Apprehension in Language Learning Anxiety as Significant Correlate of Oral Performance in English of College Freshmen

Abstract

The study was conducted to understand the language learning anxieties and how these affect students’ speaking performance. It also attempted to give clarifications on the conflicting researches on the relationship between language anxiety and oral performance. Data was collected among 150 college freshmen enrolled in a semestral six-unit English course at the University of Mindanao, Panabo Campus. Using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scales (FLCAS) by Howritz, Howritz, and Cope (1986) and standardized telephone conversation activity test to determine the language anxiety and oral performance of respondents respectively, the researchers found that language anxiety specifically apprehension had an effect on oral performance in pronunciation, grammar, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary while tension impinged grammar. However, results generally revealed no significant relationship between language learning anxiety and oral performance. It is noteworthy to point out that tension, nervousness, and worry do not affect respondents’ oral performance. The researchers attributed this result to the respondents’ awareness of their weaknesses in the spoken English, to the length of time they were exposed in learning the English language and to the type of learning environment the respondents had.Keywords: Language learning anxiety, Oral Performance, College Freshmen students, University of Mindanao Panabo Campus

First-year students’ communication apprehension in learning French as foreign language

“…As noted by Lucas (1984) 1970 (see McCroskey, 1984), this phenomenon is still widely investigated in the past decade (e.g. Bragg, 2017;Mahdi, 2015;Matsuoka, 2008;Orbeta & San Jose, 2013;Pribyl et al, 1998;Rosenfeld et al, 1995;Sham & Azmi, 2018). In a foreign language classroom, the level of communication apprehension has more correlated to the students' level of proficiency of the target language or the students' linguistic background (Liu & Jackson, 2008;Mahdi, 2015), rather than to the students' study duration (Molnar & Crnjak, 2018).…”

Doodling the Nerves: Surfacing Language Anxiety Experiences in an English Language Classroom

“…Understanding the multifaceted concept of language anxiety requires the use of communication, either verbal or non-verbal. Most of the data gathered in studies on language anxiety used verbal communication under quantitative approach employing close-ended questionnaires (Duxbury and Tsai, 2010;Hismanoglu, 2012;Hussain et al, 2011;Khodadady and Khajavy, 2013;Matsuda, 2004;Marwan, 2007;Orbeta and San Jose, 2013;Ozururk and Hursen, 2013;Rajab et al, 2012;Smith and Schroth, 2014;Thevasigamoney and Yunus, 2014;Tum, 2012;Williams and Andrade, 2008;Wong 2012;Yahya, 2013;and Yang, 2012). Other studies utilized qualitative using openended questionnaire and interview (Khattak et al, 2011;Kocak, 2010), diary and semistructured interview (Merc, 2011), semi-structured interview (Riosati, 2011), or semi-structured interview and focus-group discussion (Hashemi, 2011).…”

Anxiety in adult foreign language learning: The case of Ghanaian undergraduate students of Spanish

“…Their findings showed there was a correlation between apprehension and the oral performance of the participants in relation to pronunciation, grammar, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary. However, generally, their study did not show any significant relationship between language learning anxiety and oral performance (Orbeta & San José, 2013). Park and Lee (2005) also investigated the association between L2 learners' anxiety, self-confidence and oral performance among 132 Korean college students of English.…”

“…In relation to the effects of anxiety on achievement, some researchers have examined specific abilities such as oral performance. Using the FLCAS and standardized telephone conversation activity test, Orbeta and San José (2013) conducted a study to examine the link between students' language learning anxieties and their speaking performance. One hundred and fifty (150) college freshmen enrolled in an English course participated in the study.…”