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I will lose face. ‘Everyone will make fun of me.’ ‘I can’t do this.

I will lose face. ‘Everyone will make fun of me.’ ‘I can’t do this.

Are you familiar with statements like these? Many of us have heard similar expressions from our students as their language teachers. They might feel less confident because of these thoughts, which also suggest that they are not capable of learning a foreign language. It can be hard to atr students' minds who think this way.

 From one point, students might want to improve their language skills; from the other point, they feel nervous, afraid, or shy when speaking English. We've al had those feelings at some point. We can describe it simply as 'foreign language anxiety.' Fear of making mistakes, negative past experiences in language learning, cultural differences, language barriers, and being judged by friends lead us to think this way. There are some ways to get rid of this problem

1-The Short Mindfulness Activities

Start the course with short mindfulness activities such as ice breakers (who am I? Pictionary, or tongue twisters, hot seat) or short videos integrated with worksheets. These activities make them feel better and produce their sentences without hesitation in a stress-free learning environment.

2- Effective Speaking Activities

Divide the long activities into smal pieces for them to be more productive and participate in the speaking activities. I particularly implement this technique during my speaking clubs and have seen the positive effects of it.

3-Using Model Sentences for Learners

Give model sentences or prompts that can help aleviate anxiety and encourage positive self-talk. It is useful to provide some sentence completions for grp or pair collaborative work. This attitude can help students feel more comfortable and not afraid of making mistakes. You may even witness them engaging more actively in the course as they begin to teach each other.

4- Variation of The Courses with Short Video Contents and Useful Language Apps

Long story short, language anxiety is a common issue experienced in language classes. We can vary our courses with short video content that is interesting, which lets them feel less anxiety and express themselves better in front of the whole class. Additionaly, we can support them to find a solution to their problem by using some beneficial online applications like Voscreen, TED Talks, Magoosh that reflect native sounds and acquire the language easily and so, we can help our students to understand that learning a foreign language is not a thing to be intimidated or to be shy to speak. Let's not forget to give constructive feedback and have them to love the language. This is the vital point for them.

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