IntroductionAnxiety plays an important affective role in second or foreign language acquisition. Although everyone has experienced feelings of anxiety, anxiety cannot be easily defined with a simple phrase. Research on anxiety suggests that anxiety can be experienced at different levels (Horwitz, 2001; Oxford, 1999). Horwitz and Cope (1986) described foreign language anxiety as a complex and distinct phenomenon of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to language learning in the classroom, resulting primarily from the uniqueness of the language learning process. Additionally, Macintyre (1995) noted that anxiety plays different roles in the learning process. This can facilitate or weaken learners' performance. Easing anxiety motivates learners to face the new learning task without reluctance. Debilitating anxiety motivates learners to choose an avoidant attitude and therefore tends to escape the learning task. Oxford (1999) uses the terms “harmful” and “helpful” anxiety (cited in Brown, 2007) to refer to debilitating anxiety and facilitating anxiety, respectively. Both facilitative anxiety and debilitating anxiety are linked to a person's academic performance. Sometimes anxiety helps students increase their motivation to study harder. Therefore, a little anxiety can have positive effects on student performance. But, according to Brown (2007, p. 163), “too much or too little anxiety can hinder the process of successful second learning”. Many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students seeking admission to a foreign language university, here, English is the language of instruction. do not have sufficient language skills to understand lectures, understand textbooks, participate...... middle of article ......e anxiety: institutional responses. In EK Horwitz&D. J. Young (Eds.). Language anxiety: From theory and research to classroom implications (pp. 169-176). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Samimy, K. K. (1989). A comparative study of Japanese teaching in the audio-lingual method and the advice-learning approach. The Modern Language Journal, 73 (2), 169-177. Spielmann, G., & Radnofsky, M. L. (2001). Learning a language under tension: New directions emerging from a qualitative study. The Modern Language Journal, 85 (2), 259-278. Schwarzer, R. (1986). Self-related cognition in anxiety and motivation: An introduction. R. Schwarzer (Ed.), Self-related cognition in anxiety and motivation (pp. 1-17). Hillsdale, N.J. Erlbaum. Young, D.J. (1991). Creating a Low-Anxiety Classroom Environment: What Does the Research Suggest About Language Anxiety? The Journal of Modern Languages, 75 (4), 426-439