Differential Changes in Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Across Reading Aloud and Writing-then-Reading-Aloud Instructional Configurations in University General English Education

This study examined how two instructional task-sequencing models-reading aloud (RA) and writing-then-reading-aloud (W+RA)-were associated with changes in foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) over a semester in a university general English course within the liberal arts curriculum. Using a quasi-experimental pre-post design, 114 undergraduate students (RA: n = 59; W+RA: n = 55) completed the 33-item Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) at the beginning and end of the course. Paired-samples t-tests, gain-score comparisons, and mixed-design ANOVAs were conducted to examine within-group changes, between-group change patterns over time.</br>The results showed that the RA group demonstrated significant within-group reductions in overall FLCA and communication apprehension (CA), whereas the W+RA group did not show comparable decreases. The clearest between-group difference emerged for test anxiety (TA), for which a significant Time × Group interaction was found, <i>F</i>(1, 112) = 6.55, <i>p</i> = .012, partial <i>η</i>² = .055. No significant interaction was observed for fear of negative evaluation (FNE). Subscale-level analyses further indicated that the affective consequences of instructional design were not uniform across anxiety dimensions; rather, they were most visible in the evaluative dimension of anxiety.</br>These findings may suggest that task sequencing matters less for overall anxiety reduction than for how learners experience evaluative pressure during oral performance. In particular, repeated engagement in RA may serve as a relatively stable and low-pressure oral format, whereas the addition of written preparation may shape learners’ attention to accuracy, completeness, or self-presentation depending on task design. At the same time, because the two conditions differed not only in preparatory sequence but also in task materials and discourse orientation, the findings are more appropriately interpreted as reflecting differences between two naturally occurring instructional configurations rather than the isolated effect of writing itself. By examining both total FLCA and its subdimensions, this study contributes to a more differentiated understanding of affective dynamics in university general English instruction within the liberal arts curriculum and offers pedagogical implications for anxiety-sensitive classroom design in liberal arts English education.