Limitations, accomplishments, and ideas for future research

This chapter assesses the limitations and the accomplishments of this study. In addition, this chapter presents some ideas for the future research on the FLA of Finnish university learners of English, and finally, concludes this thesis.

Firstly, the limitations in this study need to be acknowledged. The participants’ feedback and my analysis process revealed two faults in the online questionnaire form: In the end of the questionnaire the participants were asked to, at their choice, give feedback on the questionnaire form. Based on the feedback some participants felt that the alternation between the regular and the reverse-scored items of the FLCAS items was confusing (e.g. item #1: I never feel quite sure of myself when I am speaking English in the English classes/lectures vs item #2: I don’t worry about making mistakes in the English classes/lectures). Also, some felt that the repetition of nearly similar questions was somewhat frustrating. However, the participants of course did not know that some of the items were reverse-scored and that the aim of repetitive questions was to assess the consistency of the responses. Clearer instructions may have helped these participants. Based on this feedback it might also be worthwhile to consider modifying the FLCAS items either by changing the order of the items or by revising the wording of the statements. For example, reorganizing the FLCAS items so that the reverse-scored items are either at the beginning or in the end of the 33-item list, might make the scale more understandable. Altogether however, the feedback showed that a majority of the participants considered the questionnaire clear and user-friendly. Furthermore, in the form the participants were asked to disclose their major and minor subjects as well as all foreign languages in which they have a self-evaluated competence of at least B1 (independent user) according to the CEFR. This part in the questionnaire may have been

confusing for some of the participants, as they did not report the language(s) they majored or minored in, when they were asked to report all foreign languages that they were competent in. Most likely the participants thought that since they had already disclosed the language major(s) or minor(s), they did not feel that it was necessary to mention them again. This did not affect the results, but it made the analysis process laborious. This could have been avoided by giving the participants’ even clearer instructions on how to fill in the questionnaire.

Secondly, it is important to also recognize the accomplishments of this study: With this study I set out to produce results that would contribute to earlier research of FLA. As established earlier in the results and discussion sections, this study indeed produced results that can be easily compared with earlier research. What is more, my ambition was that the findings may be utilized in the development of language teaching in Finnish universities, and I believe this goal was achieved.

Altogether, the data collection process was successful. Instead of using several different modes of data collection, this study combined the background questionnaire, the FLCAS, and the open-ended questions into one coherent questionnaire form. Therefore, the form was accessible for the participants, and also provided data that was relatively easy to analyze. Furthermore, despite of its’

minor pitfalls, the Finnish FLCAS proved to be a functional and reliable measure of the FLA of Finnish university learners of English. To my knowledge, this study is the first study conducted in Finland, that has employed a Finnish version of the FLCAS on Finnish university learners of English. My Finnish FLCAS (Appendix 2) may be used in future research of FLA experienced by Finnish university or other advanced learners of foreign languages. All in all, I believe I managed to conduct a very thorough investigation of the various dimensions of FLA and bridge the gap in research of FLA in the context of Finnish university learners of English.

While this study provided a comprehensive overview of the FLA among Finnish university learners of English, a closer examination of certain learner characteristics in this context would broaden our understanding of the variables that affect FLA. Therefore, future research on the FLA of advanced language learners would benefit from focusing on learner characteristics, such as, language proficiency or personality. These future studies could utilize language aptitude and personality measures as well as self-evaluative tests to explore the relationship between self-perceived attributes and actual ID’s and FLA. Also, to continue the contribution to earlier studies of FLA, it would be fruitful to conduct a study similar to this, but on a greater number of participants, and on participants from different Finnish universities. In addition, the comparison of university language learners from different countries or cultures is needed, as there is a gap in the research of FLA in this context.

Even though many learners experience FLA, it is still quite unacknowledged among language instructors. Thus, research and discourse on this phenomenon is needed. Language teachers must recognize the effects of FLA in order to aid the learners to overcome debilitating anxiety that might, in the worst-case-scenario, prevent the learners from developing their language skills. To begin with, language teachers may make use of the findings of this study and the list of learner-identified means to overcome FLA (Table 14). If educational institutions strive to actively alleviate the learners’ FLA, surely long-lasting positive development can be seen in language teaching and learning.

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Appendices