Search

The mastery of communication skills is undeniably considered the most important aspect in modern-day EFL contexts. Nevertheless, becoming communicatively competent is particularly difficult for foreign language learners as it is influenced by a number of factors including affective factors. Among the several affective factors which affect foreign language learning especially speaking, anxiety emerges to be the crucial one that has a devastating effect on the oral performances of students. This paper reviews the speaking anxiety phenomenon in the field of foreign language learning. The possible factors that cause speaking anxiety to come into play are described and discussed in accordance with the central themes appearing from an examination of relevant literature. The central themes are (1) cognitive factors covering topics, genre, interlocutors, and processing demands; (2) affective factors dealing with feelings towards the topic and/or the participants, and also self-consciousness; and (3) performance factors concerning mode, degree of collaboration, discourse control, planning and rehearsal time, time pressure and environmental conditions. Understanding the nature of this anxiety and the sources it springs from thoroughly should help both teachers and learners to gain more insights and find ways with which to deal with anxiety in EFL classrooms.

This paper aims at addressing the issue of speaking anxiety in ESL/EFL learning. This study of literature is believed to be significant as it can give insights into ESL/EFL anxiety and how it can be coped. In doing so, this paper starts with the description of the nature of language anxiety in ESL/EFL learning particularly speaking anxiety, its theoretical overview, causes of such an anxiety, and its effects on ESL/EFL learning. Furthermore, there is a review of studies on strategies used to cope with language and speaking anxiety in ESL/EFL learning or classrooms. These coping strategies can be classified into two categories, namely 1) self-employed strategies employed by anxious learners consisting of five strategies--in which two are inapplicable, and 2) employed by teachers, which consists of three strategies. Those strategies are able to help overcome the learner’s anxiety, leading to the more successful ESL/EFL learning. In addition, in ESL/EFL classrooms teachers play a key role in relieving anxiety experienced by their students. In conclusion, speaking anxiety can have debilitating impacts on learners experiencing it. However, this problem can be overcome with strategies employed by learners and their teachers.

Foreign Language Anxiety is a common problem among learners, even more relevant if they are future teachers. This paper presents a case study that aims to identify and understand the reasons for foreign language anxiety among undergraduates learning English in a Spanish Faculty of Education. We gathered information from 63 students and 4 teachers through classroom observations, questionnaires and a focus group. The results identify three interrelated categories of causes of language anxiety. Furthermore, the explanatory model proposed here introduces the classification of root sources, triggering sources, and contributing sources. More specifically, we postulate that root sources can be traced to the learners themselves (poor English proficiency, low self-efficacy, etc.) and, because of this, other external factors, mainly, speaking exercises in front of the classroom, can trigger anxiety experiences. This model improves our understanding of how sources of language anxiety interact in this context and other similar learning settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated preparatory class students’ perceptions of oral presentations and their functions in EFL learning and teaching in connection with language ability, speech anxiety, and language learning motivation. Our participants were 29 adult EFL students in two intact classes attending a mandatory English preparatory program at a state university, who performed up to three controlled oral presentations following preliminary instruction. We collected data through pre-and post-student surveys, semi-structured interviews, selfreflection forms, and peer-evaluation forms. The pre-survey results revealed that the participants already held positive perceptions of oral presentations despite perceived difficulties. The post data showed significant changes in a positive direction in four variables, namely unwillingness, experience and perception of oral presentations, and language skills. The findings from the qualitative data also confirmed that the participants had benefited from their supervised oral presentations in terms of overcoming their speaking anxiety and perceived significant improvements in a range of language skills including pronunciation and public speaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Alustath is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explores the impact of instructor effectiveness on students' achievement of course learning objectives. The authors examine how public speaking course instructors affect changes in their students' speaking anxiety. McCroskey's (1970) Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety was distributed during the first and last weeks of the semester to 1,681 students at a large, public university. A multilevel model was developed to determine whether students with more effective instructors experienced a greater reduction in speaking anxiety. Results indicate that both instructor effectiveness and students 'pre-score on the PRPSA (1970) have a significant effect on change in students' speaking anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speaking anxiety is a significant phenomenon which is experienced by the majority of learners, specifically Afghan EFL learners in their speaking. This qualitative study aimed to explore the reported experiences of seven Afghan EFL students studying in English Department of Takhar University with their speaking anxiety. For collecting the data, a semi-structured interview was designed. After collecting the data, the data was transcribed verbatim, and three important themes were drawn: (a) students' perceptions of anxiety in speaking (b) reasons for speaking anxiety (c) the effects of speaking anxiety on students' performance and the ways to overcome anxiety. The results showed that students' perceptions toward speaking anxiety are both positive and negative. The findings also revealed that correcting students' mistakes by teachers on the spot is a big cause for experiencing anxiety in speaking. The students reported that watching videos of English speakers of different English speaking countries and doing some physical exercises like, breathing deeply before taking part in classroom activities, using body language, and showing more eye contact while doing oral practices were core strategies they had used to reduce speaking anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to adapt Public Speaking Anxiety Scale by Bartholomay and Houlihan (2016) into Turkish and to test its reliability and validity. The scale was conducted on a sample of 198 undergraduates (138 females, 60 males) for validity and reliability analysis. For linguistic validity, a Turkish form, and an English form conducted on 39 4th grade undergraduates of English Teaching and the correlation between the forms was found .96. Cronbach Alpha was used to test the reliability and it was found .93 for total score. For the subscales cognitive, behavioral and psychological, it was found .88, .69 and .86, respectively. Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed that the fit indices were χ²= 211.55, p <.000, χ²/df = 2.18, GFI =.88, IFI = .947, RMR=.063 and RMSEA =.077. Analyses for the adaptation of Public Speaking Anxiety Scale revealed that it was a valid and a reliable scale in the Turkish culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Theoretical Educational Science / Kuramsal Eğitimbilim Dergisi is the property of Afyon Kocatepe University, Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The role of teacher support and student support in reducing speaking anxiety was explored in this research. The contribution of self-efficacy on the impact of teacher and classmate support in reducing speaking anxiety also was investigated among students at an international university in Thailand. The survey data were gathered from 345 students from the first to the fourth year. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. The results showed a positive association between teacher support and self-efficacy. Furthermore, classmate support had a positive linkage with self-efficacy. The results revealed that the higher self-efficacy of the student the lower the degree of speaking anxiety they experienced during oral presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the factors affecting foreign language speaking anxiety among undergraduate students who are staying in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. The main objective of the study was to find out whether foreign language speaking anxiety varied among undergraduate students in terms of residential area, socioeconomic status, parental education and occupation. A total of 100 first year students from ten departments of Jagannath University in Dhaka were selected as participants based on some criteria for avoiding extraneous effect. To measure speaking anxiety, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was used and to collect the socio-demographic factors personal information form was used. The analysis of data was done by applying appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics including independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA using SPSS version 23. The main impact of socio-demographic factors was found among undergraduate students. It has been found that, there were significant differences in foreign language speaking anxiety among different levels of residential area, socio-economic status, parental education and fathers’ occupation. But no significant differences in mother’s occupation on foreign language speaking anxiety of under graduate students were found. The implications of these findings for theory, research, and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although speaking anxiety among foreign language learners at lower levels of proficiency has been extensively studied, far too little attention has been paid to learners at more advanced levels like student teachers enrolled in English Language Teaching (ELT) programs. However, speaking in the target language is a complicated mental process influenced by several other factors than proficiency. The present study has aptly been undertaken due to considerable reticence on the part of student teachers in communicative activities. An action plan was initiated to identify the sources of student teachers' avoidance behaviors in oral production and address the concerns generated by these factors. An openended survey, journals, overall reflection papers and field notes were employed to gain insights as to the research process. Analysis of qualitative data revealed that student teachers were susceptible to experiencing anxiety in oral production due to personal and interpersonal issues, and they were positive in their perceptions of the planned intervention since it helped them build a sense of community in their classroom and enhance their self-esteem. These findings suggest several courses of action for language practitioners and teacher training institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the Pecha Kucha presentation format on English as foreign language learners’ public speaking anxiety. The participants were 49 students in the English Translation and Interpretation Department of a state university in Turkey. A pre- and post-test experimental research design was used in this study. Students were given a questionnaire as the pre-test prior to the preparation of their presentations and as the post-test immediately following the presentation in the classroom. According to the paired samples statistics, students’ English public speaking anxiety was reduced significantly as a result of their experience using the Pecha Kucha presentation format. It was concluded that this presentation format can be incorporated into the English as a Foreign Language classroom.

Speaking anxiety becomes one of the toughest barriers in EFL learning. In the meantime, speaking competence is paramount for vocational graduates at job market. Therefore, big and continuous efforts must be done to maximize the learning outcome. This paper aims to examine how active and guided peer mentoring among learners can actually decrease anxiety of vocationa learners. For the purpose, qualitative research employing a case study design involving fourteen participants of vocational learners taking Speaking II was conducted. Stages including peer mentor screening, peer mentor preparation for guidance, peer mentoring activities, peer mentoring monitoring were applied. Responses from Focus Group Discussions (FGD) among mentors and participants being mentored were collected and analyzed afterwards. Recommendations were also made from best practices generated.

This study is oriented towards the analysis of the speaking achievement of the learners of English as Foreign Language (EFL) in Saudi Arabia. It aims to examine the influence of foreign language speaking anxiety as a psycholinguistic barrier affecting speaking achievement of Saudi EFL learners. It primarily attempts to answer the research quention, ‘is there a correlation between foreign language speaking anxiety and the speaking achievement of Saudi Arabian EFL learners?’ The data of the study were collected using questionnaires and speaking achievement tests. Samples of the study were 100 (50 male and 50 female) Preparatory Year Students studying English at Northern Border University, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Descriptive statistics and Spearman’s correlation coefficient were used to analyze data in Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 25. The results of the study revealed that there is a weak correlation between the speaking language anxiety and achievement of Saudi EFL learners in speaking, the effect size of the value of r is -0.242. Based on this result, the EFL learners with high language anxiety have less achievement in speaking test while EFL learners with low language speaking anxiety have high achievement in speaking test. The value P = 0.000 (sig. 2-tailed), which is smaller than 0.05%, indicating that language anxiety has significant negative effect on the respondents’ achievement in speaking. In other words, this indicated that 1% increase in anxiety would lead to a 88.8% decrease in EFL learner's performance in speaking at 0.000 level of significance. In conclusion, the study suggested different language anxieties such as personal and interpersonal anxiety, classroom anxiety, and learners' perceptions about foreign language anxiety need to be decressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning English as a second language has been long implemented in Malaysia since post-independence in 1967. However, many research findings have established that language anxiety remains as an obstacle, which hinders students from mastering English in their second language classrooms. This paper presents the exploration on the relationship between English speaking anxiety and self-efficacy among 289 elementary school students from the population of 1080 students in the zone of Nusajaya, Johor, Malaysia. The results were compared across different academic achievers and genders. A modified version of FLCAS (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale) by Horwitzs and Cope (1986) and English Speaking Self Efficacy (ESSE) which was adapted and adopted from QESE by Wang (2013) were used as the research instruments. Questionnaires were distributed to the respondents to assess their self-perception on speaking anxiety and self-efficacy. The findings realized the existence of a significant moderate negative relationship between English language speaking anxiety and self-efficacy. No significant difference between genders in the level of speaking anxiety was found but there were significant differences among different academic achievers in the level of speaking anxiety [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This action research aims to explore the dominant causes of speaking anxiety among Saudi EFL learners, and to suggest effective strategies that can both help conquer learners' fear of communication and boost their confidence level. Saudi students suffer from a substantial level of communication apprehension. The findings of this study will be to the benefit of Saudi EFL learners as they can enhance learners' oral communication skills which are impacted negatively by learners' speaking anxiety. A total of 38 non-English majors a, 5 EFL teachers from King Khalid University and 5 EFL schoolteachers participated in this study. Survey questionnaires, discussions and semi-structured interviews were the main research tools for collecting data. The results indicate that learners 'communication apprehension stem from: insufficient exposure to English; poor vocabulary; test anxiety and concern over negative evaluation; a lack of awareness of recent trends of EFL teaching; and the absence of well equipped, modern EFL classrooms with less density. The major remedial measures include developing speaking competence by enhancing learners' oral proficiency, employing modern EFL teaching strategies by enthusiastic teachers; establishing well equipped modern EFL classrooms with lower classroom density, and introducing English from the beginning of primary school level and moderating evaluation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Language & Linguistics Studies is the property of Journal of Language & Linguistics Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The need for effective English speaking skills in engineering fields compels schools to innovate curricula that shall address the language skills of a 'global engineer.' The impact of engineering curricular reforms trickled down among students who contend with language learning anxiety, besides anxiety from mathematics and other technical courses. In this paper, the researchers explored English speaking anxiety among 162 engineering students in an engineering University in Manila, Philippines. A mixed-method, explanatory sequential design was used. This method combines the quantitative and qualitative approaches in investigating the phenomenon under study, i.e., English speaking anxiety. In the quantitative phase, the researchers used data from the speaking component of a self-developed scale and speaking performance scores yielded from an interactive English conversation task. Analysis revealed a significant negative relationship between speaking anxiety and speaking task performance, pointing to the debilitative influence of anxiety on task performance. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews among nine purposefully selected students revealed that both peers and teachers were common sources of speaking anxiety and in a variety of ways. The findings point to speaking anxiety as an important psycho- and sociolinguistic phenomenon, which is hinged on the specific roles that language teaching and learning plays in preparing engineering students as future language consumers and users in highly technical, specialized, and competitive engineering fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learner anxiety is a critical affective factor in foreign languages education. This study investigated the main causes of speaking anxiety in the context of business English (BE) instruction. In-depth interviews were conducted among BE instructors and learners at higher educational institutions in six countries in the Balkans. The study identified several causes of speaking anxiety, the most crucial being the lack of knowledge in economics and the BE lexis as the carrier content in BE learning. And especially so, when the latter combined with other causes, such as the necessity to speak unprepared in class in front of one’s peers, or problems with BE vocabulary acquisition or recollection. A quarter of the interviewees who considered themselves low-anxiety when speaking general English were prone to elevated levels of speaking anxiety when performing complex speaking tasks in BE class which require a degree of fluency in general English.

This paper reports on part of the research project in which instructor perspectives on the role of anxiety in an EFL speaking classroom and anxiety-coping strategies students employ when speaking English have been investigated. The existence of students’ speaking anxiety was revealed via a teacher interview. A total of 88 students from the intact classes also responded to an interview form for an analysis of anxiety-coping strategies they utilised when speaking English in class. The qualitative data from both instruments was analysed using the content analysis. The findings of the teacher interview data put forward that students of this study have experienced speaking-in-class anxiety. This anxiety may influence their grades, to some extent. Three factors that may hinder students’ development of oral skills emerge, including their lack of self-confidence, having poor English background and having neither intrinsic nor extrinsic motivation to use English. Using the target language as the medium of communication in class is viewed by the teachers as a must in theory, but flexibility is allowed in practice. Moreover, the results of the student interview data show a wide range of strategies employed to deal with anxiety (ie social, affective, meta-cognitive, compensatory, cognitive and memory-related strategies). Social strategies are the most frequently-used techniques. Suggestions for improvement in the overall oral English (ie vocabulary focus, audiovisual focus, self-practice, social focus, auditory focus, meta-cognitive focus, compensatory focus and affective focus) have also been given by the student participants. An increased repertoire of vocabulary is viewed as the most effective tool for such improvement.

Copyright of Journal of Language & Linguistics Studies is the property of Journal of Language & Linguistics Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Turkish Research Institute / Atatürk Üniversitesi Türkiyat Arastirmalari Enstitüsü Dergisi is the property of Ataturk University Coordinatorship of Scientific Journals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Hacettepe University Journal of Education is the property of Hacettepe University Journal of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Human beings constantly communicate with each other throughout their lives and one of the most important communication tools is the ability to speak. Teachers with speaking anxieties might suffer from an inability to adequately express themselves and their ideas. To that end, the aim of this study is to identify speaking anxieties of prospective elemantary school teachers. The study adopts a descriptive approach and the sample consists of 239 prospective elementary school teachers who study at a public university in Istanbul. The data is collected through "Speaking Anxiety Scale for Prospective Teachers" developed by Kınay and Özkan (2014). This 40-item scale consists of the following three sub-scales; 'Psychological State', 'Physiological Symptoms' and 'Anxiety Concerning Skill'. The data is analyzed with SPSS 16.0 through independent sample t- test and oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA). According to findings, prospective teachers report relatively low levels of speaking anxiety. The total and sub-scale mean scores do not change according to gender. However, there are significant variations among groups based on grade. The study concludes that higher grade students have relatively lower levels of speaking anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Language Academy is the property of Rota Kariyer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Communication Theory & Research / Iletisim Kuram ve Arastirma Dergisi is the property of Gazi University, Faculty of Communication and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Language Academy is the property of Rota Kariyer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While there are many studies on speaking anxiety in English, speaking anxiety in Turkish learned in target context remains under-examined. This qualitative study was intended to investigate the sources of speaking anxiety for foreign learners of Turkish as a second language and their coping strategies with these challenges. The data collected through semistructured observations and open-ended questions from ten foreign learners of Turkish. The results of the content analysis revealed that the participants favored the target context for their speaking development because of the available chances for exposure to and practice in the target language. However, the participants also referred to some challenges increasing their speaking anxiety such as the fear of making mistakes, being negatively evaluated, immediate questions, self-comparison with others and self-evaluation. They also counted such anxiety-creating, context-specific factors as the fear of communicating with native speakers, having native-speaker teachers, accent of the local people, cultural differences between themselves and other interlocutors. They also reported coping strategies like considering mistakes as natural and beneficial, regarding the existence of native speakers and friends from other countries contributory for language development and cultural enrichment, having self-preparation and doing individual listening or watching activities. In the light of these results, some practical suggestions were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Theory & Practice in Education (JTPE) / Eğitimde Kuram ve Uygulama is the property of Journal of Theory & Practice in Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study investigated the interactive effects of English-speaking anxiety and strategy use on oral English test performance of high- and low-proficient Chinese university EFL learners. In total, 1092 first-year undergraduates answered the English-speaking Anxiety Scale (ESAS), the Oral Communication Strategy Inventory (OCSI) and other questionnaires, and took the English-speaking test. Based on test scores, data gathered from 178 low- and 214 high-proficient students were used in the study. The results were: (1) the low-proficient students were significantly more apprehensive of negative evaluation and speech communication than their high-proficient counterparts. Meanwhile, they deployed social affective, fluency-oriented, meaning-negotiating, and message reduction and alteration strategies significantly less frequently while message abandonment strategies, nonverbal strategies and strategies of attempting to think in English significantly more often; (2) ESAS and OCSI scales were significantly interrelated for both groups, and (3) both ESAS and OCSI were good predictors for English-speaking test performance for both groups.

Türkçe öğretiminde temel dil becerilerinden biri olan “konuşma”nın geliştirilmesi amaçlanır. Konuşma becerisinin geliştirilebilmesi için kişinin kendisini o konuda yetkin ve yeterli hissetmesi gerekir. Öğrencinin beceri düzeyine yönelik kaygıları varsa hem beceriyi geliştirme noktasında hem de eyleme dönüştürmede sıkıntı yaşayacaktır. Bu nedenle ortaokul öğrencilerinin “konuşma kaygılarını” belirlemek amacıyla bir ölçme aracına ihtiyaç duyulmuştur. Bu çalışmada ortaokul öğrencilerine yönelik olarak hazırlanmış “konuşma kaygısı ölçeği”nin geliştirilme sürecinin bütün aşamalarına yer verilmiştir. Araştırmanın verileri Ankara ili Yenimahalle ilçesinden random yolla on ortaokuldan seçilen 537 öğrenciden elde edilmiştir. Ölçme aracının geliştirilmesinde literatür tarama, madde oluşturma, içerik geçerliği (uzman görüşüne başvurma), ön deneme, son olarak da geçerlik ve güvenirlik hesaplama aşamaları izlenmiştir. Elde edilen verilerin istatistik hesaplamaları SPSS 15 Paket programı ile analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmada 33 maddelik bir ölçek ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Faktör analizi sonucunda beş faktörlü bir yapı gösteren ölçeğin iç tutarlılığı için Cronbach Alpha katsayısı 0,716 olarak tespit edilmiştir

The use of the native language in the foreign language learning process has evoked controversy since the last century. The present research will argue for the use of translation by foreign language learners by investigating the correlation between translation equivalence as a vocabulary learning strategy, and the learners’ level of foreign language speaking anxiety. A sample of 258 Tunisian students, chosen randomly from different preparatory schools, participated in this project. Four research instruments were used to investigate this correlation: the inventory for translation as a learning strategy (ITLS), the classroom-related foreign language speaking anxiety scale (CRFLSAS), a receptive Translation Equivalence (TE) vocabulary test, and a productive TE vocabulary test. The findings revealed that the majority of the participants reported relying on their mother language to learn English vocabulary. Furthermore, a strong linear negative correlation was found between the use of this strategy, at both the receptive and productive levels, and the learners’ foreign language speaking anxiety.

Most prior studies have examined the time course of anxiety leading up to a public speech over a relatively narrow time window. The present study examined this time course over a longer time window within a naturalistic setting of a classroom assignment. A major purpose of the study was to examine the potential moderating effects of the looming cognitive style (LCS, Riskind, Williams, Gessner, Chrosniak, & Cortina, 2000), which assesses cognitive tendencies to perceive ambiguous threats as rapidly escalating and approaching. More specifically, we assessed the time course of anxiety and threat thoughts of 93 college students during a three-week period prior to giving an assigned public speech. Both threat thoughts and anxiety decreased as the day of the speech approached, although anxiety rebounded just before the speech itself. Importantly, the social looming scale interacted with the time course and seemed to moderate the course of anxiety changes. This revealed that it was primarily the participants who were high in social looming who exhibited a rebound in anxiety on the day of the speech. By contrast, the participants who were low in social looming did not show a rebound and continued to decrease in anxiety. Of note, while social looming predicted subsequent levels of anxiety, the reciprocal effect was also found, such that anxiety predicted subsequent levels of social looming. The present novel findings suggest that social looming and anxiety may potentially mutually reinforce each other in a snowballing cascade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term metalinguistic knowledge that refers to the knowledge of technical and semi-technical linguistics terms is a highly tested proficiency in high-stake proficiency tests, especially those which assess grammatical accuracy, such as TOEIC and TOEFL CBT. In the light of recent studies showing positive correlation between metalinguistic knowledge and language proficiency, this study aims to investigate two things: i) What metalinguistic features of English can be recognized by ELT students? ii) What is ELT student teachers' speaking anxiety level? iii) Is there a relationship between ELT students' metalinguistic knowledge and English speaking anxiety? This is a quantitative study that employs survey method. The data was collected from 126 ELT teacher-students studying at Aksaray University in 2016-2017 academic year spring term through metalanguage test developed by Tokunaga (2014) including five sections, (namely parts of speech; parts of sentences; tenses, voices, and moods; other and grammaticality judgement ) and 40 items and English Language Speaking Anxiety scale with 18 items. The results presented that majority of the students had average level of metalinguistic awareness although they were expected to be competent in metalinguistic knowledge because of the grammar courses they received during their training. It was also seen that majority of the participating students had intermediate level of speaking anxiety. A statistically significant correlation was not observed between metalinguistic knowledge and overall speaking anxiety scores of the participants. However, a negative moderate relationship was obtained in grammaticality judgement test and speaking anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]