Seventeenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

This study involves more than 4500 students from the post-colonial South Asian nations of Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and it reveals that students’ most desired English language skill is speaking, but that they refrain from speaking due to a lack of confidence that stems from a fear of being ridiculed by society. This large-scale study was instigated by studies that span from 2007 to 2017 involving about 2000 Sri Lankan undergraduates that produced similar findings. This leads us to believe that the language attitudes existing in society may influence students more than the numerous well-accepted teaching methodologies for teaching English that are currently used in post-colonial South Asia. The standards set by the elites in post-colonial South Asian societies works against English language learners in their efforts to speak English by causing Language Attitude Anxiety (LAA), which manifests in a lack of confidence to speak English. At the same time, societies that do not use English at all seem to negatively influence English language learners also causing LAA. This anxiety may then be projected onto learning English in general with a negative effect on learner identities and possible selves. Our work emphasizes the importance of a) dialogue on language attitudes as an academic discourse and b) building confidence to speak English as an essential rectifying measure to eliminate Language Attitude Anxiety.