| Sažetak | Čitanje je složen proces koji u stranome jeziku dodatno složenim čine ostale jezične vještine, nepoznato pismo, drugačija sintaksa, leksik i druga obilježja samoga jezika (Šamo, 2014), stoga se može pretpostaviti da je ono povezano s osjećajem straha. Iako je strah najviše istraživan osjećaj u području učenja stranoga jezika (MacIntyre, 2017), u kontekstu vještine čitanja manje je istraživan zbog njegova teškog otkrivanja i mjerenja (Joo i Damron, 2015). Strah od čitanja na stranome jeziku dokazuju Saito, Horwitz i Garza (1999). Postoje brojni nalazi da je negativno povezan s učenjem stranih jezika i učeničkim uspjehom, no osnovni cilj ovoga rada bio je istražiti javljaju li se za vrijeme čitanja na stranome jeziku, osim negativnih, i pozitivne reakcije te kako su one povezane s razumijevanjem teksta i jezičnim znanjem učenika. Za njihovo dokazivanje korišten je novi mjerni instrument, čija je valjanost i unutarnja konzistentnost utvrđena ovim istraživanjem. U obzir se dodatno uzelo čitanje na materinskome jeziku, što je prema Butzkammu (2003) glavni ključ za učenje stranoga jezika te je drugi cilj bio, dakle, ispitati postojanje straha od čitanja hrvatskome jeziku i pripadajućih reakcija sudionika, za što su nužno konstruirani novi mjerni instrumenti. Potvrđeno je da se u trenutku čitanja i na stranome i materinskome jeziku javljaju i pozitivne uz one negativne reakcije, pri čemu su i jedne i druge povezane su s razumijevanjem teksta čitanjem i jezičnim znanjem sudionika. Na temelju dobivenih rezultata zaključuje se da je u procesu učenja i poučavanja jezika potrebno usmjeriti pozornost također na same osjećaje učenika jer imaju značajnu ulogu u izgradnji njihova jezičnoga znanja, što bi ujedno učinilo nastavu (materinskoga i stranoga) jezika učinkovitijom. |
| Sažetak (engleski) | Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) has been the most explored emotional construct in the area of language learning (Macintyre, Gregersen, and Meza, 2014). It appears as nervousness, discomfort, and insecurity when subjects communicate in a foreign language, which makes them uncomfortable (Gardner and Macintyre, 1993). Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) conceptualize Foreign Language Anxiety as the final combination of self-perception, belief, feeling, and behaviour related to foreign language learning that arises in the process of learning a foreign language. Foreign Language Anxiety is an anxious reaction associated with a particular situation, the act of learning a foreign language. When this experience is repeated, the anxiety becomes associated with the learning of a foreign language and a phobic reaction results (Gardner and Macintyre, 1989). Reading anxiety has been less explored, among other things, because it is difficult to detect (Zbornik, 1991, Joo and Damron, 2015). Reading is a complex cognitive process that involves the cooperation of attention, memory, and comprehension. In a foreign language, reading is even more complex due to the language skill itself, motivation to read, cultural features of the text, unknown types of text, script (Saito, 1999), new syntax, vocabulary, spelling and other features of the foreign language (Šamo, 2014). Saito, Horwitz, and Garza (1999) were the first to prove the existence of a foreign language reading anxiety (FLRA). They conclude that students with anxiety find it harder to read in a foreign language, and that those with lower grades show significantly higher levels of reading anxiety. The first criticism of the research on the FLRA is directed by Sparks et al. (2000). Although they accept the existence of anxiety, they criticize the fact that the mother tongue has been neglected, which is the greatest advantage in the process of learning a foreign language and, moreover, its main key (Butzkamm, 2003). Another difficulty is that the reading skill has not been analysed. Sparks et al. (2000) find it impossible to explore the FLRA without checking the skill of reading itself. The third critical viewpoint refers to the difficulty to distinguish anxiety types (Tasnimi, 2009). While the negative sides of reading anxiety in a foreign and a native language are emphasized in most research, positive feelings still represent an unexplored area in applied linguistics. Therefore, this dissertation aimed to examine positive, not just negative, reactions during reading in the mother tongue and foreign language, which should contribute to new insights into the emergence of reading anxiety in both language contexts. Data on the FLRA, MTRA and positive / negative reactions to reading were collected by using questionnaires specially designed for this purpose, aiming to measure the level of the FL and MT reading anxiety, as well as the existence of positive and negative reading reactions. The research was conducted on a sample of 134 seventh grade learners from four primary schools in the County of Varaždin; they had been exposed to learning German as a Foreign Language for seven years then. The findings showed that students felt the moderate levels of anxiety while reading. The statistical analysis indicated a significantly negative correlation between anxiety and reading comprehension, but the levels of text comprehension were satisfying. The findings also pointed out that the given learners responded both negatively and positively while reading with comprehension. The statistical analysis confirmed no statistical correlation between their positive and negative reactions, but the correlation was discovered between the measured reactions and the text comprehension, as well as regarding reading in both languages. The validity and reliability of the new instruments were also confirmed here. Therefore, the questionnaires developed for this purpose could be used in other studies for investigating the emotions of readers or for developing the instruments for the future research of the given issues. The current findings will enable FL researchers and teachers to gain insights into the emotions of students while reading in a FL and a MT, which is correlated with the reading comprehension and the language skill. |
