Chart 1. Students’ Level of Anxiety
2. The factors that contributed to Students' Speaking Anxiety in English Foreign Language
To know factors that contribute to Students' Speaking Anxiety the researcher interviewed two students who had high
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level anxiety. Generally, the factors mentioned by the participants can be generally classified into three main factors: (a social component (how participants react to other people's responses while practicing speaking), b) linguistic factor (lack of English ability: grammatical, lexical, and pronunciation difficulties), and c) linguistic factor (lack of English ability: grammatical, lexical, and pronunciation issues), (c) individual factor (personal problem). Details of the findings can be seen in the following section:
a. Social Factors
Two students, for example, mentioned comparable themes in their responses. For starters, they were nervous about speaking because they were afraid of making mistakes. They don't want to lose face if their classmates or teachers respond harshly to their faults.
Question: The first question, what reason do you feel so anxious to speak?
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Answer: ―The first reason is that I am terrified of making mistakes. Fear of being incorrect‖ (BL).
Another social component shown by the accounts of two is that some of them are uncomfortable speaking in front of a large group of people. They are not comfortable dealing with large groups of people. They are under duress. It was fascinating to learn that two participants reported feeling peaceful when they rehearsed speaking alone at home, but when they had to deliver the speech in front of a large group of people, they became apprehensive and anxious. They felt as if they were under pressure and were blank.
―Maybe it's because there are so many people. The crowd factor.
When we practice communicating alone at home, it usually goes well. When that day came, there were a lot of people. That is why I am concerned.‖ (LIL).
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b. Grammar factors
According to the participants, another element that contributes to speaking anxiety is certain linguistic challenges they experience when speaking in English. Four of these very nervous speakers are afraid to talk because they are unsure of their English proficiency. The nervous participants reported a lack of grammar or organization, a limited vocabulary, or poor English pronunciation.
Question: Then besides that, what are the factors that make you anxious?
Answer: ―When I want to talk, I get nervous. My grammatical structure is incorrect. Sometimes I worry that people won't comprehend what I'm saying when I talk in English. Maybe it's because I still have a limited vocabulary‖(LIL)
Fear of making grammatical errors appears to be one of the key reasons why some students learning English as a foreign language in Indonesia are hesitant to speak up. For many years,
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grammar has been a serious difficulty for English language learners in Indonesia. This is most likely because English language teaching in Indonesia has been grammar-focused for many years. People tend to appraise and access your English depending on the grammatical accuracy with which you can talk.
Otherwise, you might be bullied or thought to be a less competent English speaker.
―What if I say something incorrectly? It's like when we learn grammar, there are V1, V2, and V3 so, "does this also require the use of verbs or not?" While my friends were previously aware of it, this is why I was so terrified, especially when speaking.‖(BL) c. Personal Factors
Another issue that has produced fear in speaking, as revealed by the responses of the participants during the interview, is a personal one. This aspect pertains to how a participant has connected with others in their personal life, such as their parents, friends, and teachers. It also relates to how these individuals
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influence the participants' decisions to learn English or become pre-service English teachers.
Question: Is there anything else that makes you nervous besides grammar?
Answer: ―I have the idea that I lack basic English understanding.
I admit that I am uninterested in English.‖ (BL)
One of the participants, for example, stated unequivocally that he was not interested in English.
She was less driven to learn English because this was not what he wanted to accomplish. This lack of motivation hampered his desire to practice speaking. You are filled with a mixture of worry and reluctance.
―There is, but I am not very interested in English because I don't comprehend it. That's why I get nervous every time I have to speak in front of the class‖(LIL)
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Based on the result, researchers concluded that there are still many students who experience anxiety in speaking English based on interviews with two students who had high levels.
Furthermore, the problems of internal factors include: social factors, grammar factors, and personal factors. As a result, students and teachers must be able to deal with speaking anxiety collaboratively, because speaking anxiety affects students' speaking performance. Self-reflection is an excellent exercise for dealing with public speaking fear. It is reinforced by the conclusion that self-reflection exercise will help pupils address their problems, identify their skills and limitations, and increase their confidence. These characteristics are critical in dealing with students' public speaking nervousness.
The study also discovered certain characteristics that contribute to pupils receiving a low Speaking score, such as students preferring to remain silent in class when the teacher is speaking lecturer asks them because afraid they will make a mistake, the Students also remain silent when the instructor asks
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them a question. question even if they know the answer although not appropriate. It is also difficult for pupils to overcome emotions like twitching, lack of confidence, and sheepishness when they get out in front of their class. They were also unduly preoccupied with other people's thoughts and were concerned with their own appraisal. "I am frightened that my English instructor is ready to fix every mistake I make," is appropriate for the FLCAS instrument. This apprehension is connected to the topic of criticism and unfavorable appraisal. Furthermore, this is heavily impacted by the kids' apprehension of being chastised by the instructor or other students.
As a result, pupils frequently discontinue participation in the communicative skill. As a result, it is critical for teachers to persuade their pupils that making a mistake is neither wrong nor harmful since students may learn from their errors. It indicates that if pupils are unsure of what they are saying, they will be afraid of receiving negative feedback from others and will be worried because they do not want to appear ignorant in front of
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others. For example, when a student performs in front of the class, he or she becomes quiet and anxious. It occurs because other kids who do not do well are chastised for it. As a result, they fumble over the words. It occurs because other kids who do not do well are chastised for it. The majority of participants expressed fear over having to speak in front of the class. They commonly responded that they became concerned when their teacher requested them must communicate in the target language in front of their class, whether to prepare or not. While the other stated that they began to be concerned when they were required to speak English.
In this study, students felt most anxious dread of receiving bad remarks from lecturers and other learners, fear of being chastised by instructors for errors made in front of others, lack of self confidence when speaking English in front of other students, and perplexity while speaking English in front of other students (see Table 4). Because the statistics suggest that there are more students who have a moderate level of anxiety and fewer learners
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with a low rate of fear, only with one student achieving a high degree of anxiety, the instructor must act swiftly to help these students reduce their nervousness. Some ways to consider include increasing students' self-confidence. (Rufika et al., 2020, p. 30), encouraging kids to speak English without fear of making mistakes (Rufika et al., 2020, p. 31), Immersion of children in English courses and encouragement of students to overcome their apprehension by arriving prepared for class, actively participating in class, always and exercising with peers (Faizi, 2021, p. 8).
(Erdiana et al., 2020, p. 333) Teachers can minimize students' anxiety by removing exam stress, developing positive relationships with students, organizing pair and group activities, increasing students' enthusiasm to study the language, and increasing students' self-confidence.
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