Croatian Teachers’ Strategies for Reducing EFL Students’ Foreign Language Anxiety

This Master's thesis explores foreign language anxiety (FLA) in the context of EFL learners and teachers in Croatia. FLA is a significant challenge in language classrooms around the world for various reasons. Firstly, it negatively affects learners psychologically and physically. Secondly, if it is not addressed properly, it may also hinder learners’ school performance and ultimate foreign language acquisition. Furthermore, research has found that FLA often remains a lifelong problem. This is why it is essential that teachers have a good understanding of this problem and strategies they may use to help their students. While extensive research has been done on the topic of FLA, there is a gap in research on this topic from the perspective of EFL teachers in Croatia. Therefore, this thesis addresses two research questions: (1) whether Croatian EFL teachers are aware of the issue of FLA and its negative role in language learning, and (2) which strategies, if any, Croatian EFL teachers use to reduce FLA in their students. The results show that Croatian EFL teachers are mostly aware of what FLA is and how it affects students. The results also show that Croatian EFL teachers employ an array of different evidence-based strategies to help students reduce their FLA.