Teachers' role, learners' gender differences, and FL anxiety among seventh-grade students studying English as a FL

This study investigated the relationship between foreign language (FL) anxiety and achievement in that language. The role of the FL teacher as perceived by the learners was also tested. Participants were 67 seventh-grade students. They were administered an anxiety questionnaire, a Hebrew reading comprehension test, an English reading comprehension test, an English creative writing task, and an English spelling test. The results indicated that anxiety was negatively and significantly correlated to FL achievement on all FL tests. Gender and teachers' attitudes were the only significant predictors of FL anxiety among these seventh-grade students. The results are discussed in light of findings in the literature. Some recommendations are suggested to ease anxiety in FL students.