The Experience of English Speaking Anxiety and Coping Strategies: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study
Keywords:
Emotional Tension, English Speaking Anxiety, Transcendental Phenomenology, Physiological Effects, Mental DifficultiesAbstract
The study investigates the speaking anxiety and strategies that second language learners use to deal with their anxiety when they speak English. The researcher conducts semi-structured interviews to collect data. There were 55 students in a state university in the Philippines who participated in the study, and the top five students with the highest level of anxiety were interviewed for data collection. Transcendental phenomenology was used as a method of the research. The results showed that learners have emotional tensions, physiological symptoms, and mental difficulties when they speak English. The fear of losing face or negative feedback was also attributed to the anxiety of the students. The researcher also found that the students use some strategies to cope with their nervousness by utilizing helpful tools such as reading books in English and consulting a dictionary. The strategies enabled the students to put their thoughts into writing, overcome their shyness, and become open-minded with the teacher’s corrections or feedback.
References
Ahmed, N., Pathan, Z., & Khan, F. (2017). Exploring the causes of English language speaking anxiety among postgraduate students of University of Balochistan, Pakistan. International Journal of English Linguistics, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v7n2p99
Alhatmi, A. (2019). A survey study of the dictionary use sub-strategies of English major in Saudi Arabia: Dictionary related aspects. English Language Teaching, 12(3).
Al Hosni, S. (2014). Speaking difficulties encountered by young EFL learners. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL), 2(6), 22-30.
Atas, M. (2015). The reduction of speaking anxiety in EFL learners through drama techniques. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 176, 961-969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.565
Basic, L. (2011). Speaking anxiety: An obstacle to second language learning?
Brown, D. H. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching. Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Language, Inc. (TESOL), 14(2), 240-242. https://doi.org/10.2307/3586319
Chiu, C. Y., Chang, K. C., Chen, K. Y., Cheng, W. Y., Li, P. S., & Lo, Y. C. (2010). College students’ English-speaking anxiety at the foreign language corner. Journal of National Formosa University, 29(1), 105-116. http://dx.doi.org/10.6425%2fJNHUST.201003.0106
Cook, V. (2016). Krashen’s Comprehensible Hypothesis Model of L2 learning: Notes by Vivian Cook. Second Language Learning & Language Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.viviancook.uk/SLA/Krashen.htm
Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative & quantitative approaches. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Creswell, J. W. (2006). Qualitative inquiry and research design. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (1st ed). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Cristobal, J. A. & Lasaten, R. C. S. (2018). Oral communication apprehensions and academic performance of Grade 7 students. Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 6(3).
Finch, A. (2001). The non-threatening learning environment. The Korea TESOL Journal, 4(1).
Fontanilla, G. (2016). English language learning motivation and self-identity changes of Filipino English majors in Philippine universities. Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 4.
Fujii, S. (2017). An investigation into the effectiveness of strategies for reducing student language anxiety. Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers (HUSCAP).
Hashemi, M. (2011). Language stress and anxiety among the English language learners. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 1811-1816. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.349
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. A. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal. 70(2), 125-132. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1986.tb05256.x
Kondo, S., & Yang, Y-L. (2003). The English Language Classroom Anxiety Scale: Test construction, reliability, and validity. JALT Journal, 25, 593–598.
Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Liu, M., & Jackson, J. (2008). An exploration of Chinese EFL learners’ unwillingness to communicate and foreign language anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 92(1), 71-86. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00687.x
Lizuka, K. (2010). Learner coping strategies for foreign language anxiety, A.M. Stroke (Ed.). JALT Conference Proceedings.
Lucas, I. R., Miraflores, E, & Go, D. (2011). English language learning anxiety among foreign language learners in the Philippines. Philippine ESL Journal, 7, 94-119.
Mart, C. T. (2012). Developing speaking skills through reading. International Journal of English Linguistics, 2(6), 91-96. doi:10.5539/ijel.v2n6p91
Mohtasham, L., & Farnia, M. (2017). English speaking anxiety: A study of the effect of gender on Iranian EFL university students’ perceptions. International Journal of Research in English Education, 2(4), 66-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.29252/ijree.2.4.66
Moneva, J. C., Acibar, L. B., & Monding, N. C. (2020). Class size and students’ anxiety in oral recitation. Journal of Social Science Studies, 7(2).
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412995658
Nagahashi, T. L. (2007). Techniques for reducing foreign language anxiety: Results of a successful intervention study. Japan: Akita University.
Pappamihiel, N. E. (2002). English as a second language students and English language anxiety: Issues in the mainstream classroom. Research in the Teaching of English, 36, 327-355. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40171530
Park, H. S. (2010). Teachers’ and learners’ preferences for error correction. California State University.
Sadiq, J. M. (2017). Anxiety in English language learning: A case study of English language learners in Saudi Arabia. English Language Teaching, 10(7), 1-7. http://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v10n7p1
Salend, S. J. (2012). Teaching students not to sweat the test. Phi Delta Kappan, 93(6), 20-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171209300605
SHIFT eLearning (2020). The 6 laws of learning no instructional designer can afford to ignore. Retrieved July 7, 2021 from https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/355338/the-6-laws-of-learning-no-instructional-designer-can-afford-to-ignore
Tanveer, M. (2007). Investigation of the factors that cause language anxiety for ESL/EFL learners in learning speaking skills and the influence it casts on communication in the target language. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of Glasgow. United Kingdom.
Tavares, V. (2016). The role of peer interaction and second language learning for ESL students in academic contexts: An extended literature review. York University.
Thorndike, E. (1932). The Fundamentals of Learning. New York: Teachers College Press.
Thorndike’s Major Laws, (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.massey.ac.nz/~wwpapajl/evolution/assign2/MM/law.html
Zaremba, A. J. (2006). Speaking professionally. Canada: Thompson South-Western.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Ivy Marie Pabro-Maquidato
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The copyright of all articles published in the International Journal of TESOL & Education (ijte) remains with the Authors, i.e. Authors retain full ownership of their article. Permitted third-party reuse of the open access articles is defined by the applicable Creative Commons (CC) end-user license which is accepted by the Authors upon submission of their paper. All articles in the ijte are published under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, meaning that end users can freely share an article (i.e. copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt it (i.e. remix, transform and build upon the material) on the condition that proper attribution is given (i.e. appropriate credit, a link to the applicable license and an indication if any changes were made; all in such a way that does not suggest that the licensor endorses the user or the use) and the material is only used for non-commercial purposes.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, in a journal or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.