Abstract
In the study reported a total of 145 students pursuing the academic title of a BA in English language and literature were tested with the aim of establishing which explanatory variables have the independent power to explain the level of English language speaking anxiety. The instrument used in the study was taken from Yaikhong et al. (2012) and adapted for the purposes of the current investigation. The response variable in the study was the average level of anxiety measured by means of the questionnaire, whereas the explanatory variables included gender, the year of study, the number of presentations students gave during the course of their studies, the grade in language skills, the expected grade, the self-perceived proficiency and the perceived difficulty of the English language. The results reveal that gender, the expected grade and the self-perceived proficiency can account for the variation in the levels of anxiety among students. The paper ends with suggestions of interventions for helping students cope with the negative effects of anxiety on their speaking performance and learning experiences.
Funding source: Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia
Award Identifier / Grant number: 01600
References
Aida, Yukie. 1994. Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. The Modern Language Journal 78(2). 155–168. https://doi.org/10.2307/329005.Search in Google Scholar
Allen, Mike, John E. Hunter & William A. Donohue. 1989. Meta-analysis of self-report data on the effectiveness of public speaking anxiety treatment techniques. Communication Education 38. 54–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634528909378740.Search in Google Scholar
Boonkit, Kamonpan. 2010. Enhancing the development of speaking skills for non-native speakers of English. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2. 1305–1309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.191.Search in Google Scholar
Bourhis, John & Mike Allen. 1992. Meta-analysis of the relationship between communication apprehension and cognitive performance. Communication Education 41(1). 68–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634529209378871.Search in Google Scholar
Butler, Jeff, Burt Pryor & Sara Marti. 2004. Communication apprehension and honor students. North American Journal of Psychology 6(2). 293–296.Search in Google Scholar
Chen, Tsai Yu & Goretti B. Y. Chang. 2004. The relationship between foreign language anxiety and learning difficulties. Foreign Language Annals 37(2). 279–289. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2004.tb02200.x.Search in Google Scholar
Cohen, Jacob. 1988. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press.Search in Google Scholar
Daly, John A. & James C. McCroskey. 1975. Occupational desirability and choice as a function of communication apprehension. Journal of Counseling Psychology 22(4). 309–313. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076748.Search in Google Scholar
Dickinson, Emily R., Jill L. Adelson & Jesse Owen. 2012. Gender balance, representativeness, and statistical power in sexuality research using undergraduate student samples. Archives of Sexual Behavior 41. 325–327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9887-1.Search in Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Zoltán, Kata Csizér & Nóra Németh. 2006. Motivation, language attitudes and globalisation: A Hungarian perspective. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781853598876Search in Google Scholar
Else-Quest, Nicole M., Ashley Higgins, Carlie Allison & Lindsay C. Morton. 2012. Gender differences in self-conscious emotional experience: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 138(5). 947–981. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027930.Search in Google Scholar
European Institute for Gender Equality. 2016. Gender in education and training. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.Search in Google Scholar
Everett, James D. 1999. The relationship between communication apprehension and community college student success. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Fordham, David & Alexander Gabbin. 1996. Skills versus apprehension: empirical evidence on oral communication. Business Communication Quarterly 59(3). 88–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/108056999605900314.Search in Google Scholar
Frantz, Jodi, Amber Marlow & Jennifer Wathen. 2005. Communication apprehension and its relationship to gender and college year. Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato 5(1). Available at: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1136&context=jur.10.56816/2378-6949.1136Search in Google Scholar
Horwitz, Elaine K. 1984. What ESL students believe about language learning. In Paper presented at the TESOL annual meeting, Houston, Texas.Search in Google Scholar
Horwitz, Elaine K. 2001. Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 21(1). 112–126. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190501000071.Search in Google Scholar
Horwitz, Elaine K., Michael B. Horwitz & Joann Cope. 1986. Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal 70(2). 125–132. https://doi.org/10.2307/327317.Search in Google Scholar
Larson-Hall, Jennifer. 2010. A guide to doing statistics research using SPSS. Abingdon: Routledge.10.4324/9780203875964Search in Google Scholar
Le, Jiayong. 2004. Affective characteristics of American students studying Chinese in China: a study of heritage and non-heritage learners’ beliefs and foreign language anxiety (unpublished doctoral dissertation). Austin: The University of Texas.Search in Google Scholar
Liu, Meihua & Jane Jackson. 2008. An exploration of Chinese EFL learners’ unwillingness to communicate and foreign language anxiety. The Modern Language Journal 92(1). 71–86. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00687.x.Search in Google Scholar
Luo, Han. 2014. Foreign language speaking anxiety: A study of Chinese language learners. Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages 15. 99–117.Search in Google Scholar
MacIntyre, Peter D. 1999. Language anxiety: A review of the research for language teachers. In D. J. Young (ed.), Affect in foreign language and second language learning: A practical guide to creating a low-anxiety classroom atmosphere, 24–41. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.Search in Google Scholar
McCroskey, James C. 1977. Oral communication apprehension: A summary of recent theory and research. Human Communication Research 4. 78–96. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1977.tb00599.x.Search in Google Scholar
McCroskey, James C. 1978. Validity of the PRCA as an index of oral communication apprehension. Communication Monographs 45. 192–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637757809375965.Search in Google Scholar
McCroskey, James C. 1982. Oral communication apprehension: A reconceptualization. Annals of the International Communication Association 6(1). 136–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.1982.11678497.Search in Google Scholar
Palacios, Lozano. 1998. Foreign language anxiety and classroom environment: A study of Spanish university students (unpublished doctoral dissertation). Austin: The University of Texas.Search in Google Scholar
Park, Gi-Pyo & Brian F. French. 2013. Gender differences in the foreign language classroom anxiety scale. System 41(2). 462–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.04.001.Search in Google Scholar
Patil, Z. N. 2008. Rethinking the objectives of teaching English in Asia. Asian EFL Journal 10(4). 227–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.04.001.Search in Google Scholar
Petričević, Ivana. 2012. Women’s rights in the Western Balkans in the context of EU integration: Institutional mechanisms for gender equality. In Background paper for the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in the European Parliament. https://ravnopravnost.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/arhiva/images/pdf/Izvje%C5%A1%C4%87e_Womens%20Rights%20in%20the%20Western%20Balkans%20in%20the%20Context%20of%20EU%20Integration.pdf.Search in Google Scholar
Philips, Elaine M. 1992. The effects of language anxiety on students’ oral test performance and attitudes. The Modern Language Journal 76. 14–26. https://doi.org/10.2307/329894.Search in Google Scholar
Price, Mary L. 1991. The subjective experience of foreign language anxiety: Interviews with highly anxious students. In Elaine K. Horwitz & Dolly J. Young (eds.), Language Anxiety: From theory and research to classroom implications, 101–108. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Search in Google Scholar
Pribyl, Charles B., Keaten James & Masahiro Sakamoto. 2001. The effectiveness of a skills‐based program in reducing public speaking anxiety. Japanese Psychological Research 43(3). 148–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5884.t01-1-00171.Search in Google Scholar
Suzić, Radmila. 2013. Upotreba mešovitih metoda u istraživanju problema jezičke anksioznosti. Metodički vidici 4(4). 121–133.Search in Google Scholar
Suzić, Radmila. 2016. Jezička anksioznost i uspešnost učenja engleskog jezika u višim razredima osnovnih škola (unpublished doctoral dissertation). Novi Sad: Filozofski fakultet.Search in Google Scholar
Suzić, Radmila. 2018. Kvalitativno istraživanje u oblasti primenjene lingvistike: važnost i značaj intervjua u istraživanju jezičke anksioznosti. Metodički vidici 8(8). 329–353. https://doi.org/10.19090/mv.2017.8.329-353.Search in Google Scholar
Winiecki, Kaidren L. & Ayres Joe. 1999. Communication apprehension and receiver apprehension in the workplace. Communication Quarterly 47(4). 430–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463379909385572.Search in Google Scholar
Woodrow, Lindy. 2006. Anxiety and speaking English as a second language. RELC Journal 37(3). 308–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688206071315.Search in Google Scholar
Yaikhong, Kriangkrai & Siriluck Usaha. 2012. A measure of EFL public speaking class anxiety: Scale development and preliminary validation and reliability. English Language Teaching 5(12). 23–35.10.5539/elt.v5n12p23Search in Google Scholar
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Articles
- Evolution of university internationalisation strategies and language policies: challenges and opportunities for language centres
- International teleconferences in EGAP courses: preparing students for prospective professional situations
- Designing language courses for twenty-first century competences: a model of teaching toward learner autonomy implemented in a university context in the Czech Republic
- Autonomy in language centres: myth or reality?
- “We learn from each other”: peer review writing practices in English for Academic Purposes
- Coping strategies in oral academic presentations of international undergraduate students in a Philippine university: a small-case study
- Anxiety in academic speaking situations among EFL majors: a case study
- Positive evaluation in the language of human resources: textbooks versus reality
- Promoting positive emotions among university EFL learners
- The motivations and identity aspirations of university students of German: a case study in Australia
- Towards bilingual expertise – evaluating translanguaging pedagogy in bilingual degrees at the university level
- Testing ImmerseMe with Chinese students: acquisition of foreign language forms and vocabulary in Spanish
- Activity Reports
- English for university admin staff: it’s all in the mix
- Developing interpersonal and intercultural skills in a university language course
- Introducing integrated language skills assessment at the language department of a Czech university
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Articles
- Evolution of university internationalisation strategies and language policies: challenges and opportunities for language centres
- International teleconferences in EGAP courses: preparing students for prospective professional situations
- Designing language courses for twenty-first century competences: a model of teaching toward learner autonomy implemented in a university context in the Czech Republic
- Autonomy in language centres: myth or reality?
- “We learn from each other”: peer review writing practices in English for Academic Purposes
- Coping strategies in oral academic presentations of international undergraduate students in a Philippine university: a small-case study
- Anxiety in academic speaking situations among EFL majors: a case study
- Positive evaluation in the language of human resources: textbooks versus reality
- Promoting positive emotions among university EFL learners
- The motivations and identity aspirations of university students of German: a case study in Australia
- Towards bilingual expertise – evaluating translanguaging pedagogy in bilingual degrees at the university level
- Testing ImmerseMe with Chinese students: acquisition of foreign language forms and vocabulary in Spanish
- Activity Reports
- English for university admin staff: it’s all in the mix
- Developing interpersonal and intercultural skills in a university language course
- Introducing integrated language skills assessment at the language department of a Czech university