AN INVESTIGATION INTO SPEAKING ANXIETY AMONG VIETNAMESE EFL LEARNERS: A CASE AT SCHOOL IN VIET NAM

Abstract

This study identifies a few prominent types of English speaking anxiety and their contributing factors experienced by 55 eleventh graders at a high school in Vietnam. The findings reveal that the students appeared to struggle with a lack motivation in speaking lessons, a fear of making mistakes, and a fear of receiving criticism from others. This study also shows that the local students experience a low-to-moderate level of English speaking anxiety, which can be attributed to low speaking motivation, a lack of grammatical structures, and a fear of asking for teacher assistance. This study is expected to help EFL teachers and learners identify levels of speaking anxiety and its causes to better address it in their speaking lessons.