Abstract

This study aimed to investigate foreign language anxiety at tertiary level in Pakistan. It adopted a mixed methods approach. Firstly, foreign language anxiety scale was employed as a research tool for data collection. In addition, the focus group interviews were also conducted to have in depth understanding of anxiety under investigation. Data were randomly collected from 100 participants (Male= 94; Female= 6) from different disciplines who were enrolled to learn English at Lasbela University, Baluchistan. The findings of this study indicate anxiety of participants in learning English language. Specifically, participants were reported more anxious in test anxiety which was rated high by students with total (Mean= 40.5; SD= 7.00), second, communication apprehension is rated with (Mean= 28.8; SD= 5.22) and last but not least is fear of negative evaluation with (Mean= 23.7; SD= 5.93). In focus group interviews, this study frequently recorded some factors such as poor academic background, fear of taking tests in English, fear of making mistakes and fear of evaluation from teachers which maximize the level of anxiety among the participants. This study suggests some pedagogical strategies which may be considered learning and teaching practices at university level education. Among the strategies, most frequently discussed in interviews were teachers should create rapport among students especially with those who are inactive and passive in learning classroom and they should respect students’ feelings and emotions in front of other peers in class These strategies tend to help teachers to minimize anxiety level of participants in classroom. 

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