This study investigated Theology students’ Foreign Language Reading Anxiety (FLRA) and the relationship between their FLRA and their reading achievement. A number of 63 Theology students participated in this quantitative study. A questionnaire developed by Saito et al. (1999) was used in obtaining the data for the study. The study was conducted to fill the void in the literature on the scarcity of empirical research on FLRA in the Indonesian English for Specific Purpose (ESP) context, especially among Theology students who were required to read a lot of English text and thus were very likely susceptible to experience reading anxiety. The study found that in general, the students experienced a medium level of FLRA. Low self-perceived reading competence and the unfamiliar topic of reading passages were reported to be attributed to higher FLRA levels whilst the formation of reading habits, reading exposure, and reading strategies were believed to reduce reading anxiety. This study further found a statistically significant negative correlation between the students’ FLRA and their reading achievement, albeit the strength being weak. This finding suggested that students’ FLRA could be a factor hampering learning. The present study’s specific finding on the possible positive impacts of reading strategies and the duration of reading exposure may indicate the urgency to incorporate these two aspects in the instructional design of English reading classes. Based on the findings, contributions, limitations, and suggested future studies were formulated.

Even though Indonesian EFL learners have been studying English since elementary school, many may still consider speaking one of the most challenging language skills. Consequently, when they move to the advanced level, they are required to master more complex speaking skills. Indonesian EFL graduate students faced some problems during learning that can contribute to their speaking performance. Therefore, it is urgent for this study to investigate EFL graduate students' perspectives on their speaking challenges and strategies used to improve their speaking skills. This study used a qualitative method and a semi-structured interview to obtain deep insight into participants' perspectives. The participants were EFL graduate students who are taking an English Education Master's Program. Results showed that some factors influenced their speaking skills in an academic context, such as a lack of accurate pronunciation and lack of vocabulary knowledge and that they used effective speaking strategies for improving their ability in speaking. It is expected that the findings would assist EFL graduate students in uncovering their speaking challenges so that they could perform better when using their spoken English.

Novice teachers often encountered some challenges in their professional work that might influence their emotions.  It is quite reasonable that some EFL novice teachers may still struggle to manage their negative emotions to cope with classroom problems. Some emotions could be freely expressed positively, whereas other emotions were left unexpressed for some reasons. This study aimed to answer two research questions, namely: (1) what kinds of emotions do novice teachers frequently experience in teaching? (2) How do novice EFL teachers cope with their emotions in professional life? This study employed a qualitative method and carried out semi-structured interviews to gain in-depth data from the participants' perspectives in dealing with their emotions. The instruments employed were interview-guidelines questions and open-ended questions. The result of the present study revealed that, first, all novice teachers frequently experienced two main challenges in teaching, namely students’ misbehaviours and disrespectful behaviours. These challenges could influence teachers' emotions of anger, being overwhelmed, and worries. Second, the findings demonstrated that teachers employed three strategies, namely self-regulation, self-talk, and a problem-focused strategy to manage and handle their emotions in teaching. In addition, the present study suggested beneficial implications, limitations, and directions for further research. Keywords: Emotions, EFL Novice Teachers, and Strategies

The study investigated factors contributing to English for Theology students’ Foreign Language Reading Anxiety (FLRA) and their strategies to alleviate it. This study was the continuation of a quantitative study involving 63 Theology student participants which found that their FLRA was significantly correlated with their reading achievement negatively. It was also conducted to fill the void in the FLRA literature in the Indonesian university context especially in Theology department necessitating learners to read a lot of passages in English, possibly quite anxiety-provoking for learners. Four selected participants from the previous quantitative study were interviewed and the data were analysed using Thematic Analysis. The study found that low self-confidence, lack of peer support, low self-perceived language competence, low motivation, and unfamiliar vocabulary increased learners' FLRA. Teachers' various methods, emphasising group activities were found to reduce their FLRA whilst whole-class reading activities tended to increase their FLRA. Furthermore, the uses of various reading strategies taught in class to comprehend texts were reported to reduce their FLRA to a certain extent depending on the degree of success of learners in using the strategies. Implications, limitations, and suggested directions for future studies were mentioned in light of the study's findings.