ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEAKING ANXIETY OF LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Anxiety is a feeling of worry and anxious when it comes to doing something. Especially in learning English, students seem to feel anxious since English is used as a foreign language. It is very important to analyze students’ anxiety in learning English to find out the contributing factors and to learn suitable teaching strategies for anxiety. This study aims to identify students' fear of speaking in English. A descriptive quantitative study was applied and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was used as an instrument. The questionnaire was adapted from Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986). This questionnaire was shared to 31 students of grade nine at one of the state’s lower secondary schools in Sidoarjo. The results show that the highest level is the Test Anxiety factor with an average score (M=2.90). While the second highest level is the communication apprehension factor with an average score (M=2.87). Then the anxiety level with the lowest score in these three important factors is Fear of Negative Evaluation with an average score (M=2.59). The results obtained from this study are panic anxiety caused by test anxiety which usually happens when learners are asked to speak English without preparation. The researcher hopes this paper helps teachers to be able to use teaching strategies recommended by experts, and hopefully, it is useful for EFL learners' insight until they can deal with anxiety better.

 

Keywords: Speaking; Anxiety; English as Foreign Language