Lowering Foreign Language Anxiety through Technology: A Case of Iranian EFL Sophomore Students

This study focused on fostering learning experiences and improving students' oral communicative potential by lowering their anxiety through technology. The participants were EFL students at the Zand Higher Education Institute in Shiraz, Iran. Their responses to the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz etal., 1986) proved that they were suffering from some emotional factors; particularly anxiety interfering with their second language acquisition process. Voice Thread, an on-line program was introduced to them as a tool to achieve the above-mentioned goals. An oral survey based on items used by Von Worde (2003) showed this group of EFL language learners' anxiety was alleviated by using the proposed tool. As speaking is one of the main productive skills in second language learning, the pedagogical implications of the study can be beneficial to both teachers and learners. The results can help teachers match instruction to learners' needs.