DINAMIKA ILMU - Vol. 18 No. 1 - Investigating the Relationship between Foreign Language Anxiety and Oral Performance of Non-English Major University Students in Indonesia

Q: What is the main purpose of the study?

The study investigates how Foreign Language Anxiety relates to spoken performance among non-English major university students in Indonesia.

Q: What relationship did the study find between FLA and students’ achievements?

A statistically significant negative correlation was found between learners’ FLA and their achievements measured by grades (r(117)=-.37, p<.01).

Q: Which types of situation-specific anxieties were examined alongside FLA?

The study reports significant negative relationships between achievements and communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation.

Oct 15, 2026

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This study investigates the relationship between Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) and spoken performance among non-English major university students in Indonesia. Findings show learners experience varying FLA levels, with a mean score of 93.07 (SD=17.69, N=119). Results reveal a statistically significant negative correlation between FLA and learners’ achievements (r(117)=-.37, p<.01), including effects through communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. Recommendations target teachers and students to reduce debilitating FLA and outline future research directions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

A. Introduction

Rationales

DINAMIKA ILMU Vol. 18 No. 1, 2018 P-ISSN: 1411-3031; E-ISSN: 2442-9651 doi: [http://dx.doi.org/10.21093/di.v18i1.880](http://dx.doi.org/10.21093/di.v18i1.880) Investigating the Relationship between Foreign Language Anxiety and Oral Performance of Non-English Major University Students in Indonesia1 Adaninggar Septi Subekti English Education Department, Duta Wacana Christian University e-mail: [adaninggar@staff.ukdw.ac.id](adaninggar@staff.ukdw.ac.id), [adaninggarseptisubekti@gmail.com](adaninggarseptisubekti@gmail.com) Abstract This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) and spoken performances of non-English major university students in Indonesia. The study found that learners experienced various degrees of FLA with the mean score 93.07 (SD = 17.69, N = 119) . This study also found a statistically significant, negative correlation between the learners' FLA and their achievements as measured by their grades, r (117) = -.37, p < .01. Consistent with that, significant, negative relationships were also found between the learners' achievements and all the three related situationspecific anxieties, communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. Considering the results, it is suggested that both teachers and students should minimise the debilitating effects of students’ FLA. Based on the limitations of this study, some recommendations for future studies are also highlighted. They are investigations on the relationship between FLA and second language (L2) achievements across different levels of education and thorough qualitative investigations of FLA. Keywords: Foreign Language Anxiety, communication apprehension, test anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, learners’ achievements 1 This paper is a part of the author’s unpublished Master’s dissertation in TESOL at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK Dinamika Ilmu, Volume 18(1), 2018 15 A. Introduction A large body of research investigating affective factors such as anxiety and motivation may indicate many experts’ acknowledgement on the role of emotion in foreign language learning. Dulay and Burt (1977) might have made the first attempts to investigate the role of affect, especially anxiety, in learning through the concept of affective filter hindering learning in which they gave an early explanation as to why some learners could achieve high language proficiency level, whilst some others could not. Krashen (1982) later acknowledged that anxiety, along with motivation, attitude, and self-confidence, plays an important role in learning through his affective filter hypothesis. High level of anxiety, he argued, leads to a dense affective filter not allowing information to be absorbed by learners. Low affective filter, Krashen (1985) later stated, is necessary for learning to take place, allowing the input “in”. In agreement with that, Tobias (1986) asserted that anxiety may impair individuals’ ability in taking in information, processing it, and retrieving it when necessary. As such, no wonder nowadays there is a wide range of studies trying to investigate anxiety in the educational setting, including language learning. Specific in the field of anxiety in language learning, furthermore, language courses are often regarded as ones instilling most anxiety compared to other classes (Gusman, 2004; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1989; Trang, 2012) . It isnot unusual to find learners who are good at other subjects being frustrated in a foreign language class (Trang, 2012) . Gusman (2004) further said that the fact that learning a foreign language requires specific processes like public practice and trial errors might at times cause frustration as well as embarrassment, which could be attributed to anxiety. Moreover, Campbell and Ortiz (1991) found that anxiety level among university students was particularly high. It was then supported by various subsequent

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

The study investigates how Foreign Language Anxiety relates to spoken performance among non-English major university students in Indonesia.

What relationship did the study find between FLA and students’ achievements?

A statistically significant negative correlation was found between learners’ FLA and their achievements measured by grades (r(117)=-.37, p<.01).

Which types of situation-specific anxieties were examined alongside FLA?

The study reports significant negative relationships between achievements and communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by mieayamfan