Introduction

The English language is undeniably the most used medium for speaking and writing
worldwide. It is, without a doubt, the century's modern lingua franca and one of humanity's most
important tools, as it helps to connect people of all nationalities and languages. (Atanas, 2014).
English, as diverse as it could be, is being used in almost all fields of academic or scientific studies,
industries, and professions. In the Philippines alone, one of the most typical professions where
English is being used is teaching. Teachers and Professors have to speak in English whenever they
teach their lessons particularly with subjects that involve oral communications; similarly, the
students also have to speak in English when they recite. Thereby, sometimes put tremendous
pressure on their behalf and makes them hesitant to recite or the what we called fear of speaking in
English (Language Anxiety).

For the past two decades, there have been vast numbers of studies into Second or Foreign
language anxiety (Woodrow, 2006). Most of these previous studies concerning language anxiety
were measured with the use of anxiety diagnostic test and others. However, the results were
seemingly inconsistent with the other findings (Scovel, 1978; Young, 1991). Well, that is because
according to Artera and Rivera’s (2017) study of methodological strategies on how to overcome
language anxiety, fear of speaking in English, or, in general, language anxiety is a very complex
circumstance. It presents a tangle of issues that can make it difficult to formulate a study that
explains why the problem arises. Truth to their words, language anxiety is a complicated dilemma,
since every people has their own condition of language anxiety and each of these differs on one
another. Furthermore, given that their problems are different from one another, hence, also the
reason why it is difficult to figure out their root causes.

Personally, the Researchers have also witnessed and experienced Language Anxiety in
class. There were many instances where the Researchers failed to answer a Teacher’s question
because they are afraid to express their answers in English. Subsequently, those instances caused
some unfortunate impressions to their academic performance, particularly with their Oral and
Writing Subjects. Which in fact a very common consequence according to Woodrow’s (2006)
study of anxiety on speaking second languages, that says Anxiety caused by English
communication can be debilitating, and can have an impact on students' adaptation to the target
environment and, as a result, on their ability to achieve their educational objectives. That is why
those experiences trigger the Researchers’ interest in what causes language anxiety and why it
happens. Ergo, in this study, the researchers will try to find these factors that cause fear of speaking
English among students. And Accordingly, it will also try to construct more detailed findings on
what triggers these factors as well as interventions.

Factors Causing Language Anxiety:

In the quantitative study of Santos, Souza and Ruiz (2020) regarding the emotions that
block 138 Ecuadorian students from speaking English in the class show that 30.80% are afraid of
making mistakes, 21.88% fears negative evaluation, 18.30% are shy, 12.50% lacks confidence and
2.68% feels anxiety. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that psychological factors such as a
lack of self-confidence, anxiety, shyness, fear of negative evaluation, and fear of making mistakes
are the barriers that prevent this specific population from speaking English in class.
 Relatedly, Sadiq (2017) investigated the fear of speaking in English occurrence among
Saudi Arabian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. The analysis has revealed that 68%
of the learners who answered, agreed that they begin to panic or tremble whenever they were called
to participate in the discussion. Also, 57% of the same participants confirmed that they expect and
overthink that other students can excel much more than them which results to their concentration
loss, especially when they were tasked to talk in class without any preparation. In toto, the
researchers concluded that the observed reactions of Arabian EFL students, such as panic,
trembling, and overthinking, were considered symptoms of anxiety, citing Adwas, Jbireal, and
Azab’s (2017) study of insights, symptoms, etiology, pathophysiology and treatment of Anxiety,
which states that anxiety is manifested by mood, thinking, and behavior disturbances. As well as,
acute stress disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and social phobias.

Aside from international studies, there are also local studies that address language anxiety,
as this is a problem that is not only of international concern but also of universal concern, given
that English is a universal language.

In the Philippines, Gatcho and Hajan (2019) developed an investigative study of Language
Anxiety among Filipino college students. The finding has shown and indicated different levels of
anxiety from the four choices (fear of negative evaluation, communication apprehension, fear of
English tests, and anxiety towards English) which was originated from the study of Horwitz,
Horwitz and Cope (1986). The summary of the research expressed a statistical outcome that fear of
negative evaluation and communication apprehension are the top reasons why college student
experiences fear of speaking English. In contrast, fear of tests and anxiety towards English classes
are less probable when it comes to English language anxiety.

Moreover, in Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope's (1986) Journal on Foreign Language Classroom
Anxiety, they concurred that people who are fluent in their first language may feel anxiety when
asked to speak in a foreign language other than their first. According to them, anxious Students
often report that they are afraid to speak in English because they are afraid that someone in the
class is better than them, that others will laugh at them if they make a mistake, or simply because
they are embarrassed to answer in English. Thus, concludes that anxiety correlates to other factors
such as a lack of self-confidence and fear of negative evaluations as reasons why these students are
hesitant to speak English in class.

On the other hand, following the study of Gilakjani and Ahmadi (2011) regarding the
factors affecting EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Students, they said students’ low reading
and listening comprehension may also be considered as factors why some students have low
satisfactory progress in speaking English in class. They believed that students with low
comprehension would also have low proficiency in speech and articulation of English words,
resulting in language anxiety, for the reason that those students may be unsure of what to say and
may not understand the lesson well.

Similarly, according to Harmer (2007), said that students who are unconfident with their
speaking skills tend to have difficulties speaking English because they are uncertain with their
phrases. Thus, implies that it is also necessary to say that Students who refuse to speak English in
class may not know how to articulate sentences in English.
-------------------------------------------------Paragraph break---------------------------------------------------

The aforementioned related previous studies above construct the impression that language
anxiety is associated with psychological factors such as fear of negative evaluation, lack of self -
confidence, shyness, and anxiety; as well as skills-related deficiency such as poor comprehension
skills as elements that substantially lead to the development of language anxiety among students.
Besides that, it has also been established that the causes of psychological factors such as shyness,
fear of negative evaluation, and lack of self-confidence cannot be encapsulated in a definite manner
because individuals' situations differ from one another. As a result, the Researchers decided to
exclude related studies about it but rather should addressed it in the actual study.

What causes a low level of listening and reading comprehension?

It is now accepted as the reality that psychological factors and poor comprehension levels
are factors in why some students experience anxiety while speaking English in class. Even if the
facts have been identified, the issue of what triggers these factors, in particular the low
comprehension level, remains unanswered and requires attention. So, what factors lead to poor
listening and reading comprehension?

When we are reading or listening to literary works and interviews, we exert concentration
or focus on its context for us to understand it. Putting the focus on what you read allows us to
analyze the meaning and purpose of what we read. On the findings of Wolfgramm, Suter, and
Göksel (2016) regarding the examination of the role of concentration, vocabulary, and self-concept
in listening and reading comprehension, they found out that concentration is essential particularly
with complex analysis, which is extremely necessary with reading and listening comprehension
because as for we all know, reading is the analyzation of texts or words. In summary, this study
implies that poor concentration may lead to poor comprehension levels for the simple reason that it
is impossible to understand or analyze what you are reading when you don’t have your focus on it.
It disables your ability to decipher the meaning or the context of what you read.

Furthermore,

Coping Mechanisms to Prevent English Speaking Anxiety:

The conditions above indicated that it is essential to know variety interventions to overcome
English Speaking Anxiety. Accordingly, some researchers conducted informative studies to reveal
ways on how to properly deal with fear of speaking English. Also, the following studies contain
knowledge about the proper approach to communicate with students who experiences the problem.

Keramida, and Tsipkilades (2009) conducted a theoretical study of foreign language

speaking anxiety. The finding contains idea that students’ Anxiety of speaking English rooted from
their fear of making mistakes as they don’t want to face negative evaluation and inadequate
feedbacks from their fellow students. Thus, the researchers suggested that Educators must try to
consider interventions such as, incorporate project work (Brainstorming activities), creation of a
friendly classroom atmosphere, and the “teacher as a researcher” approach where both professional
development of English teachers and students’ speaking anxiety will be enhanced.
 Correspondingly, Milan (2019) of South La Union Campus organized a study which
addresses students’ English anxiety focusing on its sources, coping mechanisms and teacher’s
manageability of the dilemma that Filipino students face. Upon using interview as medium of
gathering data, the finding has determined that students who feel anxious whenever they speak in
English are likely to influence their motivation to excel more with the language that they are
dealing with. But unfortunately, most children who experience the problem loses eagerness to be
active on participating in class. Therefore, the researcher formulated recommendations regarding
the ways to cope up with English speaking anxiety. The first one is, Teachers or Instructors must
give activities which contain plenty of opportunities where students can practice their literacy in
English. Similarly, there is also a need for Educators to moderate action towards the Students' error
in English by establishing a good and calm interaction with the learners. Aside from that, the study
has also shown that speaking anxiety among students will be lessen if the leaners are introduced to
English language at a young age.

Significance, Scope and Research Gap:

Even if that numerous citations constructing conclusions regarding what causes language
anxiety were established. The Researchers, still, would like to address this problem in Mary the
Queen College with the participations of chosen Grade 11 Students from all the STRANDS for the
main reason that it is the Researchers’ perception that everyone’s condition of language anxiety is
different form one another. And so, it is necessary to conduct this study in Mary the Queen College
for us to have a definite, reliable, accurate and applicable finding of the factors that trigger the
language anxiety of MQC’s Grade 11 Students. In this study, the Researchers will try to find out
the causes of language anxiety of participant MQC Students and subsequently will try to draw out
if the findings of the previous studies mentioned above are in any connection related or similar to
the possible findings on the MQC Students.

Also, considering the findings of the previous studies above, it is established that language
anxiety is in a way caused by psychological factors and skills-related dilemma, as a result, this
study will try to find out if there are any other factors that may cause language anxiety among
students except the aforementioned factors.

Lastly, this study will help many individuals that are directly involved in this dilemma. By
identifying the root causes of this dilemma, students may try to overcome their own fears. In
addition, teachers would also benefit from it because through this study, they can formulate a more
effective strategy on how to help the students on overcoming this dilemma.
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