AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS CAUSING THE NON-ENGLISH- MAJOR FRESHMEN’S ANXIETY IN SPEAKING AT BROADCASTING COLLEGE I, PHU LY CITY, HA NAM PROVINCE AND SOME SOLUTIONS

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*********


NGUYỄN THỊ THU HẰNG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS CAUSING THE NON-ENGLISH-
MAJOR FRESHMEN’S ANXIETY IN SPEAKING AT BROADCASTING

COLLEGE I, PHU LY CITY, HA NAM PROVINCE
AND SOME SOLUTIONS
(Tìm hiểu những yếu tố gây sự lo lắng khi học nói của sinh viên
không chuyên tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất ở trường Cao đẳng Phát
thanh - Truyền hình I, thành phố Phủ Lý, tỉnh Hà Nam và một số
giải pháp khắc phục)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111


Ha Noi, 2014

Hanoi, 2011

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*********

NGUYỄN THỊ THU HẰNG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS CAUSING THE NON-ENGLISH-
MAJOR FRESHMEN’S ANXIETY IN SPEAKING AT BROADCASTING
COLLEGE I, PHU LY CITY, HA NAM PROVINCE
AND SOME SOLUTIONS
(Tìm hiểu những yếu tố gây sự lo lắng khi học nói của sinh viên
không chuyên tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất ở trường Cao đẳng Phát
thanh - Truyền hình I, thành phố Phủ Lý, tỉnh Hà Nam và một số
giải pháp khắc phục)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: TRẦN THỊ TUYẾT, PhD.



Ha Noi, 2014


i

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this thesis is entirely my own work. I have provided
fully documented references to the work of others. The material in this
thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course of
study.

Ha Nam, September 2014
Signature

Nguyễn Thị Thu Hằng











ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my most sincere thanks to
my beloved supervisor, Dr. Tran Thi Tuyet, for her expert guidance,
invaluable advice and critical feedback, and continual encouragement
without which the thesis would not have been successful.
Secondly, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to all the
lectures of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages

and International Studies of Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their
useful lessons and assistance during my course from which I have benefited
a lot for the accomplishment of this study.
I also wish to send my special thanks to my students, especially the
first year students in 10 classes of the college of Broadcasting I. Without
their willingness to complete the questionnaires and participate in the
interviews, this study could not have been conducted.
Last but not least, I would like to express my special thanks to my
beloved extended family for their love and understanding, their constant
encouragement and immeasurable support in the completion of this thesis.







iii

ABSTRACT
Anxiety is a common feeling experienced by foreign language
learners, especially in learning to speak a foreign language. This study was
conducted with the aim to investigate main causes of speaking anxiety
experienced by the non-English-major freshmen at Broadcasting College I.
The study involved 200 non-English-major students from 10 first-year
classes at Broadcasting College I. Both quantitative (questionnaires) and
qualitative (semi-structured interviews) methods were applied in the study.
The findings showed that speaking anxiety did exist among the surveyed
students. Besides, it was revealed that the factors related to teachers‟ beliefs
and teacher-student interactions appeared not to be major reasons for

speaking anxiety among the majority of the students. On the other hand, the
students‟ communication apprehension, test anxiety, fear of negative
evaluation, and negative self-perception of English ability were shown as
highly anxiety-provoking factors for the non-English-major freshmen in
speaking. Based on the findings and the students‟ suggestions in the
interview, the researcher recommended some solutions for the students and
teachers to reduce the students‟ speaking anxiety.







iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION…………… ……………………………… …… … i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…….…………………………….……… …….ii
ABSTRACT……………… ………………………………… … … iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS … …………………………………… ……iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ……………………………… …… vi
LIST OF TABLES…… … …………………………………… …… vi
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study 2
3. Research questions 2
4. Scope of the study 2
5. Method of the study 3
6. Design of the study 3

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1.1. Definition of anxiety 5
1.2. Types of anxiety 6
1.3. Foreign language anxiety 6
1.4. Effects of anxiety on learning 7
1.5. Possible causes of learning anxiety 9
1.5.1. Communication apprehension (CA) 10
1.5.2. Test anxiety 11
1.5.4 Learner‟s negative self-perception of English ability 12
1.5.5. Teacher beliefs 13
1.5.6. Teacher-student interactions 13
2.1. Setting 15
v

2.2. Participants 15
2.3. Data collection 16
2.3.1. Instruments 16
2.3.1.1. Survey questionnaire 16
2.3.1.2. Semi-structured interview 17
2.3.2. Data collection procedure 17
2.4. Data analysis 18
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS 19
3.1. Communication apprehension 19
3.2. Test anxiety 21
3.3. Fear of negative evaluation 22
3.4. Learner‟s negative self-perception of English ability 25
3.5. Teacher‟s beliefs about language teaching 27
3.6. Teacher-student interactions 29
4.1. Recommendations for the teachers 33

4.2. Recommendations for students 35
PART THREE: CONCLUSION 38
1. Summary of the study 38
2. Limitations of the study 39
3. Recommendation for further study 39
APPENDIX ……………………………………………………………….I





vi

LIST OF ABBRIVIATION

CA: Communication apprehension

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Speaking anxiety associated with communication apprehension
Table 2: Speaking anxiety associated with test anxiety
Table 3: Speaking anxiety associated with fear of negative evaluation
Table 4: Speaking anxiety associated with learner‟s negative self-
perception of English ability
Table 5: Speaking anxiety associated with teacher‟s beliefs about language teaching
Table 6: Speaking anxiety associated with teacher-student interactions

1
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Speaking is one of the four required skills in learning English, however a
lot of students are not able to speak English, even though many of them
have learned English for seven years. It is believed that there are affective
or emotional factors influencing the foreign language learning process.
Among various affective variables, such as attitude, anxiety, interest,
motivation, inhibition, and self-esteem, “anxiety is quite possibly the
affective factor that most pervasively obstructs the learning process”
(Arnold & Brown, 1999, cited in Dornyei, 2005, p. 198). Anxiety is defined
as a feeling of uneasy suspense (Krashen, 1985). As a teacher of English at
Broadcasting college I, from my own observations and experiences, I have
noticed that the feeling of anxiety, apprehension and nervousness are
common phenomena expressed by my first-year students in speaking
classes. Actually, many students keep silence in speaking classes and they
are usually reluctant to take part in class activities. Some students may be
very good at writing or reading English but they fail to speak English
fluently and naturally. Some students state that they forget words when
speaking in front of the class, and some claim that they do not often speak
in class as they are afraid of being evaluated by the teachers and their
friends. Some frankly admit that they feel stressful and anxious when
speaking English. These negative emotional factors seem to be a barrier
that prevents students from actively participating in speaking activities and
accordingly, make the outcome of oral English speaking unsatisfactory.
Anxiety has been a focus in research in foreign language learning since
early 1970s with the ground-breaking research by the Canadian

psychologists Gardner and Lambert. Since then, many researchers (Bailey,
1983; Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986; Krashen, 1985; Crookall and
2
Oxford, 1991; Aida, 1994; MacIntyre, 1995; MacIntyre & Gardener, 1989,
1991, 1994; etc) have consistently claimed that anxiety can impede foreign
language production and achievement.
Although a number of studies have been conducted to seek out the nature of
foreign language anxiety, few have been done on anxiety experienced by
Vietnamese learners in their English learning process, especially in
speaking skill. Such situation has aroused my interest and inspired me to
carry out a research on the topic: “An investigation into factors causing the
non-English-major freshmen‟s anxiety in speaking at Broadcasting college
I, Phu Ly city, Ha Nam province and some solutions.”
2. Aims of the study
The major purpose of the research is to investigate factors or causes that
make non-English-major freshmen at Broadcasting college I stressful and
anxious in English speaking classroom, and suggest some possible
techniques to reduce their English speaking anxiety.
3. Research questions
To fulfill the above aims, the study is carried out with an attempt to answer
the following questions:
1. What are the possible causes that make first-year non-English-major
students at Broadcasting college I anxious in speaking English in class?
2. What are the possible solutions to reduce students‟ anxiety in speaking
English?
4. Scope of the study
FLA exits in the process of learning all four skills: Listening, speaking,
reading and writing (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986; Young, 1986; Aida,
1994; Cheng, Horwitz & Schallert, 1999; Cheng, 2002). However, only
students‟ speaking anxiety is focused on in this research with its causes

3
since speaking is the best in expressing the students‟ participation as well as
their feelings. Besides, due to the time constraints, this study only involves
two hundred Broadcasting students of non-English major in their first
academic year.
5. Method of the study
Both quantitative and qualitative methods are applied to collect the data
serving the research analysis. A survey questionnaire for participants of 200
first-year non-English majors at Broadcasting college I was employed to
gather information and evidence for the study. In addition, to gain more in-
depth information of the issue, semi-structured interviews with the students
were also used.
All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in
the study were based on the data analysis of the study.

6. Design of the study
This study is divided into three parts:
Part one – Introduction presents the rationale, the aims, the research
questions, scope, methods as well as the design of the study.
Part two – Development contains four chapters.
Chapter 1: Literature Review
This chapter provides the basic theoretical background from
literature in terms of foreign language anxiety in general and speaking
anxiety in particular. Especially, the possible causes of foreign language
anxiety are discussed thoroughly in this chapter.
Chapter 2: Methodology
4
This chapter addresses the setting, the participants, the instruments
which are used to collect data, and data collection procedure.
Chapter 3: Data analysis

The findings from the data collected and analyzed are presented and
discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 4: Suggested solutions
Some possible suggested solutions are provided to reduce students' English
speaking anxiety in classroom.
Part three: Conclusion
This part contains an overview of the major findings, and the
limitations and suggestions for further research.







5
PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
The main purpose of this chapter is to review the literature on anxiety in
general, and foreign language anxiety as well as anxiety in foreign language
speaking in particular.
1.1. Definition of anxiety
Anxiety, one of the most prominent and pervasive emotions, has been a
focus of research in foreign language learning since early 1970s. There are
a large number of definitions of language anxiety. Hansen (1977, p.91)
calls anxiety as "an experience of general uneasiness, a sense of foreboding,
a feeling of tension". Another definition by Scovel (1978, p.134) states that
anxiety is associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt,
apprehension, or worry. Similarly, according to Horwitz et al. (1986),
anxiety is “the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness,

and worry consisted of an arousal of the autonomic nervous system”. In
addition, “anxiety is a psychological construct, commonly described by
psychologists as a state of apprehension, a vague fear that is only indirectly
associated with an object” (Hilgard, Atkinson, & Atkinson, 1971 cited in
Scovel, 1991, p.18). Anxiety, as perceived intuitively by many language
learners, negatively influences language learning and has been found to be
one of the most highly examined variables in all of psychology and
education (adapted from Horwitz, 2001, p.113).
In summary, we can see that anxiety is a complex psychological
construct, difficult to precisely define since it arises from many sources.
Generally, it can have physical, emotional, and behavioral manifestations
and these manifestations can differ with each individual.
6
1.2. Types of anxiety
According to MacIntyre and Gadner (1991b), anxiety in general can be
experienced at three perspectives: trait anxiety, state anxiety, and situation
specific anxiety.
The first perspective - trait anxiety, according to Spielberger (1966, p. 16),
is relatively permanent and steady personality feature, referring to a motive
or acquired behavioral disposition that predisposes an individual to perceive
a wide range of objectively non-dangerous circumstances as threatening,
and to respond to these circumstances with anxiety state reactions
disproportionate in intensity to the magnitude of the objective danger.
MacIntyre and Gadner (1991b) consider trait anxiety as "a constant
condition without a time limitation". Based on Ying‟s point of view (2008,
p.2), trait anxiety is related to a generally stable predisposition to be
nervous in a wide range of situations.
The second perspective - state anxiety, on the other hand, is fleeting and not
an enduring characteristic of an individual's personality (Speilberger, 1966,
p.12). It is apprehension experienced at particular moment in time. This

anxiety can be provoked in the confrontation of the perceived threat, yet it
is temporary and altered in time (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991b).
The third perspective, situation-specific anxiety, is adopted to the study of
anxiety in order to attribute the experience to a particular source. It is
defined as the specific forms of anxiety that occur consistently over time
within a given situation, such as during tests, or when speaking a second
language (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1994, p.2). Also, it can be considered to
be the probability of becoming anxious in a particular type of situation
(Ying, 2008, p.2).
1.3. Foreign language anxiety
When anxiety is related to second or foreign language, it is termed as
“second or foreign language anxiety”. Young 1991 (cited in Onwuegbuzie
7
et al., 1999, p217) considers it as a complex and multidimensional
phenomenon.
According to Horwitz et al. (1986), foreign language anxiety is a form of
situation-specific anxiety: it is stable over time but limited to the particular
situations of language learning. Horwitz et al. (1986) also state that the
anxieties associated with specific language skills, such as writing, reading,
listening and speaking are all situation-specific anxieties, which refer to the
apprehension experienced when a situation requires the use of a foreign
language. Anxiety has also been recognized as one of the most important
predictors of foreign language performance. Gardner & MacIntyre (1993,
cited in Arnold 1999, p.59) refer to language anxiety as “fear or
apprehension occurring when a learner is expected to perform in the second
or foreign language." Similarly, Horwitz et al. (1986, p.129) used the words
"tenseness, trembling, perspiring, palpitations, and sleep disturbances"
when describing the physiological and psychological symptoms of foreign
language classroom anxiety at the Learning Skills Center at the University
of Texas. "Freezing" in class, "going blank" before exams, and feeling

reticence about entering the classroom were also observed in their language
learners. The researchers discovered that these learners "experience
apprehension, worry, even dread. They have difficulty concentrating,
become forgetful, sweat, and have palpitations. They exhibit avoidance
behavior such as missing class and postponing homework" (p.126). From
their observations and discussions, the authors give a definition of foreign
language classroom anxiety as "a distinct complex of self-perceptions,
beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning
arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process" (p.128).
1.4. Effects of anxiety on learning
Most language researchers have focused on exploring the relationship
between anxiety and language learning. Although the results are
8
inconsistent, language anxiety presents the negative effects in most cases
(Chan and Wu, 2004, p. 291). Anxiety, in a variety of studies, has been
found to negatively correlate with grades in language courses, self-
confidence in language learning, performance and participation in learning
activities (Krashen, 1985; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; Aida, 1994;
Liao, 1999; Oxford, 1999; MacIntyre and Gardener, 1991b; Oda, 2011).
Andrade & Williams (2009) claim that “foreign language learning anxiety
has been associated with a large number of negative outcomes” and point
out some physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, muscle tension, dry
mouth, and excessive perspiration, as well as some psychological
symptoms like embarrassment, feelings of helplessness, fear, going blank,
and poor memory recall and retention among others. The researchers also
report “negative social behaviors may be manifested in such ways as
inappropriate silence, unwillingness to participate, absenteeism, and
withdrawal from the course. These effects can lead to poor performance
and low achievement” (Andrade & Williams, 2009). According to Ying
(2008), learners with higher language anxiety have the tendency to avoid

interpersonal communication more often than less anxious ones, and
anxiety can influence both speed and accuracy of learning. Similarly, Oda
(2011) emphasizes that language anxiety is consistently related to problems
in language learning such as reduced word production, impaired vocabulary
learning, lower grades in language courses, and lower scores on
standardized tests.
However, some researchers have claimed that there are positive correlations
between foreign language anxiety and language achievement. According to
Scovel (1991, cited in Tanveer, 2007, p. 11), anxiety “motivates the learner
to „fight‟ the new learning task; it gears the learner emotionally for
approach behavior” (or it could serve as alertness to promote foreign
language learning (Alpert & Haber, 1960; Kleinman, 1977). Also, in
9
Bailey‟s research (1983), anxiety is found one of the keys to success, and
closely related to competitiveness.
On the whole, the relationship between anxiety and language
learning is probably not a simple linear one. Thus, it is necessary for the
foreign language researchers and teachers to have a good grasp of the
nature of foreign language anxiety in order to find out effective teaching
methods minimizing the detrimental effects of anxiety.
1.5. Possible causes of learning anxiety
Researchers have indicated that there are a number of factors
causing anxiety for language learners. Bailey (1983) claims that students
were anxious in ESL/ EFL classrooms due to competitiveness, tests and
learners‟ perceived relationship with their teachers. Horwitz et al. (1986)
claim that communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative
evaluation are possible reasons for students‟ anxiety. On the other hand,
Price (1991) suggests that language anxiety comes from four aspects:
difficulty level of foreign language classes, personal perception of language
aptitude, certain personality variables and stressful classroom experiences.

Through a review of the literature on language anxiety, Young (1991) also
offers an extensive list of six potential sources of language anxiety:
personal and interpersonal anxiety (including communication apprehension,
fear of negative evaluation, negative self-perception of English ability,
etc.), learner beliefs about language learning, teacher beliefs about language
teaching, teacher-learner interactions, classroom procedures, and language
testing. Young (1991) and Horwitz et al. (1986) share some similar
suggestions about the common anxiety-provoking factors that students
often cope with: communication apprehension, test anxiety, fear of negative
evaluation, learner‟s negative self-perception of English ability, teacher
beliefs, and teacher-student interactions. These factors will also the focus of
discussion and the base of research framework for this study.
10
1.5.1. Communication apprehension (CA)
Horwitz et al. (1986, p.128) define CA as “a type of shyness characterized
by fear or anxiety about communicating with people”. Similarly,
McCroskey (1997) refers CA to "an individual's level of fear or anxiety
associated with either real or anticipated communication with another
person or persons". There are a number of factors associated with such
feelings of apprehension that second language communicative contexts
induce. Buss (1984) points out novelty, formality, subordinate status,
unfamiliarity, dissimilarity and degree of attention as the major sources of
CA. According to Horwitz Et al. (1986), CA is closely related to learners‟
personality traits such as shyness, quietness and reticent, the embarrassment
about their language imperfections in front of others, and the fear of
negative evaluation from the others.
CA obviously plays an important part in second/ foreign language anxiety.
Learners who are apprehensive speaking in group or in front of the public
are likely to be more anxious when expressing ideas in second/ foreign
language class, where “in addition to feeling less in control of the

communicative situation, they may also feel that their attempts at oral work
are being constantly monitored” (Horwitz, et al., 1986, p.127). This
apprehension is explained in relation to the learners‟ negative self-
perceptions caused by the inability to understand the others and to make
himself understood (MacIntyre and Gardner, 1989, cited in Ohata, 2005,
p.137). McCroskey (1997) asserts that individuals who are greeted with
negative reactions from others in response to their attempt to communicate
develop a sense that staying quiet is more highly rewarded than talking.
Such psychological dilemmas of second/foreign language learners between
willingness to speak up in the classroom and the fear of losing face in front
of the others, thus, seems to be quite common phenomenon in second
language classroom settings ( Bailey, 1983; Cohen & Norst, 1989).
11
1.5.2. Test anxiety
Test anxiety, which “refers to a type of performance anxiety stemming
from a fear of failure” (Horwitz et al, 1986), can be another source causing
foreign language anxiety. Many learners feel more pressure when asked to
perform in second language classroom because of the continual evaluation
from the language teachers. Accordingly, they may put down the wrong
answers or simple “freeze up” due to nervousness, even if they know the
correct answer (Price, 1991; McIntyre & Gardner, 1994). Test anxiety is a
quite pervasive phenomenon in the language classroom because tests and
quizzes are frequent and even the brightest and most prepared students
often make errors (Horwitz et al. 1986). As a result, the students get
anxious as they fear of making mistakes or getting poor grades. Horwitz et
al. (1986) also claim that oral testing has the potential to provoke both test
and oral communication anxiety simultaneously in susceptible students
(Horwitz et al. 1986).
1.5.3. Fear of negative evaluation
Watson & Friend (cited in Horwitz, et al., 1986, p.128) define fear of

negative evaluation as the apprehension about other's evaluation, avoidance
of evaluative situation, and the expectation that others would evaluate one
negatively. Horwitz et al. (1986, p.128) also claim that "the evaluation
from the only fluent speaker in the room, the teacher, is crucial to a second
language student" and students are also sensitive to the evaluations – real or
imagined – of their peers. According to Ohata (2005), speaking in a foreign
language is disturbing because of the fear that it might lead to the loss of
one‟s positive self-image or self-identity. In other words, students fear of
experience of “losing oneself” in the target culture; i.e they want to save
face. In a language classroom, students with these feelings are likely to over
concern with academic and personal evaluation of his performance and
competence in the target language (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1989). In other
12
words, students tend to worry about what their classmates think about their
performance, and tend to be so scared of their peers‟ responses or
evaluation when they express their self image through a foreign language
(Bailey, 1983; Price, 1991; Young, 1991). Accordingly, students who
experience this anxiety rarely initiate conversation and often avoid
interacting with others. They have a tendency to sit passively in the classes,
retire from activities that could increase their language skills and may even
avoid class entirely (Ely, 1986; Horwitz, et al., 1986).
1.5.4 Learner’s negative self-perception of English ability
Several researchers argue that learners‟ self-perception of low ability in
English is a significant source caused learners‟ anxiety. Young (1991)
claims that learners who start out with a self-perceived low ability level in a
foreign or second language are more likely to feel language anxiety. In her
study, many of her students often compared themselves to others and
believed their language skills to be weaker, and everyone else looked down
on them. Similarly, Daly, J., Cauhlin, J. & Stafford, L. (1997a) state that
anxious learners tend to have a more negative self perception and tend to

underestimate their quality of speaking ability. Sharing the same idea,
Occhipinti (2009) concludes that students starting with a self-perceived low
ability level in the foreign language class are perfect candidates for
language anxiety. Kitano (2001, p. 550) argues that “speaking skill is
usually the first thing that learners compare with that of peers, teachers, and
native speakers”. In Kitano‟s (2001) study, the students said that they
would speak out loud and answer more questions if they were not afraid to
give the wrong answer. Obviously, negative self-perception of English
ability is a big carrier to foreign language learning. Students may think that
they are unable to learn another language or pronounce strange sounds and
words, unable to understand and answer questions and they don't know how
to translate their ideas into the target language. In agreement with this, Foss
13
and Reitzel (1988, p.440) claim “perception of the self plays a key role in
how students approach the acquisition and use of a second language”.
1.5.5. Teacher beliefs
Teacher beliefs about language teaching can also be an anxiety-provoking
factor, since the teacher's assumption about the role of language teachers
may not always correspond to the student's needs or expectations (Ohata,
2005, p.7). For example, students may get nervous about their performance
when their teacher believes he needs to constantly correct students' errors or
when the teacher always speaks in English with a high speed. Using
speaking activities that put the learner “on the spot” in front of peers
without allowing prior preparation is another example in this case.
Likewise, Brandl (1987, cited in Young, 1991) claims that most instructors
believe "a little bit of intimidation a necessary and supportive motivator for
promoting students' performance". The following teacher beliefs are stated
by Young (1991, p.428) as sources causing students‟ anxiety: the teacher‟s
role is to correct every single mistake made by the students, pair or group
work is not appropriate as it makes the class get out of control; the teacher

should do most of the talking; and the teacher‟s role is that of a drill-
sergeant .These beliefs are not likely to create a good learning environment
for foreign language learners, especially for the fresh men, since these
beliefs may make the students become more nervous in a such highly-
anxious-causing subject.
1.5.6. Teacher-student interactions
Another factor claimed to be a cause of anxiety is associated with the
relationship between teachers and learners. Palacios (1998) states that the
following teacher characteristics are related to students‟ anxiety: absence of
teacher support, unsympathetic personalities, lack of time for personal
attention, favoritism – that is in the classroom, teachers often concentrate
on proficient students as a priority; spend time supporting these learners as
14
the way to avoid wasting time. Besides, a harsh manner of mistake
correction is often cited as provoking anxiety. According to Koch & Terrell
(1991) and Horwitz (1988), many learners feel that some error correction is
necessary. However, Young (1991, p.429) argues that students more
concern about how (where, what, when, how often) their mistakes are
corrected rather than whether error correction could be administered in
class. In addition, Koch & Terrell (1991) state that “learners consistently
report anxiety over responding incorrectly, being incorrect in front of their
peers, and looking or sounding „dumb‟". Obviously, students become
anxious and they are afraid of losing face in front of the class through the
way their mistakes are treated.
These six sources of language anxiety discussed above are
interrelated (Young, 1991; Horwitz et al., 1986). Therefore, language
teachers should be fully aware of these sources to lessen foreign language
anxiety in their students

15
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1. Setting
The study was carried out at the college of Broadcasting 1. This college has
been established for 56 years. All students in this college have to complete
four semesters of English as part of their general education requirements.
During the first and second semester (first year), students complete the
General English program with 66 class periods (45 minutes each). This
program provides students with basic general knowledge of English,
developing students‟ ability of communicating in English. The textbook
chosen is "New Headway", Elementary by Liz and John Soars (third
edition). In the 2
nd
year, students study English for their professional field.
The number of first year students at Broadcasting college I was 300. They
came from 4 faculties: Journalism, Accounting, Information Technology,
Engineering and Telecommunication. Their English abilities were at
different levels. Of four language skills, speaking seemed to be the most
difficult and anxiety-provoking one to the students.
There were four teachers of English, 3 female and one male aged from 28-
35 with at least six years of teaching experience. Three of them had M.A
degree in English, and one of them was MA student.

2.2. Participants
200 first-year students from 10 classes in all four faculties in the
school participated in the study. The students were chosen randomly among
the students in each class.


16


No and percentage of
students
Age
18-20
190
95%
21 – 22
8
4%
More than 22
2
1%
Sex
Female
120
60%
Male
80
40%
Length of
English

learning
Less than 1 year
1
0.5%
1- 4 years
3
1.5%
More than 4 years
196
98%
Students’ profiles (total: 200)
2.3. Data collection
2.3.1. Instruments
To seek the answers to the research questions, the researcher used both a
quantitative method (survey questionnaire - see Appendix 1) and a
qualitative method (semi-structured interview - see Appendix 2).
2.3.1.1. Survey questionnaire
A questionnaire was designed based on a review of the literature about
factors viewed as causing anxiety that affects speaking skills. The
questionnaire includes two parts. Part one obtains some background
information of the participants including their age, sex and the number of
years they have been learning English. Part two contains 18 items used to
investigate the factors causing the students anxious in speaking classes.
Some items were modified based on the Foreign Language Classroom
Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope 1986) (see Appendix
3). In the questionnaires, the respondents were asked to express their
agreement or disagreement to each item on a five-point Likert response
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scale. The data obtained from the questionnaire was tabulated, presented,
and percentages were calculated.

2.3.1.2. Semi-structured interview
Semi-structured interview was the second research tool used in this
study. The major concern was students‟ opinion of why each problem in
speaking classes made them nervous and stressful in speaking classes. 10
items for the interview had been prepared in advance in light of the
potential sources of anxiety in the literature review. These questions were
open to allow the interviewees to express their opinions freely.
The interview consists of three parts. For the first part, question 1
was related to the participant‟s personality. The main purposes of this part
were to find out whether they were nervous in speaking classes or not and
to get some reasons for their anxious feelings. The second part with 7
questions focused on seeking deeper understanding of the sources of
anxiety on speaking classes: student‟s communication apprehension, test
anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, negative self-perception of English
ability, teacher‟s beliefs about language teaching, teacher-learner
interactions. The third part of the interview (questions 9 and 10) asked the
students to give recommendations for alleviating speaking anxiety
concerning both sides of teachers and students. The data obtained from the
informal interviews will be transcribed and analyzed so that the researcher
of this study can gain a deep understanding of the problems. Based on the
findings, possible solutions will be given to help students overcome their
anxiety.
2.3.2. Data collection procedure
In the first phase, the questionnaire was administered when students had
completed the second-term of the first year 2013-2014. The questionnaires
were delivered to the students who were in the class in the break time. They