IP - FPCTL

INITIAL PROPOSAL (D1) FOR THE FINAL PROJECT

Postgraduate Diploma in
Teaching English as a Foreign Language

User code
PEFPMTFL1019904

1. Program:

​Teaching English as a Foreign Language

2. Personal and academic information:

Student Name: Group:

Danissa Quispe Cespedes 2016-02

Email address: Date:

danissaqcespedes@gmail.com 30 Jun
2017

3. Final Project Supervisor:

Dr. Majid Safadaran Mosazadeh

4. Title and topic of the Final Project:

Foreign Language Learners’ anxiety and its effects on Performance and learning
outcome among adult professionals in Lima, Peru.

5. Justification of academic and personal interest of the topic:

In the last decade, English has become one of the most important skills adults seek to
have by attending language schools, having private lessons or doing online programs.
Regardless their age, job, position, prior knowledge, experience and needs, they all know
that learning English will allow them to have better opportunities in their academic and
professional lives.

In Peru, 56 % English learners studied English in high school (British Council, 2015) ​while
 
 IP - FPCTL

universities require that 100% of them have an intermediate command of the language to
obtain a degree. This requirement forces university students to take English lessons
alongside their regular university courses for at least a year or two.

At work, employers also look for candidates who can be able to use English to obtain
information related to their jobs, share information with subsidiaries, report back to
headquarters, get in touch with potential clients or negotiate important deals. For that
reason, many professionals who are moving up in their career ladder or have already
achieved successful careers face a last challenge: to find the time into their tights
schedule to study English.

Additionally, many professionals seek an opportunity to expand their academic horizons

and study abroad. For it, they need to take an international exam to validate their
proficient command of the language as a requirement to obtain a scholarship and/or a
vacancy in a college or university. They also urge to learn the language within a deadline
and share their time with their multiple responsibilities.

Consequently, for many years, teachers have seen how many adult learners struggle with
studying a second language under school, family, time and/or work pressure. Some of
them have to even deal with previous unsuccessful attempts, dropouts and lack of
self-confidence or interest which accompanied by their urge to learn the language fast
could take them to an anxious state that some teachers do not know how to handle.

Unfortunately, not all teachers are prepared to identify the anxiety traits and offer support
and guidance to lessen learners’ fears and improve their chances to succeed in the
learning process. It is our job as teachers to prevent students from failing, getting
frustrated, losing interest, or even dropping school. It is highly important teachers are
aware of anxiety among adult learners and how it affects their performance and learning
outcome.

6. Type of Final Project:

• a) Action Research

7. Research question

● Do adult English language learners face anxiety? What kind?

● What characteristics do adult anxious students have?
● Does anxiety have an effect on their performance? What effects?
● Does anxiety have an effect on their learning outcome? What effects?

8. Aims of the study:

- Main aim of the Project:

● To identify how anxiety in adult foreign language learners in Lima, Peru affects
their performance in class and outcome.

- Specific aims:
 
 IP - FPCTL

● To define characteristics of anxious adult foreign language learners.

● To examine anxious and non-anxious adult foreign language learners and their
performance in the learning process.
● To assess how anxiety in adult language learners in Lima Peru affects their
performance in class.

9. Theoretical background:

The project “ How anxiety in adult foreign language learners in Lima, Peru affects their
performance and outcome” would cover:

- Anxiety in language learning.

- Anxiety and academic performance in adults.
- Anxiety and achievement in adults.

10. Context for the project and methodology:

In Lima, Peru there has been a major growth in the business industry. Many foreign
companies have settled subsidiaries in this country and require the use of English as
Lingua Franca in order to get hired, promoted or sent to trainings abroad.
Additionally, universities have also changed their requirements in order to graduate, so
now all students must obtain an acceptable score in an international English exam in order
to obtain a Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree.

The factors mentioned above along with pressure at work or school, family responsibilities
and tight schedules among others, help increase the level of anxiety which eventually
affects their performance and outcome.In order to find how, this project will use adult
English students in 25 - 50 age range who live in Lima and are currently working in
companies in a regular nine to six schedule. They are professionals who are studying to
obtain a specialization or their master’s or doctorate’s degree.

All of these students have studied English before in a school, language institute or with a
private teacher once or several times before. All of them need the language to grow
professionally and academically and are very motivated and eager to learn. Most of them
expect to finally learn the language with their current course. They do not want to drop the
course one more time and promise to do all what it takes to pursue their goal.

The methodology of this research will be descriptive using quantitative approaches.

In order to define anxious students’ characteristics we will observation, diaries, videos,
interviews and tests. A survey research design will be necessary due to the nature of this
action research project as well as content analysis.

10. Viability analysis

This project will be viable. The population and study sample are defined and eager to
collaborate with this project. We only need to worry about preparing the surveys,
questionnaires and scheduling the visits for observation. We have to request permissions
in the companies as these students have their classes there so that may take us a week

 
 IP - FPCTL

or so. On the other hand, I will request support from students’ teachers to fill in some
diaries which will help me to compare my observations with the teacher’s comments.

11. Work planning:

JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER

We We We We We We We We We We We We
ek 1 ek 2 ek 3 ek 4 ek ek ek ek ek ek ek ek 4
1 2 3 4 1 2 3

1 Further x x x x x X X X x
Literature study

2 Developing x
observation and
monitoring plan

3 Creating x
research design
survey

4 Write chapter 1 x

5 Proofreading x
chapter 1

Class X x x
observations

6 Write chapter 2 x

7 Proofreading x
chapter 2

8 Comparing X
teacher's diaries
about students
with
observations

9 Write chapter 3 x

1 Proofreading x
0 Chapter 3

 
 IP - FPCTL

1 Applying survey x x
1 to students

12. Bibliography

Wang, J. (2011). ​Foreign language classroom anxiety and english academic performance among
medical university students in taiwan ​(Order No. 3480322). Available from ProQuest Central.
(897596183). Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/897596183?accountid=43847

Horwitz, E. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics,
21​(1), 112-126. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/197996028?accountid=43847

Salehi, M., & Marefat, F. (2014). The effects of foreign language anxiety and test anxiety on
foreign language test performance. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4​(5), 931-940.
Retrieved from ​https://search.proquest.com/docview/1527307504?accountid=43847

Rose, G. L. (2008). ​Language acculturation anxiety in spanish speaking adult immigrants

learning english in the united states ​(Order No. 3315370). Available from ProQuest Central.
(193329326). Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/193329326?accountid=43847

Mohammadi, E. G., Biria, R., Koosha, M., & Shahsavari, A. (2013). The relationship between
foreign language anxiety and language learning strategies among university students. Theory
and Practice in Language Studies, 3​(4), 637-646. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1366866592?accountid=43847

British Council (2015). English in Peru: An examination of policy, perceptions, and influencing
factors. Retrieved from
http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/attachments/english_in_peru.pdf

12. Student compliance:

Danissa Quispe Cespedes​, who is enrolled in the academic program ​Teaching English as
a Foreign Language​, agrees with the above detailed proposal to complete the Final
Project and hereby commits himself/herself to carry out a personal and original work.

In ​Lima, Peru, on​ June 30, 2017