Comparison of the effectiveness of Metacognitive Therapy and assertiveness Training on Social Avoidance and Distress of Junior high school students with Foreign language Anxiety

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of metacognitive Therapy and assertiveness training on social avoidance and distress of students with foreign language anxiety (FLA). The research design was semi-experimental and the population of the study was all students of public Junior high schools in Urmia, Iran. 60 students were selected following a multi-step random sampling procedure and were randomly assigned into three groups (N= 20 each). the data were analyzed using foreign language classroom anxiety scale (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986) and social avoidance and distress scale (Watson & Friend, 1969). Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The results showed that metacognitive and assertiveness are effective in reducing social avoidance and distress, their effects are persistent in the follow-up phase (p <0.001). The obtained results show that metacognitive and assertiveness are effective in reducing social avoidance and distress students in both stages and the difference between metacognitive and assertiveness groups is not significant (p <0.05). Based on the results, there was no significant difference between metacognitive therapy and assertiveness training groups in reducing avoidance and social pressure (P <0.05).