their academic performance.