An Investigation of Causes and Impacts of Speaking Anxiety and its Minimizing Strategies in EFL Classroom Participation: Darimu and Sena High Schools Grade 11 Students and Teachers in Focus

Abstract

The major objective of the study was to investigate causes and impacts of speaking anxiety and its minimizing strategies in EFL classroom participation. The participants of the study were Darimu and Sena High Schools’ Grade 11 students and their English language teachers. Descriptive research method design was conducted on 136 students with the response rate of 136(100%) and 4 English language teachers. The data was collected using self-administered questionnaire, interview and observation. A total of 136 students were selected out of 547 grade 11 students using systematic random sampling technique. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistic i.e. number and percentage whereas the qualitative one was analyzed thematically. All the data were collated in the discussion to arrive at conclusions regarding causes and impacts of speaking anxiety and its minimizing strategies in EFL classroom participation at Sena and Darimu High Schools. According to the result of the study, fear of speaking in front of the whole class, lack of interest, fear of negative teacher traits, lack of preparation, fear of teacher evaluation, language difficulties, lack of practice, fear of making mistakes and being laughed at, class arrangement and lack of confidence are the major causes in the participation of EFL classrooms. As the most common problems in speaking classes, fear of making mistakes, ignoring listening, limited word power, wrong grammar and pronunciation, lack of interest and the like were pointed out in the results of the study. Regarding impacts, students with debilitative speaking anxiety adopt avoidance behavior such as sitting at the back, remaining silent, using mother tongue and being absent from speaking classes as pointed out in the results. As the major minimizing strategies, the following are discussed in the study. Students should develop personal strategies such as preparation, practice, reducing a fear of making mistakes, and positive self- talk to cope with English speaking anxiety. In addition to students’ personal strategies to cope with English speaking anxiety, EFL teachers should create a supportive and motivating setting such as creating a relaxed classroom, a strong teacher-student relationship, and letting students work in groups that can help learners to cope with speaking anxiety