research(eng 25)project

8/6/2019 Research(Eng 25)Project

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LANGUAGE ANXIETY AND ITS EFFECTS IN ORALPERFORMANCE

OF STUDENTS IN ENGLISH 1

CHERYLL G. IGCASAMAODETTE B. QUIAL-QUIALRAE KATHRYN C. SIMON

PRECY A. TAGAROGWENDOLYN C. VALLE

SUBMITTED TO

PROFESSOR ARMIN L. RUBI

PROFESSOR IN ENGLISH 25, LANGUAGE RESEARCH

NEW VISAYAS, PANABO CITY, IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

(MAJOR IN ENGLISH)

March 2011



Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

I feel nervous when called to speak straight EnglishUncomfortable and anxious if someone asked something in

EnglishI feel insecure with others who can speak English wellI am afraid to be embarrassed in front of others because I could

not speak English well.I have lexical scarcity I have stage fright due to lack of self-confidence.

Such statements are commonly uttered by language learners

and are so familiar to the language teachers as well. The above-stated

statements indicate the inability of the students to speak English and

even express their ideas using the said language.

Almost all of the students acknowledge and accept their

weakness in the correct usage of English as the classroom medium of

instruction. Each learner has different strengths in other learning fields

involving his/her skills but when it comes to the use of English

language especially in any oral performances, they really find

difficulties. They claim to have a ‘mental block’ against it.

What then hinders or stops them to succeed in learning our

Second language/English language? Anxiety, nervousness, insecurities,

lack of self –confidence may impede their language learning and

performance abilities. Both teachers and students are that anxiety is a



major hurdle/barrier to be overcome when learning to speak another

language.

There are two questions that are to be briefly explained in this

research study. These are; (1) what kind of anxiety is Language

anxiety and how difficult it is to use a foreign language as a medium of

instruction, in this case English language? (2) How Second language

anxiety differs from First/ native language anxiety?

The said study would likewise serve as an effective tool in

knowing the weaknesses as well as the limitations of the students

especially in English language in terms of their oral performances and

even communication.

Background Information

The academic literature has offered a somewhat confusing account

of language anxiety. Some researchers reported a negative relationship

between language anxiety and achievement. It is also said that the higher

the language anxiety of the learners, the lower the performance

(Clement, Gardner, & Smythe, 1977, 1980: cited in Onwuegbuzie et al.,

1999: 218). Others reported no relationship, or a positive relationship

(Pimsleur,Mosberg, & Morrison, 1962, Backman, 1976, Scovel, 1978: cited

in 1999: 218). The relationship between anxiety and achievement is still

unresolved up to this point.



Objectives of the Research study

The major purpose of the research is to find out why ESL learners

feel anxious or embarrassed while learning to speak English Language

and what influence it casts on their communication in the target

language. In other words, what are the factors or sources that make

speaking English more stressful in some situations than in others. This

study seeks to discover the phenomenon of language anxiety from

both within and outside of the language classroom setting in a wider

social context. This includes considering the factors originate from the

learner’s own sense of self, from the language learning process, or

from the situation or social environment he/she is a part of.

The second objective of this study is to help the students develop

their communication skills in expressing their thoughts/ideas without

any hesitations brought by too much anxiety.

The third most important aim of this study is to find out whether

there exist significant relationship between language anxiety and oral

performance of students.



Finally, integrating the findings of this research on language

anxiety - regarding its nature, sources, effects and treatment – with

the existing literature is also an underlying consideration of the study.

Significance of the Study

This study is conducted to raise some suggestions about the

management of Language anxiety of the learners especially in English.

The said suggestions would include the remedies and solutions for

Socio-cultural factors, affective factors, and the like.

In connection with the study, there are those involved individuals

who are the practitioners for the significance of managing learners

with language anxiety. Supervisors, principals and teachers are in need

to be aware of the Language anxiety problem of the learners as well as

its effect to the academic performances of the students involving oral

activities.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This study is conducted to the first year Bachelor of Secondary

Education students in Davao del Norte State College. This study used

the experimental research. “The Mountain and the Squirrel” is the



literary selection/poem used as the springboard of the experiment

conducted.

After the researchers shared the poem entitled, “The Mountain

and the Squirrel”, the students are asked to answer orally some

question using the English language as the medium of instruction.

Every student is asked to answer the questions using the Second

Language.

Another tool used in the study is the questionnaire in which the

students are asked to rate by checking the indicators stated on how

they assess themselves in managing their language anxiety.

Finally, the above-listed facts are the scope and delimitations of

the study within the bound of the quantitative and qualitative research.

Definition of Terms

1. ESL- refers to English as the Second Language

2. Language – refers to English language where the respondents are

using it as

a second language.

3. Language anxiety – refers to the feeling of nervousness, being

uncomfortable and anxious, feeling of insecurity, hesitancy,

afraid to be embarrassed, lexical scarcity and stage fright due to

lack of self-confidence.



4. IED Students – refers to the respondents of the study composed of

four (4)

majors – English, Math, Biological Sciences and Technology

Livelihood Education students of Davao del Norte State College

located at New Visayas, Panabo City.

5. L2/FL – refers to second language or foreign language.

6. SLA – refers to second language acquisition.

Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

A vague unpleasant emotion that is experienced in anticipation

of some (usually ill-defined) misfortune this definition was taken from

the online dictionary.

Traditionally, the focus of research in second language

acquisition (SLA) has been primarily on issues such as language

pedagogy (Grammar Translation Method, Audio-lingual, etc.), contents

of pedagogical instructions, and ways to improve them. Consequently,

the implications of this research remained restricted to the learning

and teaching of the language itself; that is to say, to the cognitive

domain with little attention being paid to the affective variables

learners bring with them into language classroom. It was only in late



twentieth century, in the 1970s, that the SLA researchers began to

study the significant role played by personality and motivational

variables in second language acquisition (Shams, 2006: 5). They

posited that, in order to gain a holistic understanding of this process,

learners’ affective variables need to be taken into account to cater for

their needs and interests (Samimy, 1994: 30).

In addition, as the focus of L2/FL instruction has shifted from the

narrow concern for developing learners’ linguistic competence to the

need for communicative competence, learners are challenged to be

able to speak in the target language spontaneously in various social

contexts. In order to meet this challenge, attention has diverted to

studying the role of affective variables like ‘learning styles’,

motivation, personality traits, etc. that can impede the process of

learning and speaking a second/foreign language. Among these

affective variables, learner anxiety has come to be recognized as an

important area of study in second language acquisition because of the

negative influence it can have on students’ performance.

In general, there are two approaches to the description of

language anxiety: (1) Language anxiety in the broader construct of

anxiety as a basic human emotion that may be brought on by

numerous combinations of situational factors (McIntyre, 1995; McIntyre

& Gardner, 1989: cited in Tittle, 1997: 11). For example, (a) a shy

student may feel anxious when asked to give a short talk in front of the



whole class; (b) Language anxiety as a combination of other anxieties

that create a separate form of anxiety intrinsic to language learning

(Horwitz et al., 1986: 128). The later approach believes that there is

something unique to the language learning experience that makes

some individuals nervous. When this nervousness or anxiety is

restricted to the language-learning situations, it falls into the category

of specific anxiety. Psychologists use the term specific anxiety reaction

to differentiate people who are generally anxious in a variety of

situations from those who are anxious only in specific situations (1986:

125). Researchers appear to differ in their views about the definition

and construct of language anxiety but there is merit, as MacIntyre

(1995: cited in Tittle, 1997: 11) opines, in discussing language anxiety

as a unique construct because it classifies the source of anxiety for the

reader. Students may feel anxiety in learning other subjects like

mathematics, statistics, etc. (Onwuegbuzie et al., 1999: 218) and the

fundamental motivations behind being anxious may be similar for

learners in various disciplines, but the sources of anxiety will also be a

unique experience for each learner (Tittle, 1997: 11).



Oral

Performan

ce in

English

Conceptual Framework

IndependentVariable

DependentVariable

LanguageAnxiety ( social andcultural views,affectivefactors andlexicalscarcity)



Fig. 1.2 Schematic Diagram of the Study

Language anxiety is related to the oral performance evaluation within

the academic and social context and the related performance anxieties: (1)

nervousness, (2) when called upon to use English very much at ease, (3)

anxious if someone asked something in English, (4) uncomfortable speaking

in English under any circumstances, (5) quite relaxed if told to ask straight

directions in English, (6) bothered if told to speak English on the telephone,

(7) insecure with others who can speak English well, (8) afraid to be

embarrassed, (9) not so sure of oneself in speaking English, (10) lexical

scarcity, (11) stage fright due to lack of self confidence. The above-stated



variables are the causes of language anxiety of the students that also greatly

affect their oral performances in English.

Hypotheses

Sub-problems 1 and 2 are null hypotheses free. The following hypotheses below

will be tested;

Ho1 There is no significant difference between language anxiety and oral

performance of first year college students;

Ho2 There is no significant relationship between language anxiety

and oral

performance of first year college students;

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

RESPONDENTS OF THE STUDY

This research will be conducted in order to determine whether

the language anxiety questionnaire play a significant role in the oral

performance of the students. The advantages and disadvantages as

well as the reliability of this instrument will also be part of the



objectives. In order to answer these research goals, the researcher will

obtain the views of the students in line with this topic. Specifically, a

total of 80 respondents from the 4 majors – Biological Science,

Mathematics, English, and TLE, offered in the Institute of Education at

Davao del Norte State College in Panabo City will be randomly selected

to make up the sample. Selected participants will answer a survey

questionnaire structure in Likert format. Data gathered from this

research instrument will then be computed for interpretation. Along

with primary data, the researcher will also make use of secondary

resources in the form of published articles and literatures to support

the survey results.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The descriptive method of research will be used for this study. To

define the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) stated that the

descriptive method of research is to gather information about the

present existing condition. Descriptive research on the other hand is a

type of research that is mainly concerned with describing the nature or

condition and the degree in detail of the present situation. This

method is used to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the

time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular a

phenomenon. The aim of descriptive research is to obtain an accurate

profile of the people, events or situations. With this research type, it is



essential that the researcher already has a clear view or picture of the

phenomena being investigated before the data collection procedure is

carried out. The researcher will use this kind of research to obtain first

hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound

conclusions and recommendations for the study. The descriptive

approach is quick and practical in terms of the financial aspect.

The research is using 1st year Education students from 4 majors –

English, Biological Science, Mathematics, and TLE, as respondents from

Davao del Norte State College in order to gather relevant data; the

descriptive method is then appropriate as this can allow the

identification of the similarities and differences of the respondents’

answers. For this research, two types of data were gathered. These will

include the primary and secondary data types. The primary data will be

derived from the answers the participants will give during the survey

process. The secondary data on the other hand, were obtained from

published documents and literatures that are relevant to personality

questionnaire. With the use of the survey questionnaire and published

literatures, this study take on the combined quantitative and

qualitative approach of research. By means of employing this

combined approach, the researcher will be able to obtain the

advantages of both quantitative and qualitative approaches and

overcome their limitations.



The researchers are opted to integrate the qualitative approach in this

study due to its significant advantages. The use of qualitative data

gathering method is advantageous as they are more open to changes

and refinement of research ideas as the study progresses; this implies

that qualitative data gathering tools are highly flexible.

Participants

In order to determine whether the language anxiety

questionnaire does play an important role in conducting language

anxiety researches, a total of 80 respondents are asked to participate.

To achieve pertinent information, certain inclusion criteria are

imposed. The participants qualified for sample selection must be a

student who took up English subjects. This qualification will ensure that

the participants understand the nature of the second language, making

the survey items easy for them to accomplish. The respondents are

selected from 4 majors offered at Davao del Norte State College, thus,

a total of 10 students in the Bio Sci, 10 in English, 10 in Math, and 10 in

TLE are selected for every major; as the study also aimed to determine

whether language anxiety questionnaire play an important role in

assessing the capabilities of the students in acquiring the second

language. The researchers have chosen the said fields as they have

the same language subjects taken.



Sampling Technique

Simple random sampling was done for the sample selection. This

sampling method is conducted where each member of a population

has an equal opportunity to become part of the sample. As all

members of the population have an equal chance of becoming a

research participant, this is said to be the most efficient sampling

procedure. In order to conduct this sampling strategy, the researcher

defined the population first, listed down all the members of the

population and then selected members to make the sample.

Research Instrument

The survey questionnaire will be used as the main data-gathering

instrument for this study. The questionnaire will be divided into two

main sections: a profile and the survey proper. The profile contains

socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents such as age,

gender, civil status, the grade/year of the students in the school. The

survey proper will explore the perceptions of students on language

anxiety questionnaire, particularly on its usability and reliability in

acquiring the second language. The questionnaire proper section also

contains questions that identify the advantages and disadvantages of

using personality questionnaires. The questions are structured using

the Likert format. In this survey type, four choices are provided for

every question or statement. The choices represent the degree of



agreement each respondent has on the given question. The scale

below will be used to interpret the total responses of all the

respondents for every survey question by computing the weighted

mean:

Range Interpretation

3.01 – 4.00 Strongly Agree

2.01 – 3.00 Agree

1.01 – 2.00 Disagree

0.00 – 1.00 Strongly Disagree

Validation of the Instrument.

In order to test the validity of the questionnaire used for the

study, the researchers will test the questionnaire to five respondents.

These respondents as well as their answers are not part of the actual

study process and are only used for testing purposes.

Refinement and Finalization of the Instrument

After the questions will be answered, the researcher will asked

the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to

ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument. The

researcher will revise the survey questionnaire based on the

suggestion of the respondents. The researcher then will exclude

irrelevant questions and change vague or difficult terminologies into

simpler ones in order to ensure comprehension.



Scoring of the Instrument

After gathering all the completed questionnaires from the

respondents, total responses for each item are obtained and tabulated.

In order to use the Likert-scale for interpretation, weighted mean to

represent each question will be computed. Weighted mean is the

average wherein every quantity to be averages has a corresponding

weight. These weights represent the significance of each quantity to

the average. To compute for the weighted mean, each value must be

multiplied by its weight. Products should then be added to obtain the

total value. The total weight will also be computed by adding all the

weights. The total value is then divided by the total weight.

Mean. This statistical tool was used in the computations of the

arithmetic mean in science, using the formula below:

ΣX

X = x 100

N

Where:

X = Mean Percentage

ΣX = Mean Score

N = Number of Cases



Pearson “Product Moment” Coefficient of Correlation ®.

This tool will be used to determine if there exist relationship between

respondents’ language anxiety and oral performance. The formula is:

dxdy------

Nr = --------------------------

----------- -----------2 2

d x d y------ -------

n1 n2

Where:

r = Pearson “Product Moment” Coefficient of Correlation

dxdy = Summation of the Product of the Deviation of the

First and Second Variables

2d x = Summation of the Squared Deviation of the

FirstVariables

2d y = Summation of the Squared Deviation of the

FirstVariables

√ = Square Root

N = Number of Cases

N = Number of Cases of the First Group1

N = Number of Cases of the Second Group2



t-test. This tool will used to determine whether there is

a

significant relationship between language anxiety and oral

performance. The formula is:

_____________ r N - 2

t = ---------------------------------

21 – r

Where:

t = Test on Significance of Relationship

r = Pearson “Product Moment” Coefficient of Correlation

2r = Squared Pearson “Product Moment” Coefficient

of Correlation

N = Number of Case

1 = Constant

2 = Unit

Statistical Treatment

In all statistical tests, the level of significance on the difference

and relationship was set at .05 alpha using the SPSS.



Discussion and Analysis

The following are the gathered data of the researchers from the

respondents. The data are arranged in tabulated form for easy interpretation.

Below is the modified Likert scale used to analyze and interpret the result

of the questionnaire.

Table 1 Computed Mean of Second Year BSE Students of the Four Majors inUsing the English as a Second Language Outside the Classroom

A. A. When I need to use English outside theclassroom, I…..

Total Mean

1. get nervous if I have to speak in English; 104 2.6

2. am very much at ease when called upon to useEnglish;

101 2.5

3. am anxious if someone asked something in

English;

93 2.3

4. am uncomfortable speaking in English underany Circumstances;

98 2.5

5. am quite relaxed if told to ask straight directionsin English;

112 2.8

6. am bothered if told to speak English on thetelephone;

104 2.6

7. am insecure with others who can speak English

well.

95 2.4

Shown in Table 1 is the computed mean of second year BSE Students of

the Four Majors in Using the English as a Second Language Outside the



Classroom which shows that, with 2.8 mean, the respondents are quite relaxed if

told to ask straight directions in English outside the classroom.

Table 2 Computed Mean of Second Year BSE Students of the Four Majors inUsing the English as a Second Language Inside the Classroom

B. When I need to use English inside theclassroom, I…

Total Mean

1. refrain from speaking English because I amafraid to

be embarrassed;

106 2.7

2. am not so sure of myself in speaking English; 99 2.5

3. am lexically scarce; 99 2.5

4. have stage fright due to lack of self confidence 99 2.5

5. feel confident when asked to volunteer in myEnglish

class

96 2.4

Shown in Table 2 is the computed mean of second year BSE Students of

the Four Majors in Using the English as a Second Language Inside the

Classroom which shows that, with 2.7 mean, the respondents refrain from

speaking English because they are afraid to be embarrassed inside the

classroom.



Conclusion

The computed means of the students were successfully identified. Most of

the indicators got high extent of responses which shows that the respondents are

quite relaxed if told to ask straight directions in English outside the classroom but

they are afraid to be embarrassed inside the classroom. This indicates that

anxiety is seen with the help of the responses of the respondents. Reading and

frequent use of the language is recommended to conquer the said anxiety that

affects the respondents’ confidence in using the language thus, making this a

hindrance in their communication with the target language.

The gathered data was useful bases of coming up an effective course

design and an effective lesson plan catering the anxiety of the students in using

the language to be used in the field of teaching the English as a Second

Language to the ESL learners.

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