Foreign Language Anxiety in EFL Speaking Classrooms: A Case Study of First-year LMD Students of English at Saad Dahlab University of Blida, Algeria

Abstract:

Affective variables are one of the various variables that influence foreign language learning, and foreign language speaking anxiety is among several outstanding factors that often have a debilitating effect on the oral performance of students learning English as a foreign language. This paper aims to contribute to the literature on foreign language speaking anxiety by investigating the nature of anxiety that first-year Licence-Master-Doctorate(LMD) Algerian students of English at Saad Dahlab University of Blida experience when performing orally. It also seeks to examine the sources generating foreign language speaking anxiety in students and finally provides teachers with some solutions and suggestions for reducing it. Through the use of quantitative methods, this study adopts Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope’s (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale to measure the level of speaking anxiety exhibited by the participants. The findings suggested that foreign language speaking anxiety was pervasive among first-year LMD students and appeared to mostly stem from fear of interaction, error correction, language proficiency, low self-confidence and self-esteem, etc. This paper ends with some implications to assist teachers in encouraging speaking and strive for a pleasant atmosphere where every student can feel relaxed and motivated to communicate orally.