The Study on English Reading Anxiety of Chinese College Undergraduates Based on the Broaden-and-Build Theory

Abstract

Among many factors that affect students' English reading performance, reading anxiety, which is an important emotional factor in English learning, has gradually attracted attention in recent years. There is enough evidence that anxiety, as a kind of negative emotion, can significantly affect students' reading performance. However, the current researches mainly focus on the differences in students' reading performance caused by anxiety. Relatively few studies have been carried out on the correlation between reading anxiety, anxiety causes and coping strategies. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the causes and coping strategies of English reading anxiety based on quantitative and qualitative research. The research refers to Saito's Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale to design a questionnaire and measure the degree of Chinese college students' English reading anxiety. Based on the broaden-and-build theory and combined with the interview results, it is concluded that Chinese college undergraduates have English reading anxiety in general. Nevertheless, by establishing pleasant reading resources and adopting effective coping strategies, learners can reduce English reading anxiety, thus improving reading ability and enhancing reading interest.