Anxiety in Second Language in Relation to Students’ Speaking Performance

^1*Rheychold J. Daymiel, ²Jovelyn M. Cantina, ³Van Ryan I. Alipoyo,⁴Meynard O. Comecilla, ⁵April S. Patay, ⁶Joji T. Recamara

¹College of Criminal Justice Education, Jose Rizal Memorial State University, Philippines

²College of Arts and Sciences, Jose Rizal Memorial State University, Philippines

³College of Criminal Justice Education, Jose Rizal Memorial State University, Philippines

⁴College of Criminal Justice Education, Jose Rizal Memorial State University, Philippines

⁵College of Business Administration, Jose Rizal Memorial State University, Philippines

⁶College of Education, Jose Rizal Memorial State University, Philippines

DOI:10.55559/sjahss.v1i08.41 | Received: 06.08.2022 | Accepted: 10.08.2022 | Published: 13.08.2022

ABSTRACT

Language anxiety is thought to hinder language learning, and if the learners are truly anxious in class, they are probably not fully engaged, if at all. With the help of the Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale (FLSAS) and a free-speaking exercise, this study intends to ascertain the association between language anxiety and speaking performance among undergraduate and graduate students. Frequency count, percent, mean, and Kruskal Wallis were used as statistical techniques to total, tabulate, and further analyze and interpret scores. An extensive, unstructured phenomenological interview with the students was undertaken to ascertain the causes of their language anxiety, and the thematic analysis was carried out using Giorgi's phenomenological method. Students did less satisfactorily in speaking performances and were found to be moderately worried. Language anxiety and speaking abilities, particularly in vocabulary and comprehension, are significantly correlated. This is ascribed to error-causing factors such as the impact of the native language on the second language, lack of confidence, anxiety about communicating, and fear of being evaluated. This study concluded that speaking performance could be predicted using linguistic anxiety. Particularly in understanding and vocabulary, the worried learner frequently performed worse than the native speaker when speaking in English. According to this study, students who are really worried about language should receive training. Teachers can provide straightforward, captivating, varied, and entertaining oral tasks that will give pupils the chance to speak English freely.

Keywords: language anxiety, speaking performance, thematic analysis, sources of anxiety

Introduction

Every learner has some level of linguistic anxiety when communicating verbally and in writing. It is believed that this worry prevents language learning, and if students are truly anxious in class, they are probably not engaged at all. The purpose of this investigation is to determine how students' speaking skills are impacted by language anxiety.

Inadequate self-appraisal of communicative capacities in that language contributes to foreign language anxiety (Rodriguez & Abreu, 2003), a situation-specific worry that results from the peculiarity of formal foreign language learning. One of the three elements of foreign language anxiety is fear of communication. It is described as having anxiety or fear when speaking to others. This may manifest as difficulty hearing a spoken message or as oral communication anxiety in a group or in public (Djafri & Wimbarti, 2018; Horwitz et al.). Students who experience anxiety in the classroom are reluctant to participate in speaking activities because they feel incompetent at speaking and are fearful of being negatively evaluated by their peers, according to Tsiplakides and Keramida's 2009 research. Speaking performance is the act of conveying ideas to the audience using words, sounds, and phrases.

The act of transmitting signals from the speaker to the listener through words, utterances, and sentences is known as speaking performance. One of the assessments used to gauge students' speaking ability is oral presentations. Chuang (2009) claims that one of the difficulties students run into when giving oral presentations is feeling nervous, frightened, and afraid to talk. Furthermore, according to Subasi (2010), one of the factors contributing to students' anxiousness is a linguistic barrier. Other elements include the students' individual characteristics, such as shyness, performance anxiety in front of their classmates, confidence, and physical appearance (Al-Nouh, AbdulKareem, & Taqi, 2015). Many language learners find it difficult to explain themselves in spoken target language, according to Tuan and Mai (2015). They also highlighted that several factors, such as topical knowledge, listening skills, motivation to speak, instructor comments during speaking activities, confidence, pressure to do well, and preparation time, have an impact on students' speaking abilities. Azher,

Anwar, and Naz (2010) asserted that speaking in a foreign language in front of others makes students more anxious. Naz (2010) noted that anxiety is further exacerbated by students' worries about grammatical errors, pronunciation, and being unable to respond quickly. According to Singh's study from 2021, university instruction falls short of providing students with the English language communication skills they need to be more employable after graduation. The appropriateness of university preparation has the lowest mean (1.60) when it comes to formal presentations. This shows that experience and exposure to oral presentations are sufficient.

In earlier investigations, a variety of factors were shown to affect linguistic anxiety. Students' motivation to learn (Bandura, 1997), belief in language acquisition (Horwitz et al., 1986), personalities (Dewaele & Furnham, in Duxbury & Tsai, 2010), how teachers interact with students (Vygotsky, in Duxbury & Tsai, 2010), prior language knowledge (Frantzen & Magnan, in Duxbury & Tsai, 2010), and other factors are all taken into consideration. The relationship between students' performance at a state-funded institution and their fear about learning a foreign language, notably in the Philippines, hasn't received much research, though. Knowing more about how Filipinos who already speak two languages pick up a third language would be interesting. Some students undergoing on-the-job training, according to employers and service providers, have difficulty interacting with others. Additionally, it has been seen that students' language anxiety affects how well they perform in discussions, oral presentations, and reporting. The need for additional practice integrating and effectively delivering technical material during meetings and briefings has also been mentioned by interns.

The purpose of this study is to determine how language anxiety affects third-year college students' ability to speak during the first semester of the 2021–2022 academic year at Jose Rizal Memorial State University's College of Criminal Justice Education, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business Education, and Graduate School. The results of the study will be pertinent to how well students can communicate orally, enabling them to become successful communicators, which will be especially important in the job. The study's results will also give teachers a framework for changing to more productive teaching methods to reduce student anxiety. The findings will aid those in charge of selecting tactics and activities to use and ways to reduce students' anxiety during teacher training seminars.

Theoretical Consideration

The Theory of Foreign Language Anxiety by Horwitz and Cope, which appeared in Cantina in 1986, served as the foundation for this study. (2017). FLA is described as "a separate complex construct of self-perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and actions linked with classroom language learning deriving from the uniqueness of the language learning process" by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986). (p. 128). They suggested that, as opposed to an instance of regular classroom anxiety being transferred to foreign language study, foreign language anxiety should be seen as a situation-specific worry arising from the distinctiveness of foreign language study's formal learning. They contend that no subject incorporates self-concept and self-expression to the same degree as learning a foreign language. This distinguishes anxiety brought on by learning a foreign language from anxiety brought on by other scholastic worries. Although students who experience general anxiety may be more prone to developing FLA, it is not unusual for students to struggle when studying a foreign language who perform well in other subjects. Therefore, there must be a unique aspect of language acquisition that unnerves students.

Several things can contribute to language anxiety. Language anxiety is mostly caused by learner traits, teacher characteristics, and classroom procedures, according to Horwitz, 1986 in Nimat (2013). Second language anxiety can be influenced by a variety of learner characteristics, including difficulty understanding, self-perceived low anxiety, competitiveness, perfectionism, self-awareness, speaking activities, test anxiety, the presence of fluent speakers, students' beliefs about language learning, lack of peer group membership, fear of negative evaluation, negative classroom experiences, and others. Second language anxiety has been connected to a variety of factors, including academic success (e.g., worse course grades), cognitive processes (e.g., struggling to produce the language), the social environment (e.g., communicating less), and the language learner's response (e.g., traumatic events) (Cantina, 2017). English language learners who are anxious may not be able to pass oral activities because their nervousness makes it difficult for them to perform well (Yan & Horwitz, 2008). Conversely, children who are more at ease do better since language anxiety does not affect them (Woodrow, 2006).

Methods

The data for this study were collected using an explanatory sequential mixed-method approach. According to Plano Clark (2011, as referenced in Subedi, 2016, p. 573), an explanatory sequential design entails first gathering quantitative data and then qualitative data to help explain or expound on the quantitative results. This strategy is justified by the fact that, while quantitative data and results offer a basic image of the study problem, further analysis—specifically the gathering of qualitative data—is required to enhance, extend, or explain the overall picture. A request was made to carry out the study. Google Forms was used to send the questionnaire and consent form. The 61 college students who were enrolled during the second semester of the academic year 2021–2021 and who were chosen through purposive sampling from the College of Criminal Justice Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business Education, and the Graduate School served as the study's respondents. These pupils are interested in online and modular learning methods and are from Dipolog and Dapitan.

To address any study-related discoveries before enrolling in OJT in their fourth year and preparing for their oral presentation to graduate school students, the third-year students were selected. All the students in each class served as the study's responders in order to collect the quantitative data. Only 21 students were asked to participate in the interview after conducting a survey on language anxiety and evaluating speaking performance to get the qualitative data. These pupils were exhibiting severe anxiety and giving speaking performances that ranged from subpar to acceptable. There are three components to the research tool for this study. The respondents' age and gender-specific socio-demographic profiles were covered in the first section.

The second component was a modification of the FLSAS, which was employed in the Toubot et al. investigation (2018). It is an 18-item questionnaire that was adapted from Ozturk and Gurbuz (2014), who created theirs by choosing 18 items from the FLCAS (foreign language classroom anxiety scale; Horwitz et al., 1986)'s 33 items. According to Ozturk and Gurbuz (2014), they selected 18 of the FLCAS Horwitz scale's 33 items since they are specifically connected to speaking in a foreign language with anxiety. Each item was rated by the respondents on a 4-point Likert scale, with the options being "strongly disagree" and "strongly agree." Ozturk and Gurbuz (2014) determined that a total score of more than 72 indicates a high level of speaking anxiety, a total score between 54 and 72 indicates a moderate level of speaking anxiety, and a total score of less than 54 indicates a low level of speaking anxiety when speaking a foreign language.

The performance-based test results for the students' free speaking performances were the subject of Part III. The pupils were given a criterion by the researchers to evaluate their speaking abilities. There were five main evaluation factors listed in the rubric: grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, pronunciation, and fluency. The following ranges were employed: 1–5 is below average, 6–10 is normal, 11–15 is above average, 16–20 is outstanding, and 21–25 is very good. The other researcher, a language instructor, conducted intercoder validity after assessing speaking performance by class. Results were contrasted, talked over, and accepted. Frequency count, percent, mean, and Kruskal Wallis were used as statistical techniques to total, tabulate, and further analyze and interpret scores. The study's data were all handled with the strictest confidentially. A speaking ability rubric was utilized to evaluate the students' performance in speaking, and it was based on Brown's suggested scoring categories for speaking evaluation (2004). Each course's instructor carried out the speech assignment to evaluate the students' public speaking skills using a rubric. Each student had three to five minutes to talk on the subject, which they did synchronously over Google Meet during the scheduled class time. Grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, pronunciation, and fluency are the many components. These considerations can be helpful in determining whether a student's speaking performance is good. To put this into practice, the researcher gave the following instructions to the students formally enrolled in the courses forensic polygraphy, forensic ballistics, ergonomics and facilities planning, pragmatics, and victimology: What difficulties did the students face during the pandemic, in (a)? (a) What advantages and disadvantages come with flexible learning? (c) Why is research in forensic ballistics important? (d) Why is forensic polygraphy research important? (e) How to address concerns from visitors? (f) Why is English a crucial language for oral communication? (g) Why is it important to comprehend the various theories of crime causation and express oneself freely on this subject? The most important questions to ask to comprehend the courses are those pertaining to these subjects. These subjects allowed the students to share knowledge, understanding, and their own experiences. The other researcher, a language instructor, conducted intercoder validity after assessing speaking performance by class. Results were contrasted, talked over, and accepted.

An extensive, unstructured phenomenology interview to learn the causes of the students' linguistic fear was conducted. The most suitable method for the qualitative data was determined to be the phenomenological approach since it emphasizes the similarities of the students' actual experiences. The main objective of adopting this strategy to gather qualitative data is to obtain the most precise justification for why they felt frightened or worried about using English in their speaking performance. The unstructured phenomenology in-depth interview was only given to pupils who were very nervous and had weak speaking abilities. This interview was captured on camera. The two researchers, who are both language professors, will transcribe the audio recording. Additionally, Giorgi's phenomenological approach, which was also applied in Holroyd's research, was utilized in this study (2001). Explaining the meaning structures that come from the experience of the subject of the investigation is the aim of phenomenological analysis. Two researchers—both language teachers—compare individual analyses, discuss areas of difference and resemblance, and come up with the final analysis to establish inter-coder reliability.

Result and Discussion

Table 1

Level of Students’ Language Anxiety

The respondents' level of anxiety is shown in Table 1. It was discovered that most students have mild to moderate speaking anxiety. According to the descriptive results, 60.66% of the participants had a speaking anxiety score between 54 and 72, which is moderate. As a result, it can be inferred that the students were reluctant to talk during the oral presentation. This further suggests that the kids' degree of concern toward English is alarmingly high. The results supported the Toubut research (2017). The results of this study showed that students' degrees of speaking anxiety in EFL ranged from moderate to severe. The results of the study also indicated that low self-confidence was the most prevalent problem, followed by communication anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. Additionally, Melouah (2013) examined the causes and levels of oral performance anxiety among 54 Algerian EFL university students and discovered that the students had a moderate level of speaking anxiety and that one of the causes was a lack of language proficiency. In their study, Liu and Jackson found that 547 Chinese ESL university students' fear of failing and their fear of being judged all had a role in their nervousness when speaking in front of others (2008). The pupils' comments make the findings clear. 

"Because I’m afraid of getting chastized or criticized by others if I make a mistake while communicating verbally or being asked to use the English language by them." (Participant 1)

As a result, educators must create a multifaceted intervention approach that is helpful in lowering English language anxiety in public speaking.

Table 2

Kruskal Wallis H Test of Significant Difference on the level of language anxiety when grouped as to their profile

Table 2 revealed that there is no appreciable sex-based difference in the anxiety levels of respondents. This shows that respondents who identified as male and female experienced the same level of worry. The finding was in opposition to those of Gerencheal's investigation (2016). The results of the study showed that females were more anxious in their English classes than their male colleagues. The t-test also showed that there were substantial gender differences in the levels of anxiety among pupils. The fact that other academics have reached identical results to the ones stated here should be underlined. According to Aida (1994) and Onwuegbuzie et al. (1999), as cited by Gerenchel (2016), there was no gender difference in the prevalence of foreign language anxiety. Even though females' anxiety levels were somewhat higher than males', Berhanu (2005) and Melkamu (2008) concluded that there was no discernible gender difference in anxiety levels in Ethiopia.

However, a more thorough analysis of the data revealed that more female respondents than male respondents reported feeling anxious. These findings imply that English teachers shouldn't assume that every student, regardless of gender, age, or age range, is the same. As a result, whether their pupils are young or old, male or female, teachers should adapt their English classes to the abilities of their students. The table shows that there is no appreciable age-related difference in respondents' anxiety levels. As a result, the participants' age had no influence on how anxious they were because anxiety levels vary little with age. According to Alico's (2015) study, there were no significant differences in linguistic anxiety across the five age groups she examined.

In contrast, Aydin (2008) found that anxiety is age-related and that it diminishes as pupils get older. On the other hand, the current investigation disproves this idea. Furthermore, age may be a mitigating factor in linguistic anxiety, according to research by Dewaele (2007, cited in Marx, 2019). In the study, it was discovered that older students had higher anxiety levels. Additionally, Dewaele, Petrides, and Furnham (2008) found a connection between learners' ages and their anxiety about learning a foreign language. Older pupils showed less anxiety in situations requiring communication in a foreign language, the researchers found. According to Cheng and Erben (2012), the cultural setting may have a role in some gender-related discomfort. This can be one of the causes for the inconsistent findings of studies (Dewaele & Al-Saraj, 2013). Participants' gender, language prowess, and learning strategies related to anxiety, per Yan and Horwitz (2008). When it comes to gender as an anxiety component, the overall results seem to be inconsistent.

Table 3

Students’ Speaking Performance

The respondents' performance in a free-speaking exercise is shown in Table 3. The level of speaking performance is below average, as shown in the table. This suggests that respondents had less experience of speaking freely when participating in the activity. The pupils also performed poorly on tests of grammar, vocabulary, understanding, and pronunciation, according to the data, but an interesting result showed that they also performed poorly on tests of fluency. This indicates that children were unable to communicate clearly and coherently during the exercise. These results confirmed Elisa's findings (2021). The researchers tried to assess the students' speaking issues, and they found that grammatical accuracy and fluency were the main problems with the students' speaking ability when delivering commercial advertisements. Most students have anxiety when speaking because they have trouble putting complete phrases into good syntax. The effect made it difficult for the students to speak clearly, and they frequently lost their ideas while doing so.

Wang (2014), citing Skehan implies that students must be able to talk clearly and quickly. Students should make sure that the idea they want to express to their classmates has the same meaning without sacrificing the content or the idea itself, in addition to speaking quickly and naturally. Students discuss the topics they want to discuss with their friends in the fluency part in a way that their friends can understand. Based on this, teachers may run exercises that provide students the chance to practice speaking clearly, such as conversations, interviews, role plays, and oral recitation.

The table showed that there was a considerable difference in the respondents' speaking performance based on sex. This indicates that speaking ability varies between the sexes. Male and female respondents both performed more effectively. This result is consistent with Awan's research (2017). The speeches were given by The Educators' students, who demonstrated their speaking abilities. Both boys and girls did well on this test, however altogether, girls earned 75% and boys got 74%. Even if the gap was only 1%, girls were still outperforming boys in terms of academic performance. The Country Schools students delivered speeches as part of their speaking talents. Overall, girls earned 83 percent, while boys scored 78 percent. Boys were underperforming compared to girls.

Other scholars concur that women have more advanced verbal abilities than men do. Female language dominance has no effect on their performance and abilities, claims Sugiarto (2002). They reject the idea that gender disparities are caused by inherited traits, hormones, or differences in brain structure, but they do admit that environmental and sociopsychological factors have a greater impact. Psychological research has shown that the male and female hemispheres develop at different rates and specialize to different degrees (Qian, 2015). Males use the right hemisphere more than females, which makes them better at spatial skills, claims Qian (2015).

Women, on the other hand, gain from their capacity to use their left hemisphere in terms of verbal expressiveness and short-term memory. However, contradictory findings were obtained in the study by Erdiana et al. (2019), which revealed that female students' English-speaking abilities were no better than those of male students. Their grades were hardly different, with the female students receiving greater marks than the male ones. However, when the researchers administered the speaking test to both male and female students, they discovered that, despite having some issues with vocabulary, grammar, and fluency, almost all the male students were more assured, active, and enthusiastic in describing the pictures they were given than the female students. But the students that are female somewhat perform better in comprehension and pronunciation.

Table 4

Kruskal Wallis H Test of Significant Difference on the Speaking Ability when grouped as to their Profile

Note: The profile is limited to age and sex [a=0.05, two-tailed] 1 is female; 2 is male

The data from the unstructured interview revealed the reasons why men perform less well than women.

I feel nervous when I am asked to use English during oral communication, especially in English courses, because the English language is not my usual language used daily, and we are also free to use Bisaya in our classes, so I cannot bring out my thoughts regarding the topics. (Maria).

Based on this finding, the teachers may use certain ways to permit involvement of the students in activities like debates, panel discussions, reporting, vlogging, etc. by both male and female students. Students may thus be encouraged to speak English in classes other than those taught in the language.

Another noteworthy discovery was made after careful examination of the table. Regarding sex fluency, there is a sizable gap. This indicates that a male and a female communicate differently in terms of fluency. Male and female respondents differed in their levels of fluency. This conclusion complements the findings of Erdiana et al. (2019), which showed that female students were still more proficient in the areas of grammar, fluency, and understanding. According to the results, female students scored 123 while male students scored 113. The female students scored 135 in fluency, whereas the male pupils scored 128. The male students scored 136 while the female pupils scored 149 in understanding.

It can be said that the speaking abilities of the female students at this institution are superior to those of the male students. The researchers advise English teachers to keep in mind, practice eliminating gender bias in the classroom, and offer all students a chance to speak during class speaking practice to prevent some students from dominating the conversation. For students to talk more confidently, think more clearly, and feel less afraid of making mistakes, teachers must also assist students build confidence, reduce anxiety, and participate more actively in class activities. Using this knowledge, teachers can design lessons that will assist students improve their speaking fluency, such as conversations, interviews, role plays, and oral recitations.

Table 5

Kruskal Wallis H Test of Significant Relationship between Language Anxiety and Speaking Performance

Note: One-tailed test, if the hypothesis is “Language anxiety and speaking ability are related.”

The correlation between speaking ability and language anxiety is shown in Table 5. The table demonstrates a significant correlation between speaking ability and language anxiety. This indicates that kids' speaking abilities are impacted by language anxiety. This suggests that pupils perform less well when speaking the more anxious they are. Additionally, there is a strong connection between vocabulary and comprehension as well as language anxiety. In other words, the more worried the students are, the harder it is for them to utilize the best, most appropriate words, and phrases, and the less accurately they answer the question. These conclusions are supported by Zheng and Cheng's (2018) research, which revealed that cognitive exam anxiety was a significant detriment to language proficiency. The findings of the interviews did not fully corroborate the relationships found in the survey. Most students did not experience extreme anxiety in their academic settings, including lectures and testing situations. However, they did express their reluctance to communicate in English in class. Only speaking anxiety, out of all the types of stress, may strongly predict English proficiency, according to a study by Jugo (2020). This implies that the English proficiency score of Filipino learners is decreased by 10.421 points for each unit of increased anxiety about speaking activities. This demonstrates that speaking performance was worse for students who were more anxious, and that speaking performance may be predicted using English language anxiety. The results imply that anxious students had severe self-consciousness when required to speak English in front of others. They were highly conscious of making mistakes and did not like ridicule or embarrassing themselves in front of others. As speaking needs to be spontaneous, the students tried to steer clear of activities like recitation and speech delivery.

Additionally, students find it upsetting when their mistakes are made in front of the entire class. The bulk of the causes also included ineffective correction, which may have been brought on by students' resistance to receiving criticism and correction in front of the entire class. They felt humiliated each time they said the words incorrectly. As a result, the teacher's approach to managing the classroom is crucial for lowering student anxiety. The answers offered by the teachers must consider the causes and conditions of the students' concern. The teacher can speak to the entire class instead of correcting a particular student and discuss the proper response in general, avoiding focusing on a single kid and causing anxiety.

Sources of language anxiety

The data showed pertinent origins of the participant's anxiety after a phenomenological unstructured in-depth interview, transcription, and thematic analysis. 

Communication Apprehension. The primary source of linguistic worry among first responders is anxiety about communication. This suggests that the students don't speak out because they are shy. In earlier research (CA), Daly (1997), Tsui (1996), and Leary (2013) referred to communication apprehension using various terms. It has been classified as social anxiety, shyness, or reserve. Anxiety develops when a person wants to leave a particular impression on the audience but is doubtful of their own talents. The person might lack L2 lexicon, pronunciation, or grammar. When speaking in a foreign language, the speaker could feel as though someone else is speaking instead of herself (Horwitz, 2001). People who stutter but have good singing or acting voices are contrasted with those who stutter but have strong vocal range. People are nervous when they must speak in front of others. Because of this, individuals experience anxiety when required to speak in front of a group.

These conclusions are supported by the following comments:

“I think the reasons that made me feel nervous in using English language in any oral communication activities is that I am a shy type of a person.” (Markie)

“When I am already stuttering, I know that I am already nervous.” (Samlia)

“I know that I’m anxious in speaking English when I start to stutter when I try to speak using English language.” (Edgar)

Lacking Self-confidence. Lack of self-assurance is another cause of language anxiety that this study identified. Most participants admitted that they lack the confidence to speak in front of a group of people or in a public setting because they lack subject matter expertise, have a restricted vocabulary, and are ill-prepared. Additionally, they worry about their grammar and pronunciation and feel inferior to their classmates who speak English well. These are backed up by the subsequent responses:

“I am not confident using English language due to the grammar if it is correct or not. Also, the English words are very limited in many terms during oral communication.” (Maria)

“The reason why that I feel nervous because of classmates that some of them are very competitive in English language they know how to pronounce and how to use the good grammar in every sentence or terms that they use in every communication activity in every class that we had. “(Noreen)

“I felt nervous speaking with people listening because I am unprepared or unfamiliar with the particular topic. Most of the times, I cannot bring out my thoughts regarding the topics given to me.” (Maria)

One of the personality traits that has a strong correlation with anxiety is self-confidence. Self-evaluations of one's own value and worth are traits of self-confidence (Park & Lee, 2005). If a language student feels inadequate and constrained in the target language, this will negatively affect their self-confidence. On the other side, oral performance demonstrates a positive relationship with confidence (Zhang, 2001). Additionally, anxious leaders could approach the target language task in a different way (Fallah, 2014). As a result, a supportive environment can be created in the classroom where students can build their self-confidence and reduce their anxiety, leading to better learning and performance. Teachers can provide pupils short, engaging oral exercises that will improve their ability to speak English fluently.

Fear of being judge negatively. The respondents claim that a significant cause of stress is the dread of making mistakes and getting them corrected or given a bad evaluation. They were concerned that their comments would be scrutinized and corrected in front of the entire class. This finding is reflected in the following responses:

“I am terrified of being criticized by the listener on the way I pronounce a word or for my grammar, that’s why I am nervous in using English in any oral communication activity.” (Venus)

“I get really nervous because I’m worried that others will judge me based on the words I use or the way I pronounce it.” (JC)

“I am afraid to be judged with my classmates who are basically good in English language. (Nizza)

This result confirms Ohata's (2005a) observation that students' linguistic anxiety is influenced by their fear of making mistakes and lack of confidence. Fear of receiving a poor grade is related to test anxiety (FNE). According to Gregersen and Horwitz (2002), FNE have a direct impact on learners' behavior in communication-oriented contexts because they have a tendency to limit their participation in any type of task that exposes them to peer or teacher review. Due to a lack of practice and avoidance, the student will not be able to enhance his or her oral abilities. The anxiety issue then gets worse. As a result, anxiety is closely tied to certain circumstances, and pupils are affected by it whenever and wherever.

In a study on Turkish EFL learners, Ok and Ustaci [18] found that students preferred not to be corrected by their teachers when they made a mistake while speaking because they believed that the corrections made by their teacher were a source of anxiety. Both studies identified fear of error correction or negative evaluation as the most significant cause of foreign language anxiety. Speaking is also the act of verbally expressing one's views, beliefs, and feelings in a conversation or talk, according to Finnochiaro and Brumfit (as cited in Nirmawati, 2015). Speaking involves more than just stating whatever comes to mind; it also involves making sure the other person listening comprehends the topic at hand.

Speaking lecturers should refrain from interrupting their students when they are working on expressive assignments as a result. The process of learning a language involves making mistakes, which teachers might emphasize to their students. In other words, speaking instructors should prioritize fluency above accuracy. Additionally, a training program to help students overcome their language phobia may be given to those who are extremely anxious. How the first language affects the second Cebuano-influence Visayan's on English, the second language, is a very significant finding in the study that is infrequently found in other recent studies. They admitted that Cebuano-Visayan has influenced the way they speak English based on their comments. This indicates that they rely on Cebuano-Visayan in oral activities rather than English because it is more natural to them. Additionally, it implies that they have had less opportunity to use English in oral activities and have been exposed to Cebuano-Visayan more.

The following responses back up this assertion:

“Yes, my first language which is Bisaya influence a lot to my English language during communication in the class. I only used few English word then to express my thoughts the rest are Bisayan words.” (Nizza).

“Yes, my first language or dialect, which I used to speak, had a significant impact on my ability to speak English in class, considering the type of environment in which I grew up.” (Lady Pearl)

“Yes, it influences my second language because I grow up speaking or using my first language so if when I use my second language, it is influenced by my first language.” (Rizza)

“Yes, my first language, which is Cebuano, really influenced my English in class. I somehow have a hard time speaking English because I don’t speak English most of the times but Bisaya.” (Candida)

To encourage students to communicate in English throughout the class rather than allowing them to use Cebuano-Visayan, teachers from a variety of programs, not only those that speak English, may give engaging learning activities. The consequence will be an increase in student confidence and a decrease in their anxiety of receiving unfavorable criticism from others. According to Gregersen and Horwitz (2002), students' inexperience speaking English and propensity to refrain from doing so out of concern for negative feedback from others make them more anxious and hinder their development in oral skills.

A Program for Speaking Intervention

The study's findings are used to suggest an intervention program called "OVERCOMING FEAR OF SPEAKING: Skill-based Instructional Strategies in Enhancing Speaking Performance." It is an intervention program for contextualized speaking designed for college and graduate students. After the references, there is further information about the intervention program.

Conclusion

Based on its important results, this study demonstrated that linguistic anxiety can be used to forecast speaking ability. In English speaking, the anxious learner did worse overall, especially in terms of vocabulary and comprehension. Male and female speakers perform differently in terms of fluency. Male comments were less poetic than those from females. Several other factors, such as the impact of the first language on the second language, lack of confidence, fear of judgment, communication anxiety, and other factors can also cause anxiety.

This study suggests that a training program may be given to extremely anxious students to aid them in overcoming their fear of language. To encourage children to speak English freely, teachers might give them simple, engaging oral assignments that are varied, enjoyable, and intriguing. To get both male and female students involved, teachers could employ debate, panel discussions, reporting, vlogging, and other techniques. Students might thus be encouraged to use English in other classes in addition to English classes. Teachers from other programs, not simply English-speaking ones, might devise engaging learning activities that require pupils to speak English the entire time rather than allowing them to speak Cebuano-Visayan.

 Acknowledgments

The researchers would like to sincerely thank the JRMSU Administration for the encouragement and support extended. The same gratitude is given to all the respondents and participants for their active involvement in the conduct of the study.

Conflict of interests:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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