SALILA PETTONG (SONGKHLA RAJABHAT UNIVERSITY)
SUCHANAN SUNEEWONG (Songkhla Rajabhat University)

ENGLISH READING ANXIETY AMONG THAI UNDERGRADUATES : SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT

Reading comprehension is one of the most crucial abilities for students, particularly at the tertiary level, considering that they must read in order to study and expand their knowledge. Reading, in particular, is a challenging activity since it is a complex process that requires problem solving and is situationally constrained, making it a possible learning obstacle for EFL learners. Thai learners confront a variety of impediments to developing in their English language competence. One of the most significant impediments is language anxiety. The aim of this study, accordingly, was to investigate Thai undergraduate students' level of anxiety when reading in English. The participants were 130 English majors at a university in Thailand, selected by purposive sampling method. The instrument used in the study was a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using frequency, mean, and standard deviation. The research results found that the participants had an overall high level of anxiety when reading English. The issue that students are most concerned about is the length of the material, which becomes the first rank of causes, followed by a series of strange words, translating words, and unknown letters or punctuation, including the unfamiliar culture. A discussion of the results and suggestions for future research are also provided.

Salila Pettong, Ph.D., an acknowledged English instructor at Songkhla Rajaphat University in Thailand, graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a doctorate in English as an International Language. She encourages global competences in education with her expertise in reading in second or foreign languages, language learning technology, and intercultural communication.

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