Native or non-native instructors? A case study on foreign language speaking anxiety in EFL classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate foreign language speaking anxiety in the Non-Native and Native Instructors' classroom. To this end, Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope's (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was administered to 469 EFL learners studying at three universities in Ankara. The data was collected through a questionnaire and adapted from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (hereafter referred to as FLCAS), which was developed by Horwitz et al. (1986). According to the results, there are differences in the items such as preparation and negative evaluation in Non-Native and Native Instructors' classroom. When the variables such as age, gender and the length of study were taken into consideration, it was found that the participants' length of study is a significant factor in foreign language speaking anxiety. However, no correlation was found between the anxiety and age and gender. In addition to that, the participants with more years of instructions showed lower anxiety levels when compared to others.