A Dynamic Intervention for Removing Learning Anxiety: A Field Experiment on Removing Psychological Barriers to Speaking

Research findings in the last decades have shown that anxiety and its debilitative consequences exert damaging effect on learning. Enjoying a profound theoretical foundation in Vygotskian theories of cognitive development and psychological therapy, dynamic assessment and interventions propose a framework for promoting student’s learning through mediation and support in the zone of proximal development of mind. The present study was an attempt to use this framework to remove anxiety and psychological barriers to mastering speaking in English classes. To this aim foreign language classroom anxiety scale (FLCAS) was adopted and administered to 250 first grade high school students in Qom and the researcher selected 10 students with highest anxiety score, serving as experimental group (n=10). The research used an experimental design, in which experimental group’s anxiety scores in pre-test (before dynamic intervention) and post-test (after dynamic intervention) was calculated. Also, the group was given a speaking exam in pre-test and post-test conditions to trace learning after dynamic intervention. Data were analyzed through paired t-test procedure. the findings of the study showed that the intervention significantly relieved anxiety symptoms (t (9) =18.974, p =0.000) and promoted learning speaking (t (9) =-8.508, p =0.000). Furthermore, descriptions of treatment showed the way the intervention treated anxiety symptoms and resulted in internalization of learning. In sum, the current study identified major anxiety symptoms and introduced a fast, non-obtrusive, and time and money saving method for treating anxiety. Findings have implications for psychologists, counselors, teachers and health and education decision makers.