The effect of social skills training on oral proficiency and foreign language anxiety in Chinese language

Abstract

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) impacts language learning and performance. At the same time, social interaction is an inevitable part of language learning, as emphasised in Vygotsky’s (1978) social learning theory. While the majority of the literature focuses on these two separate research trends, few researchers have considered the relationship among the following three variables: social competence, FLA, and language performance. In addition, there is a lack of studies examining FLA among young language minority children. Hence, this research explores the FLA of non-native Chinese speaking (NNCS) primary students in Hong Kong, and its relationship with their Chinese oral proficiency. It also aims to investigate the possible effect of their social competence on their Chinese oral proficiency and FLA by providing them with a social skills training programme.

The research comprised two studies. Study one validated the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale in the context of elementary schools in Hong Kong with 144 NNCS students. Two items of the original scale were removed after analysis of content validity and discussion by the expert panel in consideration of the ability of primary school students. Three factors were identified with exploratory factor analysis and were labelled “Fear of Negative Evaluation,” “Negative Attitudes toward the Chinese Class,” and “Low Self Confidence in Chinese.” The internal consistency of the revised scale was .908, similar to previous literature, while test-retest reliability was slightly lower (r = .789): a decreasing trend in the factor of “Fear of Negative Evaluation” by 4.55% and an increasing trend in the factor of “Low Self Confidence in Chinese” by 3.21%.

In study two, primary school grades two to four NNCS students were recruited from four schools and were divided into experimental (n = 30) and comparison (n = 20) groups. The experimental group received a 6-week multi-modal and integrated social skills training programme with emphasis on making friends and effective classroom learning. Social competence, Chinese oral proficiency, and FLA were measured at pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Correlations were found between FLA and oral proficiency measured in individual presentations, and in one-to-one communication. The racial composition of the school was found to affect the correlations. The programme was found to be effective in improving social competence and “language structure” in one-to-one communication. No impact was found on FLA. However, in-depth analyses dividing students by their FLA level and by the racial composition in the same grade revealed different areas of improvement in oral proficiency after the training.

This study confirms the relationship between FLA and oral proficiency in young language minority children. It also supports the use of social skills training in improving their oral proficiency. Pedagogically, this study provides evidence for the combination of social and educational perspectives to assist learning Chinese as a foreign language. A social skills programme package was developed and a scale of FLA was validated to benefit NNCS students in Chinese learning over time.