Psycholinguistic perspectives on language processing and anxiety among english literature students

Abstract

Psycholinguistics is an interdisciplinary field that examines the relationship between cognitive processes and language use. This study aims to analyze the fundamental concepts of psycholinguistics, language processing in reading and speaking activities, and the influence of psycholinguistic factors on the academic performance of English Literature students. The study employs a literature review approach by examining relevant theoretical and empirical sources, particularly research conducted at Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang. The findings indicate that language comprehension and production involve complex processes, including lexical access, syntactic processing, semantic integration, inferencing, and the role of working memory. Furthermore, affective factors such as public speaking anxiety may hinder language production by disrupting speech planning and vocabulary retrieval. The study also highlights the importance of applying psycholinguistic principles in English Literature education to support more inclusive, adaptive, and student-centered learning practices. Integrating psycholinguistic perspectives into the curriculum is expected to enhance students’ academic achievement, communication skills, and psychological well-being. Consequently, psycholinguistics provides a valuable framework for understanding language use and learning in higher education contexts.