Sources of Second Language Speaking Anxiety: An Investigation into the Lecturers’ Perspective

Abstract

‘Anxiety’ experienced in speaking English as a second language has been a topic of much interest in the field of language learning as it is debilitating and it creates an impact on the achievement of the language learners in an adverse manner. This nervousness or anxiety seems to be inducing when the students are asked to speak in the second language in the class. Presumably, speaking has become a complete fallout in acquiring the language. Thus, it was of paramount importance to embark in a research on this circumstance with the aim of investigating the perspectives of the lecturers in order to integrate students into an English speaking environment with greater ease and to increase the students’ enjoyment when learning and communicating in English. To accomplish the objectives of this study, a total of 40 academics from the Faculty of Social Sciences & Languages, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka were selected. The data gathered were analyzed through a mixed approach which consisted of both qualitative and quantitative data analyzing methods using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages. A total of 40 academics participated in the study. The majority of the participants were females (92.5%), aged between 31- 40 years (52.5%) with 3-5 years of working experience (47.5%). The responses revealed some intriguing findings and three categories of possible sources for second language speaking anxiety were explored as psychological, methodological and social. It was distinct through the lecturers’ perspectives, that psychological causes of speaking fears could stem from the lack of self-confidence, low esteem, fear of failing the subject, fear of negative evaluation, the need to be perfect & accurate and previous negative experiences. It was also apparent that the instructional methods employed in the classroom such as anxiety-ridden classrooms, monotonous teaching style, competition within the classroom, boring topics and activities evaluations and grades as well as social causes such as public embarrassment, negative judgement from teachers and students, unhealthy relationship with peers and isolation will contribute to second language speaking anxiety. Hence, this study can be taken as a reference for the lecturers in determining the possible sources of second language speaking anxiety. Thereby, to decide on the effective strategies that can be employed in order to alleviate the speaking anxiety of the students. The findings also pave the path for the lecturers to realize their own reactions that can possibly enhance or lessen the speaking anxiety of the students.