Anxiety in Second Language in Relation to Students’ Speaking Performance

Abstract

Language anxiety is thought to hinder language learning, and if the learners are truly anxious in class, they are probably not fully engaged, if at all. With the help of the Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (FLSAS) and a free-speaking exercise, this study intends to ascertain the association between language anxiety and speaking performance among undergraduate and graduate students. Frequency count, percent, mean, and Kruskal Wallis were used as statistical techniques to total, tabulate, and further analyze and interpret scores. An extensive, unstructured phenomenological interview with the students was undertaken to ascertain the causes of their language anxiety, and the thematic analysis was carried out using Giorgi's phenomenological method. Students did less satisfactorily in speaking performances and were found to be moderately worried. Language anxiety and speaking abilities, particularly in vocabulary and comprehension, are significantly correlated. This is ascribed to error-causing factors such as the impact of the native language on the second language, lack of confidence, anxiety about communicating, and fear of being evaluated. This study concluded that speaking performance could be predicted using linguistic anxiety. Particularly in understanding and vocabulary, the worried learner frequently performed worse than the native speaker when speaking in English. According to this study, students who are really worried about language should receive training. Teachers can provide straightforward, captivating, varied, and entertaining oral tasks that will give pupils the chance to speak English freely.

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“…In other words, they have an impact on input processing, which in turn has an impact on what individuals potentially comprehend. Consequently, it can be concluded that facing the tense may lead individuals to stop or go blank due to the anxiety they feel (Chen & Hwang, 2022;Daymiel et al, 2022;Giray et al, 2022;Krashen, 1982).…”

Self-esteem and Social Media Dependency: A Comparative Analysis of Welsh- and English-Medium Pupils’ Perceptions

“…One area that might cause a problem for lower Welsh language ability FLEs is speaking the Welsh language in front of more fluent peers and teachers. In this regard, language anxiety and speaking abilityparticularly with regard to vocabulary and comprehensionare significantly correlated with one another (Daymiel et al, 2022). In essence, lower language ability students' fears occur whenever they are required to speak in front of their peers, with their fear attributed to feelings of linguistic incompetence (Daymiel et al, 2022).…”

“…In this regard, language anxiety and speaking abilityparticularly with regard to vocabulary and comprehensionare significantly correlated with one another (Daymiel et al, 2022). In essence, lower language ability students' fears occur whenever they are required to speak in front of their peers, with their fear attributed to feelings of linguistic incompetence (Daymiel et al, 2022). In this context, the fear of speaking in public is an expression of social anxiety (Alamer & Almulhim, 2021).…”

“…Emphasizing the potentially damaging impact of less fluent language speakers addressing more fluent classmates and teachers, 'speaking anxiety' has been significantly correlated with the fear of being negatively assessed by peers and teachers . One of the knockon problems lower Welsh language ability FLEs might face was recognized by Daymiel et al (2022) who identified a potential catch-22 scenario: if language learners are genuinely anxious in class, they are less likely to become engaged with the language. In terms of the linguistically anxious FLEs, apprehensions regarding their Welsh language abilityaccording to Daymiel et al (2022), would result in the FLE engaging less with the Welsh language.…”