The sources of foreign language speaking anxiety and the relationship between proficiency level and degree of foreign language speaking anxiety

Abstract

This study investigated the sources of foreign language speaking anxiety and the relationship between proficiency levels and degree of foreign language speaking anxiety. The study was conducted at Hacettepe University, with the participation of 234 students from the departments of Basic English, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, International Relations and English Linguistics. Data were collected through a proficiency exam, a questionnaire and interviews. The proficiency exam is an adapted version of the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency. The questionnaire had two parts. In the second part, the participants were given an adapted version of the Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (FLSAS), which was developed by Huang (2004). Afterwards, nine students were selected for participation in the interviews to get a more detailed analysis of the sources of foreign language speaking anxiety. The analysis of the quantitative data revealed that the participants had a moderate level of foreign language speaking anxiety, and that the level of learners‟ language proficiency did not play an important role in their degree of foreign language speaking anxiety. The quantitative data also revealed that teaching and testing procedures, personal reasons, and fear of negative evaluation were major anxiety provoking factors. The interview results showed that certain linguistic difficulties were additional sources of foreign language speaking anxiety in this EFL context.