Strategies for Coping with Language Anxiety: The Case of Students of English in Japan

This study was designed to develop a typology of strategies that students use to cope with the anxiety they experience in English language classrooms. The influence of anxiety level on strategy use was also assessed. Findings suggested 70 basic tactics for coping with language anxiety that cohered into five strategy categories: Preparation (e.g. studying hard, trying to obtain good summaries of lecture notes), Relaxation (e.g. taking a deep breath, trying to calm down), Positive Thinking (e.g. imagining oneself giving a great performance, trying to enjoy the tension), Peer Seeking (e.g. looking for others who are having difficulty controlling their anxiety, asking other students if they understand the class), and Resignation (e.g. giving up, sleeping in class). Cognitive, affective, and behavioral strategy types were evident. No significant relationship was found between language anxiety and frequencies of strategy use, suggesting the need for future research on how effectively the observed strategies may be implemented.