Community Language Learning and Learner Anxiety

Abstract

Community Language Learning, formed in the 1970s and 1980s, is considered to represent the Affective-Humanistic Approach, which emphasizes a holistic view of education and focuses on both cognition and emotion. The teaching philosophy of security and anxiety relief advocated by it is still an important guide for foreign language teaching today. This paper first introduces the philosophy of the community language learning, the linguistic view of learning and classroom teaching sessions, second analyzes the emotional anxiety experienced by learners in the five developmental stages of language learning, and finally analyzes how the community language learning can make language learning more enjoyable and productive by alleviating learners' anxiety through teachers' creation of a safe learning environment, group support and cohesion, and reflection activities.