T1 112006182 Full text

FACTORS CAUSING ANXIETY PROBLEMS FOR ENGLISH
DEPARTMENT STUDENTS IN INTERPERSONAL SPEAKING
CLASS

THESIS
Submitted in Partial fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan

Elvira Maryolen Here
112006182

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2012

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course
or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of

my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by
any other person except where due reference is made in the text.
Copyright@ 2012. Elvira Maryolen Here and Hendro Setiawan Husada, M. A
All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the
permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Department, Faculty of
Language and Literature, Satya Wacana University, Salatiga.

Elvira Maryolen Here:

ii

Factors Causing Anxiety Problems for English Department Students
in Interpersonal Speaking Class
Elvira Maryolen Here
Abstract
This study investigated the anxiety problems faced by English Depa rtment
students in Interpersonal Speaking class in Satya Wacana Christian University. The
study would be focused on anxiety problems in case of nervousness, speech anxiety
and fear of negative evaluation, self-awareness, fear of failing the class, negative
attitude toward speaking class, and comfortableness in Speaking class with native

speakers. The data were all collected from 40 students of Interpersonal Speaking class
who were participated in this study. This study answered the research question: What
factors that cause anxiety problem in Interpersonal Speaking Class of English
Department‟s students? In regard to the data collection and analysis, I used the steps
suggested by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1984, in Yukie Aida 1994). The result of
this study suggests that Interpersonal speaking class students experienced anxiety in
terms of those factors above. The result was in line with some of previous findings
done by Kurtus (2001), MacIntyre and Gardner (1994), and Shumin (1997). They
claimed that students might feel more anxious in speaking class because they were
required to speak with or in front of their friends and they were afraid of looking
foolish in front of peers.
Key words : anxiety problems, speaking anxiety

Introduction
Speaking is one of the four skills that is required in learning a second
language. That is one of the reasons why the students of the English Department are
taught speaking and the students are able to improve their communicative skills. The
English Department of Satya Wacana Christian University has three required
speaking classes; Interpersonal Speaking, Transactional Speaking, and Public
Speaking. The students should pass Interpersonal Speaking class to take Public

Speaking class and so on as this course is a prerequisite course for other speaking
courses.
There are some objectives of this course mentioned in its syllabus. The first of
all is to enable students to speak with intelligible English pronunciation. Another
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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
objective is to enable students to start building their confidence to speak in English
with a partner in pairs, with more than one partner in groups, or with their classmates
and the teacher in the class. The next is to enable students to converse about everyday
topics such as self introduction, weather, directions, etc. The other one is to enable
students to use „language functions‟ in proper context (Interpersonal Speaking
syllabus, semester I / 2011-2012). Based on the result of the observation in
Interpersonal Speaking E class, the activities are about having a small talk or
conversation with their partners, having a small discussion in a group (group
discussion) or in pair; and having assigments to do an individual or group
presentation. In this class, the students are required to speak actively in English. In
order to speak well in this class, the students should consider some aspects such as the
correct grammar of the sentences, the correct pronunciation of a word, the fluency and
also the knowledge of the topic being discussed in class. Those considered aspects

that are required in Interpersonal Speaking class as the first level of speaking learning
skill make the students might feel anxious to speak in class.
From the description above, it is clear that anxiety is a significant problem in
Interpersonal Speaking class. As this study is focused on this problem, it is necessary
to further information about the term “anxiety.”
“Anxiety is a subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and
worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system,” (Spielberger,
1983). Wiramihardja (2004) stated that “anxiety is a feeling which is generalized
from fear and worries. It is an alert that something like danger or a terrible experience
will happen.” According to Koba, Ogawa, & Wilkinson (2000), anxiety is a difficult
situation in which one feels afraid of anticipating something threatening.

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
“Anxiety is present in many types of abnormal behavior. Cognitive anxiety
includes symptoms, such as worry, feelings of pressure, frustrations, and concern
about failure,” (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1994). Horwitz (1988) interestingly
emphasizes that “cognitive anxiety has a bad effect on test performance because the
worry and concerns about failing an exam interfere with effective problem solving.

Public speaking anxiety is very common among both college students and the general
population.”
MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) defines trait anxiety as individual like hood of
becoming anxious at any situation. It is considered as a general personality trait that is
relevant across several situations. Spielberg (1983) also defined state anxiety as an
apprehension experienced at a particular moment in time. It is a combination of trait
and situational anxiety concept. Situational specific anxiety can be seen as trait
anxiety measures limited to a given time (MacIntyre &Gardner, 1991).
Besides that, anxiety can be broken down in terms of the types symptoms that
individuals experience. Cognitive anxiety involves symptoms such as worry, feeling
of feeling pressure, frustration, and concerns about failure, whereas somatic anxiety
involves symptoms such as feeling physically “tight” and restless and having a rapid
heart (MacIntyre &Gardner, 1991).
Anxiety also present in language learning especially in second language
environment, which is called Language Anxiety. Language Anxiety has been said by
many researchers to influence language learning. MacIntyre & Gardner (1994),
defined anxiety as the feeling of tension and apprehension specifically associated with
second/foreign language context, including speaking, listening, and learning. There
are two factors that contribute in language anxiety; the individual himself and the
learning environment, which are called trait anxiety and situational anxiety (McIntyre


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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
and Gardner, 1994). Trait anxiety is described as individual‟s predispositions for
feelings of tension and uneasiness.
As suggested by Berliner and Gage (1984) there are two types of conditions
that generate anxiety and have an effect on learning process. They are state anxiety
and trait anxiety. Trait anxiety was described as a person „responsibility of becoming
anxious in any situation. It impedes cognitive functioning, to lead avoidance
behaviors, and other effects. State anxiety is a combination of a trait and situational
approaches. State anxiety is a type of anxiety experienced in a particular time
(MacIntyre & Gardner, 1995).
Besides trait, state, and specific situation anxiety, there are two other kinds of
anxiety, facilitating anxiety and debilitating anxiety (Fausiah, 2005). As it stated in
the book, anxiety can have either good or bad effect. Facilitating anxiety is a feeling
of worry that can force someone to increase their performance in class/easing anxiety
on learning where debilitating, on the other hand can increase the feeling of anxiety
itself.
Related to our main study, specifically some language theorists may define

language- learning anxiety. Eysenck (1979) quoted in MacIntyre & Gardner (1994)
maintains the issue in detail that is anxiety self- related cognition such as excessive
self evaluation, worry over potential failure and concern over the opinions of others.
Besides that, (Horwitz & Shadow, 2001) indicate that high language anxiety is related
to students‟ negative concepts of themselves as language learners and negative
expectations for language learning.
As one of the skill that EFL learners should master, speaking is an important
skill, because we can learn English well by speaking. When one can speak well,
he/she can deliver a message and get the message conveyed from what he/she speaks.

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
Speaking in class is most frequently difficult for anxious students even though they
are good at responding to a drill or giving prepared speeches.
Speaking performance refers to an actual use of language knowledge in the
form of utterance. Speaking a language is similar to the way using the target language.
The function of spoken language basically is interaction and transactional. The main
purpose of the former is to maintain social relationship, while the later is e xpress idea
or convey messages.

Most of students have problems in speaking the second language especially, in
the English class. It can be more stressful when they are expected to speak in second
language before the fluency is achieved. Speaking can cause high anxiety level and
the reason for this is that teachers often expect beginners to perform beyond their
acquire competence. As a result, learners will show poor speaking performance
because they are not competent in using the target language (Young, 1991).
Anxious students may also have difficulties in discriminating sounds and
structures or in catching their meaning. Especially, interpersonal speaking class is the
first step in learning second language through speaking. Therefore, students in
Interpersonal speaking tend to feel anxious when they first time speak in front of their
friends using foreign language. Foreign language anxiety has been said by many
researchers to influence language learning. Whereas facilitating anxiety produces
positive effects on learners' performance, too much anxiety may cause a poor
performance (Scovel, 1991). Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1991) have found that
anxiety typically centers on listening and speaking. Speaking in class is most
frequently difficult for anxious students even though they are good at responding to a
drill or giving prepared speeches. Anxious students may also have difficulties in
discriminating sounds and structures or in catching their meaning.

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1991) call a situation-specific anxiety as Foreign
Language Anxiety which seems to be the reason why students give negative
emotional reactions to language learning. This anxiety occurs in foreign language
learning because the students are required to be communicative in the classroom. Still
according to Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1991), “any performance in the foreign
language challenges the students‟ self-concepts as competent communicator and lead
to reticence, self-consciousness, fear, or even panic.”
In a language classroom, it is a common for students to experience anxiety.
They may suffer negative feelings and it makes them feel less optimistic in achieving
a target that the teacher may set in a particular course. Therefore, it gives a bad effect
in learning process, such as students are afraid of being failed in the exam. Language
anxiety prevails in the early stage of learning. It is also related to individual‟s negative
perceptions of themselves as language learners and negative expectations for language
learning. This kind of situation may lead to anxiety in their learning process and will
give a bad effect to their learning achievement.
Interpersonal Speaking class is the first step of speaking level in learning how
to be able to speak with or in front of friends done by English Department of Satya
Wacana Christian University. In this classroom, students do not master the ability of

speaking foreign language yet. Interpersonal Speaking class has speaking activities
consist of group discussions, oral presentations, and many activities that require
students to speak target language in front of class. Those kinds of activities may lead
students‟ anxiety that can give influence to their achievements in speaking
performance. MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) suggested that language anxiety is
experienced by learners of both foreign language and second language and poses

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
potential problems “because it can interfere with the acquitting, retention, and
production of the new language” (Wörde, 2003).
In Interpersonal Speaking class, there are some important aspects including
grammar mistakes, pronunciation mistakes, and the knowledge of the topic given to
be discussed. Students cannot communicate well if they are lack of grammatical and
pronunciation ability. Students who are anxious speaking in front of others students
often avoid the opportunity to speak with or in front of friends. These situations are
endured with feeling of intense anxiety and distress. In addition, anticipatory anxiety
frequently occurs as an individual imagines the situation in advance of the actual
experience (e.g., worrying each day about a presentation to be given in a class several

weeks in the future). As what was reported by (Hinton, 2008) that sometimes learners
can pressure themselves by having unreasonably high expectations of what should be
achieved, particularly if that is the first time they have done a presentation.
In the classroom situation, there are several aspects that affect students‟
achievement in learning a foreign language, such as anxiety, attitudes, curiosity,
learned helplessness and self-efficacy. The teacher is also one factor that will directly
affect students‟ achievement in learning a foreign language. As what (Price, 1991)
stated there are 3 parts of teacher‟s role in Speaking class, they are the teacher as an
informant, where the teacher select the new materials to be presented in such an
interesting way; the teacher as a conductor, where the teacher will give a chance to
the students to actively participate in practicing the language; the teacher as a guide,
where the teacher takes a role as an advisor to look after students‟ ideas so the
students will be encouraged to go on speaking.
Young (1991) stated that there are at least three potential sources of language
anxiety that can be identified. Some of them are associated with learner, some with

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
the teacher, and some other with the instructional practice. These factors can
determine the anxiety level of the learner in learning. The first is personal and
interpersonal factor. The personal factor means from the person itself, and
interpersonal factor means from outside, it can be from friends, the teacher, the
classroom situation, the material, etc. The second factor is the learner belief about
language learning. For example, if the learner believes that pronunciation is the most
important aspect of a language. They will get frustrated or stressed if in fact, they are
not mastering the pronunciation. In the other word, if the belief crash with the reality,
anxiety may occur. The third is the instructor belief about language teaching. It can
also be a source of language anxiety. For example if the teacher believes that a little
“force” will be good for the students. Moreover, the other factors are instructor and
learner instruction, the class producers and the last, the language testing. Whereas
(Ellis, 1994) relates to anxiety as result of the learner‟s competitive nature, the
teacher‟s questions which are threatening, and lack of relaxed second language
environment.
In Interpersonal Speaking class, students are asked to speak actively in the
target language, English. For some students, it might cause anxiety through their
performance in class. The main factor that makes students afraid in saying his/her
thought is anxiety in making mistakes. Anxious students are afraid to express their
opinion in class because they are laughed if they make mistakes in grammar or
pronunciation. As Kurtus (2001) stated that, the reason most people get anxious when
required to speak to a group is that they are afraid of looking foolish or stupid in front
of many of their peers and important people. They are afraid that their mind will go
blank and their lack of speaking skills will lower the opinion other have of them.
Being humiliated can destroy a person‟s ego and confidence.

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
In this research, I attempt to answer the following question: “What factors cause
anxiety problems in Interpersonal Speaking Class of English Department‟s students?”
This study tries to find out what factors that cause anxiety problem in
Interpersonal Speaking class of the English Department‟s students. Therefore, to get
the data the writer conducts a survey. This study used primary data, which was taken
right from English Department students by asking them to answer some
questionnaires that are related to the research materials.
The Study
The type of this research was a descriptive qualitative research. The data was
qualitative because it investigated a phenomenon, which was found in the English
Department students‟ life in Interpersonal speaking class.
In their Interpersonal Speaking class, teacher usually asked the students to
speak with or in front of their friends. This activity tends to lead the students to feel
anxious about their performance. Most of them are likely to get speaking anxiety
because it is the first year for them to be university students and face that kind of
learning activities that require them to speak in front of class when they do not master
the target language yet. These students were chosen because their experiences in
speaking anxiety in Interpersonal Speaking class as their first class to speak in front of
class before taking another Speaking classes that have more challenging tasks to
speak.
The subject of this study was 40 students of Interpersonal Speaking class.
They were chosen randomly out of 150 Interpersonal Speaking class students in
semester I/2011-2012. Most of them were 2011 academic year students of the English
Department, Satya Wacana Christian University. The reason why I chose 2011

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
students was because they have just been studying in the English Department of Satya
Wacana Christian University for one semester.
There was a set of questionnaires distribute to the students. This questionnaire
was used as an instrument to measure students‟ responses toward speaking anxiety.
The questionnaire was based on Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope‟s (1984, in Yukie Aida
1994) that was translated into Indonesian. The questionnaire had 32 questions and
they were distributed to the students in Interpersonal speaking class. The items for the
questionnaires were about some factors that caused anxiety to the students in
Interpersonal speaking class, and their behavior toward speaking class. The questions
were divided into several questions that were asked about some factors that caused
anxiety in Interpersonal speaking class and the others were asked about the symptoms
of anxiety.
In the questionnaires, there were 32 questions about anxiety in Interpersonal
speaking class. The questions were divided into five opinions, “strongly agree, agree,
neutral (neither agree nor not agree), disagree and strongly disagree ”. All the
questions in the questionnaires related to anxiety and translated into Indonesian. The
questionnaires were divided into six factors based on four factors that related to
anxiety. Those factors included factor one (nervousness), factor two (speech anxiety
and fear of negative evaluation), factor three (self-awareness), factor four (fear of
failing the class), factor five (negative attitude toward speaking class),and factor six
(comfortableness in speaking class with native speaker). When the students felt
anxious or experienced anxiety in Interpersonal speaking class, the students would
choose those options on the questionnaire; whether they strongly agree, agree neutral,
disagree, or strongly disagree to the statement about anxiety that they might feel. The
results were converted into percentages. First, each question in the questionnaire was

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
analyzed and changed into percentage. After it was analyzed, the factors that caused
anxiety to the students were identified.
The data were gathered through agree, disagree, neutral, strongly agree, and
strongly disagree that provided direct answers from the subjects. The data were
analyzed and then the result of the data about the factors that caused anxiety and the
way the students coped with their anxiety problems were described as the report of the
study.
Discussion
The research question asked, “What factors that caused anxiety problems in
Interpersonal Speaking class?” Based on categories of problems that caused anxiety in
Interpersonal Speaking class, I found six factors that caused anxiety in Interpersonal
Speaking class. The six factors were nervous (97.56%), speech anxiety and fear of
negative evaluation (81.35%), self-awareness (81.03%), fear of failing the class
(65.06%), negative attitude toward speaking class (48.78%), and comfortableness in
speaking class with native speaker (47.56%).
To reach these numbers of results for every factor (y), first I used SPSS to
input the data for every answer of every student and analyzed those using descriptive
statistics. After that, I divided every statement based on the sixth factors. The results
of every factor (y) were calculated as follows:
y = y1+y2+y3+y4+y5
n
y

= results of every factor

y1, y2, …,y5

= sum of every statement in every factor

n

= total factors (the sixth factors)

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
Below were the six categories of problems that caused anxiety problems in
Interpersonal Speaking class:

a. Nervousness
From the questionnaire, statements 1, 5, 7, 11, 12, and 16 were related to the
category of nervousness. In regard to statement 1 (I felt nervous when I know I was
going to be called on my speaking class), 39.00% of the participants agreed that they
felt nervous if they were going to be called in speaking class while 26.08% of the
participants answered neutral, either agreed or disagreed about feeling nervous when
they were going to be called in speaking class whereas none of them strongly agreed
with the statement. On the other hand, 31.07% of the participants disagreed with the
statement. In statement 5 (I got nervous and confused when I was speaking in
speaking class), 43.09% of the participants reported to agreed that they felt nervous
and confused when they spoke in speaking, while 22.00% of the respondents
answered neutral to the statement. On the other hand, 31.07% of the respondents tend
to disagreed about getting nervous and confused when they spoke in speaking class.
In regard to statement 7 (In speaking class, I got nervous so I forgot things I knew),
there were 51.02% of the respondents who agreed and strongly agreed about getting
nervous so they forgot things that they knew in speaking class, while 19.05% of them

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
answered neutral with the statement. On the other hand, 29.03% were disagreed and
strongly disagreed to the statement.
Whereas, in statement 11 (I got nervous when the speaking teacher asked
questions which I hadn‟t prepared in advance), 14.06% of the respondents reported to
strongly agreed that they would get nervous when the teacher asked questions that
they had not prepared well, while 34.02% of the respondents agreed with the
statement. There were 34.01% of the respondents who answered neutral to the
statement. On the other hand, 17.01% of the respondents reported to disagree with the
statement. In statement 12 (Even if I was well prepared for speaking class, I still felt
anxious about it), there were 41.09% of the respondents who agreed and 24.04% of
the respondents who disagreed that they still felt anxious even if the y were well
prepared in speaking class, while 31.07 of them answered neutral to the statement and
none of them reported to strongly disagree with the statement. In regard to statement
16 (I got nervous when I didn‟t understand every word the speaking teacher said),
12.2% of the participants reported to strongly agreed that they got nervous when they
did not understand what the teacher said, while 31.07% of the participants agreed with
the statement. 26.08% of the participants abstain to agree or disagree with the
statement. On the other hand, there were 29.03% of the participants who disagreed
and strongly disagreed with the statement.
Based on the participants‟ responses to the six statements above, it is obvious
that being nervous caused anxiety in Interpersonal Speaking class. For example,
82.09% of respondents felt nervous when they were called to speak in speaking class,
so they tended to forget things that they actually knew.

Furthermore, anxiety

problems were also caused by the fact that 45.13% of the participants reported to get
nervous when the teacher asked questions that they had not prepared well. Another
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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
factor that took an effect on participants‟ anxiety problems was that they still felt
nervous even they had prepared the materials well and 41.05% of the respondents
tended to feel that way, while 41.23% of the respondents showed their anxious when
they could not understand what was being talked about by the teacher. Based on the
data above, it was clear that by being called to speak in Speaking class (82.09%) was
the most problematic factor cause students to get nervous. The findings support
Spielberg‟s (1983) study that anxiety was a subjective feeling of tension,
apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic
nervous system.
b. Speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation
Statement 2, 4, 9, and 18 dealt with the category of speech anxiety and fear of
negative evaluation. In regard to statement 2 (It embarrassed me to volunteer answers
in my Interpersonal speaking class), there were 36.06% of the respondents who
strongly agreed and agreed that they felt embarrassed to volunteer answer questions in
class, while 24.04% of respondents answered neutral with the statement. On the other
hand, 36.06% reported to disagree with the statement, while none of them disagree
with the statement. Furthermore, in statement 4 (I was afraid that the other students
would laugh at me when I spoke English), 46.03% of the participants agreed and
strongly agreed that they felt afraid of being laughed by other students when they
spoke English, while 24.04% of them responded neutrally. Meanwhile, 29.03% of the
participants disagreed with the statement. In statement 9 (It frightened me when I did
not understand what the teacher was saying in speaking class), 34.01% of the
respondents admitted that they felt afraid if they did not understand what the teacher
said in class. In contrast, 48.08% of the respondents tended to disagree with the
statement. There were 17.01% of the respondents who showed neutral respond to this

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
statement. Finally, in regard to statement 18 (I started to panic when I spoke without
preparation in speaking class), 43.09% of the participants agreed and strongly agreed
that they needed preparation in speaking class, while 19.05% of them were neutral
with the statement. On the other hand, 36.06% of the respondents reported that they
did not feel panic if they didn‟t have well preparation in speaking class.
Another contributing factor that took an effect on students‟ anxiety prob lems
was speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. For example, 82.09% of the
participants admitted that they felt embarrassed to volunteer answer in speaking class
because if they made any mistake, their friends would laughed at them. 77.01% of the
respondents also pointed out that they got afraid when they did not understand what
was being talked by the teacher in speaking class and when they had to speak without
any preparation in class. As a result, the students had no encouragement to volunteer
speak or answer in speaking class. They preferred keeping silent or being waited to be
pointed by the teacher volunteering a speech and making themselves looked fool in
front of their friends. It was obvious that there were two difficult factors caused the
students experienced speech anxiety. First was to volunteer answers in Speaking class
with 82.09% and 77.01% for getting afraid when they did not understand what was
talked by the teacher and to speak without any preparation. The result of the study
was in line with Kurtus‟ (2001) findings that the reason most people get anxious when
requiring to speak to a group is that they are afraid of looking foolish or stupid in
front of many of their peers and important people.
c. Self-awareness
Statement 3, 6, 8, 13, and 28 were related to the category of self-awareness. In
statement 3 (I felt self-conscious about speaking English in my speaking class), there
were 48.80% of the respondents who strongly agreed that they felt uncomfortable to

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
speak in speaking class because they knew what their friends thought about them and
12.20% of them agreed with the statement. 31.70% of them gave a neutral respond to
the statement. There were only 7.3% of the respondents who disagreed and strongly
disagreed about feeling self-conscious in speaking class. In regard to statement 6 (I
kept thinking that the other students were better at English than I was), 46.04% of the
participants reported to agree that they felt their friends were better than them in
English, while 39.00% of them answered neutral to the statement. However, 14.06%
of the participants disagreed that they thought their friends were better at English than
they were.
In statement 8 (I always felt that the other students spoke English better than I
did), there were 48.08% of the respondents tended to agree that in speaking English,
they always felt their friends‟ speaking ability was better than theirs, while none of
them reported to strongly agree with the statement. 36.06% of the respondents gave
neutral answers about the statement, while 12.02% of them rejected to feel that their
friends spoke English better than them. 26.08% of the participants reported to agree
with statement 13 which showed that they had no confidence when they were
speaking in speaking class, while none of them strongly agreed with the statement.
There were 39.01% of the respondents denied of being unsure when they spoke in
speaking class, while 31.07% of the respondents were uncommitted to the statement.
Related to statement 28 (During speaking class, I found myself thinking about
things that had nothing to do with the course), there were 51.10% of the participants
who agreed and strongly agreed with this, while 39.10% of them reported to disagree
and strongly disagree with the statement. Instead of showing agreement or
disagreement, 9.8% of the participants answered neutral, either they could concentrate
or not during speaking class. Regarding statement 32 (I felt overwhelmed by the

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
number of rules I have to learn to speak English), 31.70% of the respondents agreed
and strongly agreed that they felt confused even devastated by the number of rules to
learn English, while 34.20% of them did not feel the same way. The other 34.10% of
the respondents tended to be neutral concerning having many rules in learning
English.
The above data might suggest that self-conscious, feeling that other students
could perform and speak English better than they did, never felt quite sure about
themselves, and lack of concentrate were interconnected. These factors contributed to
the category of self-awareness. 61.00% of the respondents experienced self-conscious
in Interpersonal Speaking class because they already got afraid of what their friends
would think of them. The other 75.60% tended to feel that their friends could perform
and speak better in speaking class than they did. Lack of concentration also caused
51.10% of the respondents‟ anxiety in this class. They could not participate actively
when they were hard to pay attention on what was being talked by the teacher.
Related to plenty of rules in English learning, 31.70% of the respondents admitted
that they got confused even stressed in learning so many rules to speak English. In
this case, being afraid that other friends could perform better in Speaking class
(75.60%) was the most challenging factor. It was followed by the second problematic
factor, by experiencing self-conscious of what their friends would think about them
(61.00%). Those two factors gave big influence to the students to experience selfawareness. The findings supported MacIntyre and Gardner‟s (1994) study that
maintain the issue in details that is anxiety in language learning is related to
distracting self-related cognition such as excessive self-evaluation, worry over
potential failure and concern over the opinion of others.

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
d. Fear of failing the class
The following category is fear of failing the class. Statements which were in
line with this category were 19, 20, and 21. In statement 19 (I worried about the
consequences of failing the class), 46.30% of the participants strongly agreed and
22.00% of them agreed with the statement. 22.00% of the participants rejected to say
agree or disagree with this statement. Although in a small number, 9.4% of them
strongly disagreed and disagreed with the statement. In addition, statement 20
(Interpersonal speaking class moved so quickly, I worried about getting left behind),
there were 25.60% of the respondents who strongly agreed and 40.20% agreed with
the statement, while 29.90% of them reported not to agree eve n strongly disagree.
Furthermore, there were only 7.3% of the respondents gave a neutral respond to this
statement.
In regard to statement 21 (I felt more tense and nervous in my speaking class
than in my other classes), 29.30% of the participants strongly agreed and agreed with
the statement, while 34.10% of them answered neutral about feeling more tense and
nervous in speaking class than in other classes. However, 34.10% of the participants
strongly disagreed and disagreed with the statement.
Based on the data above, it is apparent that the respondents experienced
anxiety in term of fear of failing the class. For example, 68.30% of the respondents
felt worried about the consequences of failing the class. It increased their anxiety in
speaking class. Furthermore, 65.80% of the participants got worried about getting left
behind in following the materials. Although many of the participants experienced
anxiety in case of fear of failing the class and afraid of getting left behind in materials,
the other 29.30% of them got more tense and nervous in speaking class than other
classes. The participants were more tense and nervous when they thought that were

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
left behind in getting materials because it would cause a failure in speaking class.
Consequences of failing the class (68.30%) became the most problematic factor in
leading the students to feel anxious in Speaking class. The finding was in line with
Holmes‟ study (1999) which stated a feeling of worry of feeling pressure; frustration
and concern about failure.
e. Negative attitudes toward Speaking class
Statement 25, 26, and 29 were related to category of negative attitudes toward
speaking class. Regarding statement 25 (I often felt like not going to my speaking
class), 34.20% of the participants reported to agree with the statement, while only
7.3% of them reported to strongly agree. On the other hand, 31.70% of the
respondents rejected to feel like not going to speaking class, while none of them
showed strongly disagreement about the statement. Instead of showing agreement and
disagreement, 26.80% of the participants gave neutral responds to the statement
above. 4.8% of the respondents showed to agree with statement 26 (I got upset when
teacher was correcting my mistakes) while none of them reported to strongly agree
with the statement. Surprisingly, 43.90% of the respondents gave strongly
disagreement about getting upset when they were corrected by the teacher and
22.00% of them also showed their disagreement about the statement. 29.30% of the
participants preferred to give neutral answers about the statement than showing their
agreement or disagreement. Finally, statement 29 which stated that it would not
bother them to take more speaking classes, there were 46.30% of the participants
showed their agreement even 14.60% of them strongly agreed with the statement.
14.70% of the respondents reported to disagree and strongly disagree to be bothered
by taking more speaking classes, while 24.40% of them did not respond to the
statement.

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
The above data might suggest that feeling like not going to speaking class,
getting upset when being corrected and did not bother to take more speaking class
were connected to the category of negative attitudes toward speaking class. For
example, 41.50% of the participants experienced anxie ty that made them felt like not
going to speaking class. Although in small number of participants, 4.8% often felt
upset when they were being corrected by teacher. Furthermore, more than 60% of the
respondents got bother to take more speaking class next se mester. As a result, these
three unfavorable conditions might increase students‟ negative attitudes toward
speaking class. In case of negative attitudes toward Speaking class, being bothered to
take more speaking class next semester reached the highest numbers more than 60%.
It was obvious that the students felt anxious to take another Speaking class next
semester. This study was in line with (Horwitz &. C., 1986) that they might skip class,
over study, or seek refuge in the last row in an effort to avoid the humiliation or
embarrassment of being called on to speak.
f. Comfortableness in Speaking class with native speakers
The following category was comfortableness in speaking class with native
speakers. Statements which supported this category were 22, 23, and 24. In statement
22 (I would probably feel comfortable around native speakers in speaking class),
14.60% of the participants agreed; while only 7.3% of them reported to strongly agree
with the statement. 48.80% of the respondents rejected to say agree or disagree to feel
comfortable around native speakers in speaking class. Nevertheless, 17.10% of the
participants strongly disagreed with the statement, while 12.20% of them showed
their strongly disagreement about it.
Regarding statement 23 (I would not be nervous speaking the English
language with native speakers), 24.40% of the participants agreed even strongly

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
agreed with the statement, while 17.10% of them showed their disagreement and only
7.3% gave a strongly disagreement. Surprisingly, 51.20% of the respondents
answered neutral either they felt nervous or not when speaking with native speakers.
Finally, in statement 24 (I did not understand why some people got so upset over
speaking class), 33.60% of the participants reported to agree with this, while only
5.9% reported to strongly agree. 21.90% of the respondents disagreed even strongly
disagreed about this statement.
The last contributing factor that supported anxiety problems in speaking class
was comfortableness in Speaking class with native speakers. For example, there were
21.90% of the participants who experienced the comfortableness to speak with native
speakers and they would have no anxious to speak with them. It was endorsed by
24.40% participants who felt relaxed to speak with native speakers. Furthermore,
39.50% of the respondents got confused by some students felt upset over speaking
class. It happened to be the most challenging factor that caused anxiety. Some of the
students did not feel comfortable in Speaking class.
Conclusion
To answer the research question, “What factors that cause anxiety problems in
Interpersonal Speaking Class of English Department‟s students? ” There were six
categories of problems that cause anxiety in Interpersonal Speaking class. They were
nervousness (97.56%), speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation (81.35%), selfawareness (81.03%), fear of failing the class (65.06%), negative attitudes toward
Speaking class (48.78%) and comfortableness in Speaking class with native speaker
(47.56%). To get the mean, the results of every factor were input in Excel, then using
the formula of average to reach the numbers. The result of the study clearly indicated
that nervousness was the most problematic for the participants followed by speech
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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, while self-awareness settled the third
supporting factor. Fear of failing the class ranked the third distributing factor pursued
by negative attitudes toward speaking class, while comfortableness in speaking class
with native speaker was found as the least problem for the participants. The finding of
this study confirmed MacIntyre and Gardner (1994) that anxiety is anxiety self-related
cognition such as excessive self evaluation, worry over potential failure and concern
over the opinions of others.
Pedagogical Implications
Looking at the conclusion above, I would like to offer two suggestions to the
educators. First, the educators can help the students dealing with anxious situation,
because most of the students experienced anxiety based on nervous ness, speech
anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, fear of failing the class, and self-awareness. It
would be better for the educators to creat fun class activities to make the atmosphere
of the class more relax so the students would not get nervous and feel anxious in
class. Besides that, the educators can encourage them to participate actively in
classroom activities and not to be afraid of making mistakes in contributing their ideas
or volunteering answers. In order to do that, the students need to be well-prepared
before class.
The educators should also explain that they do not have to burden themselves
with a feeling fear of failing the class. The educators may support them to be optimist
in undergoing this class by showing their enthusiasms in receiving materials and
participating actively in classroom activities. In addition, the educators need to clarify
about students‟ speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. They have to give
confidence to the students to not to be worried if their contrib ution will get negative
respond from the teachers. The educators also need to try to give wise correction, so
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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
the students will not feel embarrassed in front of their friends. Finally, the educators
have to make clear about self-awareness. They can tell the students that they can learn
from their other friends if they feel that their friends are better than them in speaking
class. It will help the students to understand about their weaknesses and try to cover
with learning from their friends‟ ability.
Second suggestion is suitable with negative attitudes toward speaking class
and comfortableness in speaking class with native speaker. The educators need to
explain to the students about Interpersonal speaking class and its usage to their future.
The educators may give good reasons in taking this class, beside to fulfill the
regulation (the students will have confidence to speak in front of public). It will
inspire the students not to show negative attitudes toward this class. Besides that, the
educators should help the students to adapt their comfortableness in speaking class
with native speakers. For example, the educators need to explain little bit about native
speakers who will teach in the class. It will help the students to reduce their anxiety
about speaking with native speakers because they already know the teachers.
I realize that this study is still far from being perfect. This study went through
several limitation and obstacles related to the instruments for data collection that was
questionnaire. Therefore, for future research, I would like to suggest the use of a
standardized questionnaire so that the findings could be more trustworthy. In addition,
related to the limitation of the study, I would like to recommend suggestions to the
further study especially in anxiety in Interpersonal speaking class. In case of feeling
anxious in speaking class, the educators need to know about their learners‟ ability in
speaking in front of public. The educators need to investigate whether the students
have problem with speaking in public or not that can influence their performance in
class.

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Factors causing anxiety problems for English Department students
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Acknowledgme nt

Thank Jesus Christ, my greatest teacher, for His grace and love in guiding me
everyday and especially through the process of thesis writing.
My deepest gratitude also goes to my beloved parents, Bapak G. Y. L. Here,
Ibu Shirley M. O. Gah and my beloved brother, Reinaldy R. Here for their never
ending love and support in every single of life.
I would like to dedicate my special thanks to M