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LANGUAGE ANXIETY FOR STUDENTS OF 
INTERMEDIATE SPEAKING PROFICIENCY LEVEL  

 
Enni Akhmad1*, La Aba2, &Yuwin R Saleh3 

 
enni@iaingorontalo.ac.id 

 

ABSTRACT 

 The focus of research on students' anxiety when speaking a foreign language, 
such as English, has shifted to language learning and education. However, the 
experience of students who reached the intermediate level remains 
underexplored, particularly in the context of students in intermediate 
speaking classes. This study aims to identify the students’ reasons for feeling 
anxious and whether intermediate students also experience language anxiety. 
This qualitative research involved 20 participants from an intermediate-
speaking class of fifth-year English Education Department undergraduate 
students at IAIN Sultan Amai Gorontalo. Data were collected using an 
unstructured interview and an observation sheet. Triangulation was used to 
analyze data by checking the credibility of data from interviews and 
observations. According to the findings of this study, students were anxious 
for three reasons: they were afraid of making mistakes, they were shy to speak, 
and they had lost motivation to speak. The students who joined the 
intermediate speaking class experienced anxiety as their psychological 
disorder. Anxiety was identified as the dominant psychological disorder 
among the students. It supported the previous research that found students of 
all levels experienced anxiety in their speaking English class. As a result, to 
alleviate students' anxiety about speaking a foreign language, teachers must 
consider the students' anxiety when developing teaching materials and media.  

Keywords: English speaking, Intermediate Proficiency Level, Language Anxiety 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Language anxiety is one of the psychological phenomena faced by 
students learning a foreign language, such as English. Because it can obstruct 
the learning process, anxiety harms language learning. Abundant evidence 
from the research showed that anxiety in language learning contributed highly 
to the student's achievement in language learning. The greater the students' 
anxiety, the lower their performance in public speaking. When they experience 
language anxiety in class, they lose concentration and perform poorly.  

 Language anxiety is the state of being afraid, apprehending, doubting, 
or feeling insecure about one's ability to communicate or produce language in 

1,2,3Sultan Amai State Islamic Institute of Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Indonesia

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conversation. (ZHANIBEK, 2001), cited Scovel (1978), who defines anxiety as 
"a state of apprehension, a vague fear..." (Dyah & Iswari, 2012) et al. cited 
Howirtz (2001), who stated that anxiety influenced language learning 
negatively and is one of the most highly examined variables in all of psychology 
and education. (Fahmi Djaguna 1* & Megawati Basri 2 2020) (2020) quoted 
Locke (2015) as saying that anxiety is intrusive, causes stress and functional 
impairment, and often encompasses multiple domains. In language learning, 
anxiety will disturb students’ focus, and they will not perform well in the 
teaching and learning process. Moreover, Fahmi et al. explained that anxiety is 
mostly related to foreign language anxiety or FLA. It can be defined as anxiety 
specifically felt in language-learning situations. 

 The negative influence of anxiety on learning has urged some 
researchers to investigate the phenomenon. The research found three types of 
language anxiety: trait anxiety, state anxiety, and situational anxiety. 
(Hutabarat & Simanjuntak, n.d.) et al. (2013) summarized the negative effects 
of anxiety on language learning by saying that anxiety prevents the productive 
performance of language learners while learning the target language. They 
also quoted Na (2007), who said that anxiety can discourage language 
learners, lose confidence in their abilities, escape from participating in class 
activities, and even abandon attempts to learn the language well. The 
researchers also found the factors of language anxiety: communication 
apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. 

Because foreign language learners very often experience this kind of 
anxiety, research on language anxiety is always carried out by testing the 
language anxiety experienced by students in certain situations, at certain 
levels, and in certain learning classes. Although the symptoms of language 
anxiety are general, it is interesting to know the main factors contributing to 
the anxiety experienced by foreign language learners. Language anxiety is also 
casual; for example, research conducted on 127 third-semester students at 
Ahmad Dahlan University showed that, in general, students had a moderate 
level of language anxiety; only one person had a very high level of anxiety, and 
13 people had a high level of anxiety (Fahmi Djaguna 1* & Megawati Basri 2, 
2020). Meanwhile, research on English department students at Airlangga 
University showed that, on average, students experienced a moderate level of 
foreign language anxiety ((Rachmawati & Airlangga, 2020). Other studies have 
found that foreign language anxiety negatively correlates with students' 
language achievement, as experienced by 50 students in Sulaiman Yasin 
Samarinda class VIII ((Dyah & Iswari, 2012). 

Therefore, it is interesting to examine cases of foreign language anxiety 
experienced by students majoring in English Tadris who are categorized as 
having intermediate proficiency levels in speaking skills. From the existing 
research, only a few have examined it based on the language fluency level 
category; for example, (Garau 2009) et al. studied students in Spain but at all 

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levels. (Pamungkas, 2003) examined the effect of language anxiety on student 
performance in the academic speaking class in the advanced proficiency level 
category. Thus, this research is here to fill in the information gap to explain 
how students at the intermediate proficiency level experience anxiety. 

The description in the previous paragraph forms the basis of this 
research, which aims to explain the condition of students at the intermediate 
level of proficiency who experience foreign language anxiety when learning 
speaking skills. Thus, the question answered in this study is, "How is the 
foreign language anxiety experienced by students of the English Department 
who are categorized as being at an intermediate level of proficiency in learning 
language skills?" 

METHODS 

This research used qualitative methods in a study case design to analyze the 
situation of students experiencing foreign language anxiety, such as communication 
apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. The subjects of this 
research were 20 students from the English Education Department of IAIN, Sultan 

Amai Gorontalo, who joined the Intermediate Speaking Course. This class was taken 
as a sample because it fulfilled the research aims, namely, to find out the experience 
of the intermediate class in experiencing foreign language anxiety. This research used 
an interview sheet to determine why students had language anxiety. Three questions 
were taken as guidelines for the interview, namely: "Why do you feel afraid to make 
mistakes?" "Why do you feel shy to speak?" and "Why do you lose motivation to 
engage in conversation?" Data from interviews were put into coding and arranged 
into observation sheets. Data analysis used triangulation by confirming the interview 
and observation data. Interviews and an observation sheet were used to check the 
data's credibility and transparency. Thus, observing them in the classroom confirmed 
the students’ answers in the interview. Data were concluded after reducing and 
displaying steps. 

RESULTS 

Data analysis showed that the students in the intermediate-speaking class 
experienced medium-language anxiety, which was categorized as trait anxiety. 
Data from the observation sheet showed that nine out of 20 students 
experienced language anxiety. The data showed the reasons for students’ 
language anxiety as follows: 

Table 1. Students’ interview results 

No 
Foreign Language Anxiety 

Indicator 
Students’ Situation in Experiencing 

Foreign Language Anxiety 
1 Feel afraid to make mistakes 

The students who felt afraid to 
make mistakes in intermediate 
class did so because of their 
expectations about their 

1. Before attending the class, I actually 
prepared myself to speak." I memorized 
more than 30 words that concerned the 
material; I learned the grammar; and I 
absolutely understand what my friend 
says. However, in speaking, I think too 

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competence. They said that 
actually they have earned many 
vocabularies, they have known 
the pronunciation, they 
understand the grammar, and 
they comprehend to reply 
someone utterances. However, 
they are not able to perform 
themselves. They were very 
careful in speaking, and thus it 
seems that they feel afraid to 
speak 

much, so it affected my performance. "It 
looks like I am afraid to speak."  

2. “Actually i have many words in my 
brain, I know how to reply a 
conversation, but i feel nervous when 
my turn to speak it is coming to me. I 
feel afraid and worry too much that my 
speaking will make someone else 
laughing. I feel afraid to speak, thus I 
just kept silent in the class” 

3. I prepared myself before attending to 
the class, i train my tongue to speak in 
front of the mirror and i listen a music, i 
also sing the english song. However, i 
felt shock in the class because i could 
not talk as fluent as when i am alone. I 
feel afraid to make mistaken in front of 
someone else  

2 Feel Shy to Speak 

The students who felt shy to 
speak in intermediate class, 
because they were insecure to 
image his/her friends would 
laugh when he/she speak. They 
felt shy to speak, mainly when 
they were asked to come 
forward and speak in front of 
their friends. 

 

1. "I feel so shy and could not produce 
sentences when the lecturer asked me 
to come forward and speak in front of 
my classmates. Although I have 
managed my speech, it lost its impact 
when I stood in front of my friends. 

2. I feel shy and insecure when the 
lecturer invite me to speak in the class. I 
worried that my friend laughed on me, 
because of my pronounciation or my 
grammar mistaken. the shyness made 
me nervous and i could not speak well 

3. I wanted to involve in the conersation 
with my classmates during the learning 
process, but i feel insecure with my 
pronounciation and my grammar. 
Eventhough i have enough vocabularies 
to speak, but i cannot speak, because i 
feel shy.   
 

3 Lose motivation to engage in 
conversation 

The students were lost their 
motivation to involve in 
conversation, when they did 

1. I could not be active in conversation 
when I was not interested in the topic." 
However, I forced myself to be involved, 
but my tongue was rigid and my idea 
could not find its meaning. 

2. I have to understand the topic well in 
order to be motivated in converstaion.  

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not interest with the topic of 
speaking. 

 

3. My motivation was lost when the 
lecturer suddenly give a topic of 
conversation in the class. I could not 
prepared myself only for 15 minutes, 
therefore i couldnot involve in 
conversation and feel nervous.  

 

Meanwhile, the result of the observation sheet confirmed that the 
students feel afraid to speak, shy, and lose motivation. Those types indicated 
that the students got foreign language anxiety in the intermediate speaking 
course. The following table shows the types. It is categorized following the 
Foreign Language Anxiety Scale by Howirtz et al. (1986), quoted by Ardi 
Marwan ((Marwan, n.d.) 

1. never felt quite sure of speaking in the class  

2. tremble when the lecturer called on in the class 
3. frightens me when not understand what the teacher is saying in class 
4. be panic when speaking without preparation in class  
5. embarrass to be volunteer answers questions in class  
6. felt anxious even if have well preparation  
7. felt heart pounding when  calling on in class  
8. Felt very self-conscious about speaking English in front of other 

students 
9. Got nervous when failed to understand every word the English 

teacher says 
10. Got afraid that the other students will laugh when making mistakes 
11. Got nervous when coming to class with little preparation 
12. Felt embarrassed not saying English words correctly 

DISCUSSION 

Data showed that 3 (three)  students are the reason for experiencing 
language anxiety in intermediate speaking classes. They felt afraid to make 
mistakes because they already have good competence, but they should be very 
careful in their speaking performance. The students felt shy to speak because 
they were insecure about speaking in front of the class. The students lost 
motivation to engage in conversation because the speaking topic was not 
interesting.  

The result of the research reflected the phenomenon that students’ 
language anxiety in speaking was not only caused by state anxiety (Hardanti, 
2016) (Dyah & Iswari, 2012) or they were lack of language aspects such as 
vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar but also caused by their 
psychological problems. For example, feel afraid, shy, and lose motivation. 
These indicators are categorized as communication apprehension. As quoted 

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by Setya et al. (2016), Tanveer states that a specific type of situation or event, 
such as public speaking, examinations, or class participation, arouses the 
situation=specific anxiety.  

Horwitz et.al., (AIDA, 1994) argued that the disturbing emotional 
reactions of being anxious, nervous or tense the learners experience in 
learning a foreign language differed from those similar reactions they 
encounter in other situations. Part, it was regarded to be related to 
performance evaluation within academic and social contexts as foreign 
language learning activities generally involve many communicative tasks, 
interpersonal interactions, and error correction anxiety.  

In numerous studies concerning language anxiety, the students 
frequently addressed speaking activities as anxiety-provoking. The students 
reported speaking to raise anxiety as they encountered negative emotional 
experiences during speaking activities. They feared for not being able to 
convey messages well, felt shy for not being used to speak in front of others, 
felt uncomfortable with their appearance as they became the center of 
attention, and thought to have lack of information about the topic ((Wahyudi, 
2016), (PAPPAMIHIEL, 2002), ((Maisarah, 2019), and ((Hardanti, 2016) 

Young (1991) identified that language anxiety may originate from three 
main sources: the learner, the teacher, and the learning process. Of these 
origins, the causes can further be classified into six specifications: 1) personal 
and interpersonal anxieties, 2) learner belief about language learning, 3) 
instructor belief in language teaching, 4) instructor-learner interactions, 5) 
Classroom procedures, and 6) Language testing. Meanwhile, (Turula, n.d.) 
considered factors behind the learners’ anxiety to be within two 
classifications: the classroom and social context. Classroom-related factors 
include individual sense of self, self-related cognitions, and insufficient 
commands and instructions.  

In many cases, the way students view the language learning process was 
justified to provoke anxiety. As reported concerning speaking activities, the 
students considered speaking problematic not only due to psychological 
factors of having a lack of self-confidence, being afraid of making mistakes, 
nervousness, and shyness toward others but also because of the thought that 
speaking requires good mastery of several linguistic elements covering 
pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and idea comprehension 
(Sayuri, 2016). Similarly, the strict classroom environment and how the 
instructor managed the class were also blamed for the tension and uneasiness 
the students experienced during foreign language learning. Capan and Simsek 
(2012) noted that one student particularly attributed his language anxiety to 
the teacher for having an unpleasant experience with mistake correction. 
Other students pointed out that they were reluctant to speak in front of the 
classroom because they feared being humiliated by their peers when making 
mistakes. 

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The result of this research implied that lecturer/teacher should ensure 
that students who are mistaken in learning foreign language learning, mainly 
in speaking skill, is normal. Therefore, Chomsky's theory states that language 
production is often difficult because language competence does not always 
align with performance. Mistakens are generally caused by performance 
factors. Limitations in remembering something or forgetfulness cause errors 
in pronouncing language sounds, words, word order, word stress or sentences 
(Reni Supriani, Ida Rahmadani Siregar, 2019, p. 69). This error is random, 
meaning it can occur at various linguistic levels. Students themselves can 
usually correct errors if they are concerned when they are more reflective, 
more aware or focused. 

The lecturer/teacher should put the students in small groups to 
minimize their shyness in speaking. Small group gives students many benefits, 
such as they have many opportunities to speak or to express their ideas. In 
addition, small groups can improve students’ vocabulary mastery (Sumiatun 
& Nugroho, 2019) and (Andi & Aji, 2020). The students will be more secure 
when they speak in small groups.  

To anticipate students losing motivation to be involved in a conversation, 
the lecturer/teacher should facilitate them with speaking material according 
to their interests. Therefore, the lecturer/teacher should discuss or 
brainstorm to determine the material of speaking in the learning process. The 
brainstorming method is a technique to explore as many opinions or ideas as 
possible on a problem. Brainstorming is a combination of question and answer 
or discussion, which refers to extracting ideas based on the creativity of human 
thinking. Students are free to express opinions without criticism and 
assessment because, at the stage of collecting ideas, all opinions or ideas are 
accommodated and recorded without exception (Hanny, 2020.). 

CONCLUSION 

This result of the research has answered the questions of 3 (three) 
reasons for students’ language anxiety who joined intermediate speaking 
classes, namely they felt afraid to make mistakes because they have good 
competence but were very careful in performance. They felt too shy to speak 
because they had to come forward and speak in front of the class, lecturer and 
other students. They lost the motivation to be involved in conversations 
because the topic of speaking was not interesting to them. Therefore, the 
lecturer/the teacher should pay attention to students’ language anxiety, which 
relates to the language aspect (state anxiety), and language anxiety is related 
to psychological factors (trait anxiety). Both become barriers to the success of 
the teaching and learning process. Moreover, the lecturer/the teacher should 
arrange the strategies to minimize the students’ language anxiety in class.  

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This research recommended further research to examine the good 
method of teaching English as a foreign language, which is very effective in 
escaping students’ language anxiety.  
  

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

We are pleased to thank the committee of the Third International Conference 
on English Language Teaching (ICONELT) 2022.  

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Sumiatun, R., & Nugroho, A. (2019). Meningkatkan Keterampilan Berbicara 
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