Exploring Students’ Anxiety in Online and Offline English Language Classrooms

Abstract

This study investigates the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Score (FLCAS) of students in English classes before the pandemic (offline class) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (online class) in a private university in Jakarta, Indonesia. There were 145 participants in total, 67 of which attended the offline class of English 1, while 78 others attended the online class of English 2. The 33 items of the questionnaire were adapted from FLCAS and were analyzed by three aspects: Communication Apprehension, Fear of Negative Evaluation, and Test Anxiety. The questionnaire items were translated into Indonesian and distributed online using Survey Monkey. The study used Independent Samples t-test to test the hypothesis, and the writer analyzed items to categorize the FLCA scores into high and low anxiety levels of each anxiety category. The writer found the FLCAS difference between offline and online classes insignificant (p > 0.05). Furthermore, The writer revealed that Fear of Negative Evaluation, especially judgment from classmates, was the dominant aspect that caused anxiety among students of both classes. On the other hand, it was also found that learners from both classes had no problem having their teacher correct their errors when using English.

The Reflection of Students’ Efl Classrooms Anxiety in Undergraduate Program

“…Besides, Alsalooli and Al-Tale' (2022) measured EFL Learners' FLA, including the levels, causes, gender, and impact on academic performance. Lastly, Prima et al (2022) investigated the students' anxiety in online and offline English classrooms. However, all the research above did not investigate the FLA in detail to see the reflection of the anxiety itself, especially in undergraduate programs.…”

“…Furthermore, Horwitz et al (1986) developed a Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) instrument to measure students' learning anxiety. This instrument has demonstrated anxiety significantly at a higher level of English competence than other instruments (Prima et al, 2022). It requires knowing the students' strategies and how they can reduce their anxiety while in EFL classrooms.…”

“…Research on Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) has been investigated by some researchers (e.g., Mulyono et al, 2020;Pakpahan & Gultom, 2022;Lomotey, 2021;Alamer & Lee, 2021;Alsalooli & Al-Tale', 2022Prima et al, 2022. Based on their investigations, there are various findings related to language anxiety.…”

“…Consequently, it showed that feedback and language tests may impact the students' anxiety levels. At last, Prima et al (2022) investigated the students' anxiety in online and offline English classrooms. It is found ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 596 that there is no significant difference between online and offline English classrooms.…”