An Investigation into Classroom-Related Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Among in-Service Teachers of English

Abstract

This article aims to combine and discuss a rarely investigated issue: foreign language speaking apprehension experienced by non-native teachers of English. In detail, 75 in-service teachers, who were also MA students in a university English department, were asked to fill in a scale measuring the foreign language speaking anxiety they experienced during classes while completing their MA programme. The study showed that the majority of participants experienced a medium level of anxiety, with the vision of making errors and speaking publicly as the most intensive stressors. Furthermore, the study showed a negative correlation between perceived competence in FL speaking, actual speaking competence, self-efficacy and speaking-in-class apprehension, and a positive correlation between speaking anxiety and age, general speaking anxiety, perceived difficulty of speaking, and amount of teaching experience. Moreover, female participants in the study were found to experience greater stress while speaking than males. All the results reached the level of significance.