STUDENTS’ ANXIETY IN SPEAKING ENGLISH

(A Descriptive Research at the Second Semester of English Education

Department of Muria Kudus University in the Academic year of
2023/2024)

By :

Dian Novita Sari

202032103

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTEMENT FACULTY OF

TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF MURIA KUDUS
UNIVERSITY
2023
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 3

A. Background of The Problem ....................................................................................................... 3
B. Problem Statement ..................................................................................................................... 4
C. Objective of the Study................................................................................................................. 4
D. Significance of the Study ............................................................................................................. 4
E. Scope of the Study ...................................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ............................................................................. 5
A. Previews Related Research Findings ...................................................................................... 5
B. Anxiety.................................................................................................................................... 5
2. Characteristic of Anxiety ........................................................................................................ 6
3. Factors Happening the Students Make Anxiety ...................................................................... 6
D. Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHOD .......................................................................................... 11
A. Research Design.................................................................................................................... 11
B. Population and Sample.......................................................................................................... 11
C. Indicators............................................................................................................................... 11
D. Research Instrument .............................................................................................................. 11
E. Procedure of Data Collection ................................................................................................ 12
F. Technique of Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 12
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 13
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of The Problem

Language is the cornerstone of communication. Communication happens when two or
more people are interacting. This relationship is facilitated through language. Language is
important in this circumstance. To communicate our opinions on the subjects brought up
throughout the discussion, we must use language. It is the means by which we express our ideas
and thoughts to others. There are an endless amount of languages in our cosmos. Every country
has a language that is utilized for communication. Then, their inhabitants can communicate in
a wide range of native languages depending on where they are. By using language, they are
able to communicate with one another. Everyone must develop a critical skill in order to learn
a language.
For most people in our nation, learning English is not unusual. People are aware that
information is essential for surviving life. They require knowledge from both within their own
nation as well as from other nations. Since English is a global language and is crucial for
international communication, it is necessary for people to communicate with them in English.
Since it was incorporated into the formal education curriculum, English has now been
socialized to all Indonesian students from secondary school through university. The reason for
this is that English is widely recognized as a language for international communication.
Therefore, interaction with people from various cultures, who may speak different mother
tongues, is crucial for society.
Speaking is one of the English skills that students should be able to develop as foreign
language learners. Speaking, according to Ladouse (quoted in Nunan, 1991: 23), is the capacity
to articulate one's thoughts or feelings in a setting, activity, or situation in precise words, as
well as the capacity to communicate or express a series of ideas fluently. It implies that people
can systematically communicate their desires in a given circumstance. English has four
fundamental skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. One method of getting knowledge
through oral communication around the world is by speaking English.
According to research findings at Muria Kudus University, students are less proficient
in speaking in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation after the third semester. Some
students still experience anxiety and fear when speaking in front of an audience, particularly if
they haven't practiced beforehand. Someone who is unsure of what to talk about will become
hesitant since they lack information on the subject. Both elements seem to be complicated
issues. Both of these elements may have an impact on a student's speaking abilities. Lack of
motivation, both personal and external, is the root of the problem. The students' lack of
motivation to learn English is an internal factor, and their lack of interest in learning more about
the language is an external one. Their environment also lacks knowledge of speaking,
particularly in relation to the four components of speaking. Since certain societies seldom ever
use English and even don't care about it, learning situations and conditions in their social lives
are to blame.
The researcher draws the conclusion that speaking anxiety in students is undoubtedly
influenced by a number of factors, including feeling, stress, condition, scenario, and
apprehension, based on the preceding description of the phenomenon. Given the
aforementioned phenomenon, the majority of students are unaware of how to get over their fear
of public speaking. Furthermore, when there has been no prior preparation, speaking in public
is not as simple as many may believe. Almost everyone experiences discomfort in situations
requiring them to speak English in public. In actuality, the speaker's sentiments of shyness and
social anxiety are very typical. As quickly as possible, he or she can get over their fear of public
speaking and feel more at ease when speaking in English.

B. Problem Statement
In light of the aforementioned background information, the researcher would like to ask
the following research question: "What factors cause students' anxiety to Speaking English at
the second semester English Education Department of Muria Kudus university?"

C. Objective of the Study

The goal of this study is to "determine what the factors cause the students' anxiety to
Speaking English at the second semester students of English Education Department of Muria
Kudus University" in accordance with the research question.

D. Significance of the Study

Theoretically, this study is anticipated to add to our understanding of students'

nervousness when speaking English and its implications for enhancing students' self-
confidence in their speaking abilities.

Practically speaking, this study is anticipated to give the following researchers more
data. Additionally, describe the advantages that can help students overcome their speaking
fear and discuss the variables that might influence it.
E. Scope of the Study
The second semester English Education Department students at Muria Kudus
University were the subjects of this study, which involved the researcher observing and
analyzing the students' fear in speaking English.
 CHAPTER II.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Previews Related Research Findings

These studies have discovered teaching and learning methods that are more effective,
engaging, and simple. The following is a citation of the researchers' findings:
1. Naci (2013) in his jurnal, “Students’ Perceptions of Language Anxiety in
Speaking Classes”. When they enter the language classroom, a sizable number of second-
and foreign-language learners experience language anxiety, according to his research. In
speaking classes at a north-eastern state university in Turkey, this study intends to
investigate students' views of language anxiety in order to achieve this goal. A purpose
sampling technique was used to interview 30 students with varying levels of competency.
The results of the semi-structured interviews are addressed in relation to how English
learners view the process of acquiring the language. Examining the causes and symptoms
of language anxiety from the viewpoint of the learners, as well as their recommended
strategies for reducing it, is covered.
2. Diao Zhiping (2013) in his jurnal, “Anxiety of Speaking English in Class Among
International Students in Malaysian University”. He said that a study would look into the
causes of overseas students' anxiousness and how they manage it when speaking in class.
The study also studies students' speaking and teachers' opinions and responses to students'
anxiousness.
3. Kashani and Vahid (2011) in their journal, “The Effect of English Language
Achievement”The purpose of their study was to investigate the link between English
language learning anxiety and overall English achievement among 38 third-year high
school students studying in English classrooms. We can therefore draw the conclusion that
anxiety hinders language learning.
The researcher notes that their research is consistent with Naci and Diao's findings based
on the earlier studies mentioned above. The results of Naci and Diao's study on students'
perceptions of language anxiety in speaking classes and their objectives to investigate these
views.
The results of this study differ from those of Kashani. In order to investigate English
language learning anxiety, Kashani discovered how it affected students' language proficiency.
While this study focuses on the variables affecting students' anxiety in English.

B. Anxiety

1. Definition of Anxiety

Chaplin (2006) asserts that anxiety is a conflicted sense of fear and worry about potential
feelings without a specific cause for the fear. Anxiety is a state of fear and worry about a future
event without a clear cause for the feelings of dread and worry.
Nevid, et al. (2005) claim that the symptoms of anxiety include feeling physically
dependent, tense and unfun, and anticipatory. Aprehension is the feeling that something
negative is about to occur. It indicates that being physically dependant due to uncomfortable
tension and a sense of fear that something negative would happen is a sign of anxiety.
In accordance with Freud, S (Feist&Feist 2008), anxiety is a physically unpleasant
condition that is intensely felt and comes with a physical sense that alerts a person to
impending danger. This terrible sensation is almost always hazy and challenging to pinpoint,
yet it is constantly present. It signifies that anxiety is an unpleasant situation that a person feels
and that causes some feelings, some of which grow powerful enough to cause physical
sensations.
Anxiety, according to Durand & Barlow (2006), is a state of future-focused mood
marked by worry since people can't predict or control future occurrences. In other words,
anxiety is a sensation of worry about future events.
While Phillips, Ririn et al. (2013) use the term "reticence" to describe the fear of public
speaking, this inability of people to develop a conversation is caused by the inability to convey
the message perfectly, which is marked by the reaction of psychological and physiological
processes rather than a lack of knowledge.
Based on the foregoing explanation, the researcher can draw the uncomfortable
conclusion that anxiety is a condition that results in fear, tension, concern, and fears about
something horrible happening, which makes a person unable to express himself clearly in front
of a large audience.

2. Characteristic of Anxiety

According to Nevid (2003), students that experience anxiety usually do so because of

the following three factors:

a. Include physical symptoms such trembling or shaking arms and legs, sweating, a dry
mouth or throat, trouble speaking or breathing, heart palpitations or tightness in the
chest, dizziness, feeling weak or numb, frequent urination, or being sensitive or
irritated.

b. Includes avoidance behavior, dependent and attached behavior, and startled behavior.

c. Cognitively covering worry about something, feelings of unease or fear of something

happening in the future, the conviction that something terrible will happen soon without
a satisfactory explanation, fear of losing control, fear of not being able to solve
problems, thinking that nothing can be controlled any longer, and finding it hard to
concentrate.
3. Factors Happening the Students Make Anxiety

Ernawati &Fatma (2012) there are two factors influence the students’ anxiety
that is the internal and external factors.
a. The external factors
Regarding to the internal factors consists of:
 1) Lack of preparation
In many earlier studies, preparation was found to be one of the main causes of students'
worry (Liu, 2007:129). These studies also included "preparation" in their top lists of strategies
for dealing with anxiety. Thus, it follows that a major factor in students' anxiousness during
speaking class is a lack of preparation.
2) Limited vocabulary
These phrases demonstrated the speaker's difficulty with vocabulary (Tanveer, 2007:50).
However, having a small vocabulary made learning a language more difficult. Thus, a
characteristic that contributes to worry is a limited vocabulary.
3) Friends/classmates
Classmates have a crucial part in language learning as well. However, friends frequently
create awkward situations that make students feel uneasy and uncomfortable when they
communicate. One of the major reasons of anxiety for language learners is feeling uneasy when
other pupils are staring at them when they are speaking. Fear of receiving a poor grade from
peers, according to Tsiplakides (2009:39), is a common element in language acquisition. Even
if it was obvious, classmates continue to contribute to students' anxiousness during the learning
process.
4) Embarrassment
In learning second/foreign language, embarrassment become one of the factors
contributing students’ anxiety. The expert above explained that learning speaking a
second/foreign language entails possibility of embarrassment (Kessler, 2010:361). Thus
embarrassment factors need to be alarmed in learning language.

b. The internal factors

Regarding to the internal factors consists of:

1) Lack of self confidence
An nervous student will struggle to succeed in learning a foreign language, claims
Cubukcu (2007:133). In addition, students who do well in language classes are less anxious.
Since self-confidence is a key component of learning, it follows that lacking it is one of the
crucial factors that should be taken into consideration.
2) Shyness
Many students experience the emotional condition of shyness when they are asked to
speak in English class. This suggests that students' learning activities in the classroom,
particularly in the speaking class, may be hampered by shyness. In order to support the
students' speaking performances in class, it is crucial to pay attention to this component
(Gabhard, 2000:2). In accordance with this, Baldwin (2011:13) adduces that feeling shy
causes pupils to experience one of the more prevalent phobias, which is speaking in front
of people. they will lose their train of thought or forget what to say. They claim that their
feeling of shyness has a significant role in their incapacity to demonstrate their speaking
ability. In other words, it may be claimed that a student's speaking performance is
significantly impacted by their shyness.
 3) Motivation
The success of students' learning is said to depend on their motivation in the literature
(Songsiri, 2007:24). Nunan (1999:234) emphasizes that the importance of motivation in
learning is crucial to note because it can influence students' reluctance to communicate in
English. In this regard, motivation is an important factor in determining how ready students
are for communication. Zua (2008) adds that motivation is an inner energy in Juhana
(2012:103). No matter what types of incentive the students have, according to her, it will
increase their interest in their studies. Numerous studies have shown that kids who are
highly motivated to succeed can persevere in their studies and get higher test scores than
students who are less driven to succeed.

4) Fear of Mistake
According to Robby (2010), one of the main reasons why students are reluctant to speak
in English in class is fear of making a mistake. Aftat (2008) adds that the fear of making
mistakes is related to the concerns about rectification and unfavorable appraisal.

C. SPEAKING
1. Definition of Speaking
According to Burns and Joyce (1997), the act of speaking is an interactive process of
meaning construction that entails information production, reception, and processing. The context
in which it takes place, which includes the individuals themselves, their shared experiences, the
physical environment, and the purposes for speaking, affects the shape and meaning of the
speech. It frequently evolves, is open-ended, and spontaneous.
According to Richards and Renandya (2002:204), a second definition of effective oral
communication is the capacity to employ the language effectively in social interactions that
involve not only verbal communication but also paralinguistic elements of speech like pitch,
stress, and intonation. Additionally, nonlinguistic components like gestures, body language, and
expressions are required for direct message delivery in the absence of supplementary speech.
The researcher can infer from the definition given above that speaking and communicating
go hand in hand. Speaking by itself can be described as the ability to utilize language effectively
to convey meaning in order to give or receive knowledge and information from others in a variety
of social contexts.
2. Speaking Goal
Speaking is the capacity to articulate sounds or words to express and communicate ideas,
feelings, and thoughts. Speaking is related to pronouncing words with the intention of
communicating feelings, ideas, or both, according to Tarigan (2008:16). As a result, the speaker
needs to be aware of the message in order to successfully communicate it. To communicate in
the target language, a speaker must be able to express their emotions. With these tools for
communication, individuals can converse in foreign languages.

3. Kinds of speaking performance

Six categories are applicable to the many types of oral production that students are expected
to engage in in the classroom, according to Brown (2001: 266-268). As follows:
 a. Imitative,
A type of practicing intonation or attempting to identify a certain vowel sound is
imitative speaking. It is done so that one can concentrate on a certain aspect of language
form rather than engaging in meaningful conversation. Drilling is typically used to execute
this operation;

b. Intensive,
Beyond imitation, intensive speaking encompasses any speaking performance intended
to practice a particular grammatical component of language. It may take the shape of a
pair or self-initiated activity;

c. Responsive,
The ability to respond in a meaningful and genuine way to inquiries or comments is
referred to as responsive speaking;

d. Transactional
Transactional work is merely completed in this scenario through discourse. It is an
expanded type of responsive language that is intended to exchange specific information.

e. Interpersonal,
Here, interpersonal speaking also takes place in a conversational setting, just like in
transactional speaking. It serves more as a means of preserving social bonds than as a
means of disseminating knowledge. For beginners, these talks can be a little more
challenging because they may contain slang, ellipses, sarcasm, a casual voice, etc. Due to
this, students frequently struggle to understand the language or risk being misconstrued;

f. Extensive,
The advanced levels are frequently asked to provide lengthy monologues in the form of
oral reports, summaries, or maybe brief speeches. The practice is that this type of speaking
is typically done as monologues.
Based on the level and aptitude of the pupils, each of the aforementioned categories may
be used. Here is a list of each element's main goals in brief: extensive practice in imitation for
concentrating on a certain linguistic feature.
To encourage students to speak, be transactional by inviting them to participate in a
conversation, interpersonal by teaching them how to relate to others in conversation, and
extensive by giving them practice in the form of oral reports, summaries, or perhaps short
speeches.
D. Conceptual Framework
 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHOD

A. Research Design
Descriptive research and a qualitative methodology were employed in this study. Ary
et al. (2010), who focused on understanding social events from the standpoint of human actors
in natural settings, backed up their claim. The researcher only discusses the variables affecting
the second semester English Education Department students' speaking anxiety at Muria Kudus
University.

B. Population and Sample

a. Population
Students in the second semester of the English Education Department at Muria Kudus
University make up the study's population. There are roughly 90 students enrolled in the second
semester, and they are split up into seven classes.

b. Sample
49 students made up the sample for this study, which was selected via random sampling.
They were drawn from the English Education Department at Muria Kudus University classes
A through C, with 7 individuals drawn from each group.

C. Indicators
The indicator of this study is the internal and external factors that may cause the students’
anxiety in speaking English.

D. Research Instrument
Because the researcher was not involved in the teaching or learning process, the questionnaire
was employed in this study. Yaikhong & Usaha adopted the test from the PSCAS (Public Speaking
Class Anxiety Scale) final version in 2012. The PSCAS itself has 14 statements that are intended to
identify the root reasons of students' speaking English fear.The researcher noticed the students'
anxiousness during speaking class, so she used a questionnaire to gather information and conduct an
analysis. Speaking activities are used in this study with the English Education Department students at
Muria Kudus University. They have successfully completed two levels of speaking: transactional and
interpersonal speaking for conversation. As for how the instruments were placed, they were based on
the PSCAS aspect. The following are the data collection tools used in this study:

Table 3.1 Lattice PSCAS questionnaire

E. Procedure of Data Collection

The processes listed below are used to gather data:

1. The study describes how to complete the survey.

2. The students in the second semester of the English Education Department at Muria
Kudus University receive the questionnaire from the researcher
3. The pupils fill out and give the researcher's questionnaire their responses.

F. Technique of Data Analysis

A questionnaire was employed in the data collection process. The final PSCAS
questionnaire that was adopted from Yaikhong & Usaha in 2012 was used by the researcher.
Sugiono (2013) claims that the questionnaire is a method of gathering data that involved asking
the respondent to answer a written series of questions. The questionnaire made use of a public
speaking students' anxiety level questionnaire that had been created by researchers with regard
to several components of public anxiety.
A close questionnaire, according to Furchan (2007), means that a different answer is
already given, and the study's subject choose only the alternative answer that best fits him or
herself and their experiences.
The questionnaire includes both positive and negative statements. An suitable statement
or one that demonstrates students' anxiety when speaking in front of an audience is a favorable
inquiry. While negative statements are those that don't fit or don't adequately depict students'
anxiousness when speaking in front of an audience.

The Likert scale was employed in this study. A Likert scale is used to gauge a person's or a group's
attitudes, views, and perceptions of social phenomena. According to Sugiono (2013), the Likert scale
ranges from highly positive to very negative. Likert scale instrument study is made in the form of a
checklist (). The available column on the checklist has the following options: Strongly Agree (SA),
Agree (A), Undecided (U), Disagree (D), and Strongly Disagree (SD). These options are in accordance
with the alternative subject. The questionnaire includes both positive and negative statements. An
suitable statement or one that demonstrates students' anxiety when speaking in front of an audience is a
favorable inquiry. While negative remarks are those that don't fit or don't describe the Total the score
based on the response category:
1) Strongly Agree (Score 5)

2) Agree (Score 4)

3) Undecided (Score 3)

4) Disagree (Score 2)

5) Strongly Disagree (Score 1)

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