INTRODUCTION

Anxiety has been a matter of considerable interest in language education setting for
educators since it is a major obstacle to foreign language learning that the learners need to
overcome (Wu, 2010; Zheng, 2008). English anxiety is a common phenomenon that most of the
students among Grade 11 students have to get through. Students usually become anxious when
they are not the native speaker of a particular language, but are required to learn or use the
language in different context when needed. Horwitz (2001) emphasizes that one-third of all
foreign language learners experience some level of language anxiety. The level of anxiety differs
from one person to another. Therefore, foreign language anxiety has been a topic of much
interest and research in recent years (Ellis, 2008), especially the 1980s perceived as the
breakthrough in the studies on foreign language learning anxiety (Wang, 2014). Nowadays,
English is considered as the most dominant language that exists in the world, also English is
considered as a universal language. Language being used by large number of the total population
of our world. So, the importance of learning English is increasing day by day especially in our
country in which English is considered as a foreign language and learners learn this language as
they start schooling. Yet, they still feel anxious when they are required to use this language
especially for speaking purposes in the class or various situations.

Foreign language anxiety is an important factor that influences one’s level of

achievement in foreign language learning (Dordinejad & Ahmadabad, 2014). According to
MacIntyre and Gardner (1994), foreign language anxiety is “the feeling of tension and
apprehension specifically associated with second language contexts, including speaking,
listening, and learning”- is different from a general feeling of anxiety, and therefore, keeps
learners from reaching their goals (Horwitz, 2001), and prevents foreign language learners from
successful performance in the target language (Hashemi and Abbasi, 2013). Horwitz et al. (1986)
defined foreign language anxiety as “a distinct complex of self- perceptions, beliefs,
feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the
language learning process.” From this perspective, they claim that language anxiety is unique
due to the way it involves learners’ self-concepts to communicate competently and to present
themselves genuinely. Foreign language anxiety can occur if students are exposed to several

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negative experiences in a foreign language context (Chen & Chang, 2004; Sparks et al., 2000;
Hewitt and Stephenson, 2012; Horwitz et al., 1986; Horwitz et al., 2010; MacIntyre and Gardner,
1991; MacIntyre, 1999; Saadi, 2009; Sparks & Ganschow, 2007). Moreover, it can “make
learners get discouraged, lose faith in their abilities, escape from participating in classroom
activities, and even give up the effort to learn a language well” (Na, 2007). Given that learners
with high anxiety often perform at lower levels than those with lower anxiety (Cui, 2011). The
level of anxiety differs from one person to another.

In communication apprehension, foreign language learners have difficulty not only in

speaking, but also in comprehending messages from others (Horwitz et al., 1986). In other
words, learners have difficulty in understanding others or in being understood. Fear of negative
evaluation is closely related to communication apprehension (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991).
Furthermore, “students whose personalities tend to fear negative evaluation seem to be strong
candidates for experiencing anxiety in foreign language classrooms” (Kitano, 2001). MacIntyre
& Gardner (1991) found that communication apprehension and fear of social evaluation were the
main factors in English anxiety. English anxiety may be experienced due to linguistic difficulties
foreign language learners face in learning and using the target language (Hashemi & Abbasi,
2013).

However, Horwitz (2001) claimed that English anxiety is independent of first language
learning disabilities and should be viewed as an important factor that hinders language
learning in and of itself. Zhang and Zhong (2012) have categorized causes of foreign language
learning anxiety as being “learner induced, classroom-related, skill-specific, and some society-
imposed depending on different contexts.” The main cause of anxiety stems from “learners’
unrealistic or erroneous beliefs about language learning” (Zhang & Zhong, 2012). While some
learners think they lack the aptitude or gift to learn a new language (Price, 1991) or use it in a
context, some believe that two years or less is sufficient for them to become proficient in another
language (Horwitz, 1988) without estimating the difficulty of the language learning task, and
therefore, they could possibly experience conflict resulted in anxiety. Learners may also have
erroneous beliefs and expectations about language standards. Since foreign language learners are
exposed to the expert language of native speakers from tapes, videos and instructors (Kitano,
2001), they “set their standards as high as the level of native speakers,” which causes anxiety

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because of failing to achieve the high standards (Zhang & Zhong, 2012). In addition, high
expectations that learners are required to communicate and speak in public cause anxiety. The
fear of falling short of these expectations can hinder the learning process as well as their
confidence in speaking English (Rajanthran et al., 2013). Anxious learners think that their
language skills, especially speaking skills, are weaker than their peers’ (Young, 1991) because of
perceiving speaking ability as the most important. Additionally, Kitano (2001) states that
“speaking skill is usually the first thing that learners compare with that of peers, teachers and
native speakers”. Classroom-related anxiety is associated with instructors, peers and classroom
practices (Zhang & Zhong, 2012). Instructors who believe their role is to correct students
constantly, who feel that they cannot have students working in pairs because the class may get
out of control may be contributing to learner language anxiety (Young, 1991). According to
Hashemi and Abbasi (2013), the more friendly and informal the language classroom
environment, the less it is likely to be anxiety provoking. They state that “formal language
classroom setting is a major source of stress and anxiety because of its demand to be more
correct and clearer in using the target language.” Furthermore, the evaluation or criticisms from
peers is also a major cause of anxiety (Conway, 2007).

Young (1991) found that anxious learners thought their skills in language were weaker
than their peers’ and they were looking down at them. In addition, anxious learners are scared
because of a fear of appearing awkward, foolish and incompetent in the eyes of their peers
(Jones, 2004). Classroom activities have also caused anxiety. As it was reported in Price's
(1991) interview study, many anxious students fear making mistakes in pronunciation in front of
their peers. Furthermore, oral presentation is the most anxiety-provoking classroom activity
(Koch & Terrell, 1991), which makes the classroom environment more formal and stressful for
the learners. However, Hashemi and Abbasi (2013) reported language learners to be less anxious
and stressful in environments which emphasize collaborative activities among the teachers and
the students.

So, English anxiety is a common problem that exist among the students of Central Luzon
State University especially Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics students. This
study aims to find the levels of anxiety, and determine the implications of it. Hence, the students

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were able to better learn English and can confidently and fluently speak in English on every
situation.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the relation between the socio-demographic characteristics
of the Senior High School students in the STEM strand of Central Luzon State University and
their level of anxiety in speaking English.

Specifically, this study attempts to answer the following questions:

1. What are the socio-demographic characteristics of Senior High students in STEM

strand of Central Luzon State University in terms of age, sex, father’s educational
attainment, mother’s educational attainment, father’s occupation, mother’s occupation
and type of school where did they graduate?
2. What are the manifestations of anxiety among the STEM high school students?
3. What is the level of anxiety in speaking English among the STEM high school
students of Central Luzon State University?
4. What is the relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of Senior
High students in the STEM strand of Central Luzon State University and their level of
anxiety in speaking English?
5. What are the implications of English anxiety to language learning of STEM students?

Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study is to determine the levels of anxiety among the Senior
High students of Central Luzon State University.

Specifically, this study attempted to answer the following:

1. To describe the socio-demographic characteristics of Senior High students in STEM

strand of Central Luzon State University in terms of age, sex, father’s educational

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 attainment, mother’s educational attainment, father’s occupation, mother’s occupation
and type of school where did they graduate.
2. To determine the manifestations of anxiety among the STEM high school students.
3. To determine the level of anxiety in speaking English among the STEM high school
students of Central Luzon State University.
4. To determine the relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of
Senior High students in the STEM strand of Central Luzon State University and their
level of anxiety in speaking English.
5. To determine the implications of Anxiety to language learning of the students.

Significance of the Study

Teachers

This study is beneficial for teachers because it will help them to gain idea of how anxious
their students are when it comes to speaking. Also, it will serve as their guide in making
activities and other English class’ tasks.

Principals / School Heads

This study is also beneficial to the school heads or principals in the way that they will
able to determine the level of anxiety of their students and to make proper remedy with regards
on this anxiety that the students are suffering from.

Future Educators

The result of this study is beneficial to the future educators. It will help them to determine
the level of anxiety and its implications to language learning, so that they will able to construct
ways and activities that will lessen the anxiety that the students are suffering from.

Students

The conclusion of this study is also beneficial to the students. Thru this they will able to
know the level of their anxiety and devise ways how to conquer it.

Parent / Guardian

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 The result of this research is beneficial for the parents / guardians of the students. Thru
this, they will able to identify level of anxiety that the students have. Then, devise techniques or
means to help their child overcome this fear and utilize it during the remediation of their child
outside the school premises. Moreover, it is beneficial because it will help them in guiding as
well as aiding the needs of their child in terms of educational aspect.

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

This study was anchored with the skills deficit hypothesis (Tobias, 1985) which states
that learners develop anxiety because of inadequacy of essential expertise needed for a
successful and spontaneous interaction. According to this theory, the reason why people fail to
response immediately in conversation are: 1) they are having difficulties in integrating ideas into
practice because they tend to be awkward and uncomfortable during performances. The learner
may begin to associate this happening as an aversive stimulus and several encounters to it may
result to stable fear of social interaction like exchanging conversation inside the English class.

In order to fathom the respondents’ level of anxiety, as well as the manifestations of this
anxiety and its implications in language learning the researchers utilized the skills deficit
hypothesis by Tobias (1985).

As conceptualized in this study, the level of anxiety among the STEM senior high school
students would be correlated with their socio-demographic characteristics profile. The socio-
demographic profile of the student such age, sex, father’s educational attainment, mother’s
educational attainment, father’s occupation, mother’s occupation and type of school where did
they graduate. As well as the manifestations of this anxiety and its implications on language
learning of the students. With the aim to answer the research question and to investigate the
hypothesis, a survey among students was conducted.

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`

Research Paradigm

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Socio-Demographic Profile

 Sex
 Age  Level of Anxiety
 Father’s Educational Attainment  Manifestations of
 Mother’s Educational Attainment Anxiety
 Father’s Occupation  Implications of
 Mother’s Occupation Anxiety to Language
 School where he/she graduated Learning.
from.

Figure 1. The research’s conceptual paradigm showing the hypothetical relationship between the
independent and dependent variables

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 Hypothesis of the Study

This study tested the following null hypotheses:

1. There is no relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics such as age,

sex, father’s educational attainment, mother’s educational attainment, father’s
occupation, and mother’s occupation and type of school they graduated from of
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) senior high school
students
2. There is no speaking anxiety that exist among the respondents.
3. There are no implications of anxiety in speaking English that affects the language
learning of the students.

Scope and Limitation

In this study, the researchers focus to the selected factors affecting the level of anxiety
among Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Students of Central Luzon
State University (CLSU). The said study was exclusively for the Grade 11 students of CLSU
school year 2016 – 2017. The researcher conducted the study during the available time of the
respondents.

The study sought for the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents’ age, sex,
father’s educational attainment, mother’s educational attainment, father’s occupation, mother’s
occupation and type of school where did they graduate.

Operational Definition of Terms

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 The terminologies that were used in the study were defined for clarity and common
understanding.

Socio-demographic profile refers to the characteristics of the respondents. In this study these
refers to age, sex, father’s educational attainment, mother’s educational attainment, father’s
occupation, mother’s occupation and type of school where did they graduate.
Sex refers to whether the respondents is a male or female

Age refers to the number of years the respondents has lived so far. It also refers the chronological
years of the respondents.

Father’s educational attainment refers to the highest educational degree that the father of the
respondents’ has obtained. It was categorized into PhD, Master’s degree, College Graduate, High
School Graduate and Elementary Graduate.

Mother’s educational attainment refers to the highest educational degree that the mother of the
respondents’ has obtained. It was categorized into Ph. D., Master’s Degree, College Graduate,
High School Graduate and Elementary Graduate.

Father’s Occupation refers to the job of source of income of the respondents’ father. It was
characterized into professor/teacher, medical practitioner, engineer/architect, government/private
employee, lawyer, farmer, self-employed, unemployed, and others.

Mother’s occupation refers to the job or source of income of the respondents’ mother. It was
characterized into professor/teacher, medical practitioner, engineer/architect, government/private
employee, lawyer, farmer, self-employed, unemployed, and others.

School Where He/She Graduate refers to the type of school where the respondents graduated
from.

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 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This part presents the findings of some authors which are related to the study:

What is an Anxiety?

Anxiety is such a complex issue that researchers have been unable to agree on a concise
definition (Zhanibek, 2001). Anxiety has been defined as “an emotional response to a threat to
some value that the individual holds essential to his existence as a personality” (May, 1977, cited
in Bekleyen, 2004, p. 50). In another definition, it has been called “the subjective feeling of
tension, apprehension, nervousness and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic
nervous system” (Spielberger, 1983, cited in Horwitz et al. p. 27). Similarly, Scovel defines
anxiety as an emotional state of “apprehension, a vague fear that is only indirectly associated
with an object” (Scovel, 1978, cited in Cheng, 2005, p. 8).

The definitions of anxiety that have been proposed by several scholars have some
common characteristics: the state of apprehension, fear, tension and feelings of uneasiness
(Brown, 1994; Horwitz et al. 1991; Scovel, 1991). Ehrman (1996) states that these characteristics
are associated with individuals‟ negative evaluations of their actions. For some reason, they
become failure oriented, feel inhibited and avoid 11 performing tasks such as doing homework,
taking an exam and even speaking in class. In some cases, people may feel anxious in specific
situations or they may experience anxiety in every stage of the learning process.

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 In several studies (e.g. Aida, 1994; Elkhafaifi, 2005; Philips, 1992; Steinberg & Horwitz,
1986), anxiety was found to have a negative relationship with language performance. In fact it
was a debilitative anxiety. But we also have facilitative anxiety. There is some concern or some
apprehension over the task to be accomplished which prevents the learner from being wishy-
washy (Brown, 2000). In some studies, anxiety has shown to be facilitative (Baily, 1983;
Kleinmann, 1977; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1994; Tobias, 1986).

Horwitz (1990) believes that in the language learning environment, there is no such thing
as facilitative anxiety; all anxiety in that environment is likely to be debilitative. However, in the
study of Oxford and Ehrman (1995), which shows the relationships between language learning
strategies and several other factors such as anxiety, it was found that self-reported anxiety about
speaking the language in class has a positive relationship with cognitive strategy use. So it
confirms Brown’s (2000) view that facilitative anxiety exists, too.

MacIntyre and Gardner (1989) referred to such contradictory results obtained in previous
studies. They point out that most of these contradictory studies measured trait or state anxiety
which is applicable across several situations, but this may not be the best way to measure anxiety
in a language learning context. Gardner (1985) has proposed that scales which are directly
concerned with foreign language anxiety are more appropriate for studying language anxiety
than general anxiety scales.

MacIntyre and Gardner (1994) studied effects of language anxiety on cognitive

processing in second languages. They used a three-stage model of learning: Input, Processing
and Output. These stages were employed to isolate and measure the language acquisition stage.
A new anxiety scale was also developed to measure anxiety at each of the stages. They used
word span, digit span and t-scope as the measurement of the Input stage. French Achievement
Test, paragraph translation and paired associates learning were used in the Processing stage.
Thing category, cloze test and self-description measured the Output stage. They found significant
correlations between the stage specific anxiety scales and stage specific tasks.

MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) studied language anxiety and its relationship to other
anxieties as social evaluation anxiety, state anxiety and to processing in native and second
languages. They found a significant correlation between language 19 anxieties and the ability to

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repeat short strings of numbers and to recall vocabulary items. This finding indicates that anxiety
influences short-term and long-term memory.

Types of anxiety

The literature specifies one type of anxiety that comes from personality characteristics,
which is called trait anxiety. Some people tend to be anxious in every situation, and this anxiety
is permanent and stable; in other words, it is a personality trait (Brown, 1994). Trait anxiety is
defined as an individual‟s anxiety proneness as a reaction to almost every situation (Philips,
1992). Research has shown that trait anxiety negatively affects people‟s memory and other
cognitive features (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991). Another type of anxiety is state anxiety, which
comes from the conditions in a particular situation. Young (1991) emphasizes that it is not a
permanent feature, and it is a reaction that is triggered by the conditions of a particular situation.
Brown (1994) also explains that it is a type of anxiety that is temporarily aggravated by a
stimulus.

Aydın (2001) points out a strong correlation between state and trait anxiety, adding that
people having trait anxiety are more likely to have state anxiety. However, MacIntyre and
Gardner (1991) state that people may have the same trait anxiety scores but their reactions may
be different in different situations. For example, in a study conducted by MacIntyre and Gardner
(1991), two subjects having the same trait anxiety scores were compared in terms of their
responses to the social situations given in the subscales of the fictitious trait anxiety scale. The
situations were written tests or exams, novel situations and dangerous circumstances. It was
found that the first subject did not feel anxious in written exams, but felt nervous in social
situations. In 12 contrasts, the second subject felt anxious in written exams but did not feel
anxious in social situations. For novel and dangerous situations, they had the same score.

In the literature, another type of anxiety, which is called situation specific anxiety, has
been identified (Woodrow, 2006). Situation specific anxiety is anxiety caused by the conditions
of a particular situation (Wang, 1998). In the case of language learning, situation specific anxiety
refers to apprehension caused by learners‟ inadequate knowledge of language (MacIntyre &
Gardner, 1991). Foreign language anxiety is considered to be situation specific anxiety because
in the process of language learning, situation specific anxiety recurs every time the learner

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attempts to use the language. Public speaking, participating in class activities and written exams
are some cases in which situation specific anxiety may be observed (Zhanibek, 2001).

Another distinction is made between two other types of anxiety: facilitating and
debilitating anxiety. Brown (1994) points out that facilitative anxiety has a positive effect on a
learner accomplishing a task. He further states that being a little anxious motivates a person to
continue performing the action. Scovel (1991) agrees on the definition of facilitative anxiety in
the sense that it has a motivating role. The motivating role of facilitative anxiety is exemplified
by Ehrman (1996): “When I have a writing task, I generate a little anxiety to get me out of my
natural tendency to procrastinate. Just enough anxiety, but no more than needed”. This
motivating role is partly associated with being a competitive language learner, which is reflected
in learners‟ diaries (Bailey, 1983, cited in Zhanibek, 2001). A detailed analysis of learners‟
diaries in Bailey‟s (1983) study revealed that some learners‟ self-comparison to others created a
facilitative anxiety, and they studied more when they noticed that their peers performed better.
This is called positive competitiveness. However, when 13 the self-comparison interfered with
learning or caused a negative competitiveness, it created a debilitating anxiety (Zhanibek, 2001).
Indeed, debilitating anxiety means having some negative feelings that inhibit a learner from
performing a task (Wilson, 2006). That is, learners get frustrated by some unpleasant feelings,
and this frustration results in failure (Zhanibek, 2001).

The notion of facilitative anxiety has brought some researchers into conflict with other
researchers. Some believe that anxiety has no motivating role at all (Ehrman, 1996), arguing that
anxiety has only a debilitating role. For example, Horwitz, Horwtiz and Cope (1986) accept that
facilitating anxiety has a small role in easier tasks but do not accept its role in the case of
language learning. The next section will look at foreign language anxiety in a more detailed way.

Facilitating/Debilitating Anxieties

In recent years researchers have become interested in language anxiety as a major issue in
learning foreign languages. Alpert and Haber (1960, as cited in Sellers, 2000) distinguished
between two types of language anxiety: facilitating and debilitating. Facilitating anxiety
influences the learner in a positive, motivating way and is best described as enthusiasm before a
challenging task. In contrast, debilitative anxiety includes the unpleasant feelings such as worry
and dread that interfere with the learning process (Sellers, 2000). Many researchers including

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Alpert and Haber(1960), Bailey, (1983); Scovel, (1978) and Oxford (1999) have studied
facilitating and debilitating anxieties. Scovel explains facilitating and debilitating anxiety as
products of the limbic system, “the source of all affective arousal” (1978, p.139): (ascited in
Bailey, 1983, p.69) Facilitating anxiety motivates to “fight” the new learningtask; it gears the
learner emotionally for approach behavior. Debilitating anxiety in contrast, motivates the learner
to “flee” the new learning task; it stimulates the individual emotionally to adopt avoidance
behavior (ibid).

Foreign language anxiety

In the case of language learning, it has been observed that many people fail to learn the
language, even though they are successful in other learning experiences. It is known that some
people have an anxiety reaction against learning the language (Horwitz et al.,1991). It can be
assumed that this anxiety reaction is developed gradually as learners try hard to make progress.

When they see that they cannot make progress, they may have an anxiety reaction against
learning the language. Indeed, the question of whether foreign language anxiety is the result of
poor language learning or not has been controversial. While some scholars claim that having
poor language skills is a cause of anxiety, some claim that anxiety is the cause of poor language
learning. For example, Horwitz (2001) came to the conclusion that anxiety is the result of poor
language learning. She claims that the nature of second or foreign language learning involves
several instances of risk taking, which can negatively affect individuals‟ social image. That is,
when they make a mistake, they may worry about making an improper social image. Therefore,
learners having poor language skills may tend to show apprehensive behaviors. Foreign language
anxiety was identified by Horwitz et al, (1986) as a specific syndrome, which stems from three
other anxieties: communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety.

Language anxiety is the feeling of tension and apprehension specifically in second-

language contexts, including speaking, listening, reading, and writing (MacIntyre and Gardner,
1994). It has been estimated that approximately one-third of students learning a foreign language

experience some type of foreign language anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986).

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 Aida (1994) also examined the effects of anxiety on foreign language performance. His
study showed that language anxiety was negatively correlated to students’ performance in
Japanese as a foreign language.

Phillips (1992) investigated the relationship between language anxiety and students’ oral
test performance. The measure for language anxiety in this study was FLCAS (Horwitz et al,
1986). Phillips measured the correlation between language anxiety and oral test performance and
found that there was a moderate negative relationship between them.

More recently, Liu and Jackson (2008) investigated the unwillingness to communicate
and anxiety of Chinese learners of English as a foreign language. Their results revealed that most
of their participants were willing to participate in interpersonal conversations, but they did not
like risk using/speaking English in class. In addition, more than one third of them felt anxious in
their English language classrooms. The participants’ unwillingness to communicate and their
foreign language anxiety correlated with each other and with their own rating of their English
proficiency.

In a large scale study of multilingual adults around the world, Dewaele, Petrides, and
Furnham (2008) found that individuals who were younger when they started learning a second or
third language had lower levels of language anxiety. Lower anxiety levels were also associated
with knowledge of more languages and higher levels of Emotional Intelligence. In spite of most
previous studies, this article has examined language learners who are successful and who use
language outside the classroom. This study suggests that in addition to individual characteristics,
larger social circumstances such as the availability of supportive conversional partners and L2
role models may have a role in reducing language anxiety.

Communication apprehension refers to worry about oral communication (Horwitz et al.,

1991). It is associated with both L1 and L2. The basic causes of communication apprehension
are some personality traits such as shyness, quietness or reticence. Daly (1991) explains the
causes of communication apprehension in a more comprehensive way. Individuals‟ genetic
background might be significant in showing communication apprehension.

Second, positive reinforcement of communication behaviors is significant in the

prevention of communication apprehension. When individuals‟ communication behaviors are

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reinforced positively, they will be more willing to communicate (Aydın, 2001). Conversely, in
early childhood negative communication experiences cause a person to have communication
apprehension. If children encounter negative reactions constantly in their attempt to use the
language, they may show apprehensive behaviors. Research has shown that children who were
discouraged from communication tend to be more apprehensive (Daly, 1991). In terms of
language learning, Tanveer (2007) discusses this from a behaviorist point of view. He states that
when instructors treat students‟ errors negatively, their fear of making errors will be aggravated.
Therefore, any attempt to speak will be hindered, whereas people who were exposed to intensive
talking input in their early childhood become less apprehensive (Daly, 1991). 15

In second or foreign language learning contexts, learners‟ communication apprehension

is aggravated by their peers and teachers‟ control over their production (Horwitz et al. 1991).
Tanveer (2007) conducted an interview study to investigate the potential factors that cause
language anxiety in speaking. The results showed that the participants reported anxiety when the
classroom had a competitive atmosphere or this competitive atmosphere of the classroom was
emphasized by the teacher. Fear of negative evaluation refers to individuals‟ worries about what
others think about them and believing that these thoughts are usually negative (Horwitz et al.
1991). Some learners regard using the language as a case of being evaluated. When they think
that they lack the necessary linguistic competence to express themselves, they are worried about
giving an improper social impression about themselves (Aydın, 2001). This results in minimum
participation or avoidance of communication.

Test anxiety refers to learners ‟negative expectations about their performance in an

upcoming test (Horwitz et al.1991). Test anxiety has four different phases: test anticipation, test
preparation, the test taking stage and test reaction (Covington, 1985, cited in Aydın, 2001). In the
first phase, learners start to evaluate their own preparation, their previous knowledge and the
level of difficulty of the test, and predict their chance of success or failure. When they see that
they will be likely to fail, they start to feel anxious (Aydın, 2001). In the second phase, they start
to prepare for the test, evaluating the effectiveness of their preparation. They associate success
with reaching their unrealistic goals so they consider that “anything less than a perfect test
performance is a failure” (Covington, 1985, cited in Aydın, 2001, p. 23). During the test taking

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phase, they feel inhibited and frustrated due to their anxiety and in the last stage, their negative
expectations are usually realized (Aydın, 2001).

In addition to the model suggested by Horwitz et al, (1986), another model was suggested
by Tobias (1986), who analyzed the effects of anxiety in the three stages of learning: input,
processing and output. The input stage is the first stage, in which learners are presented with new
information (external stimuli), and they encode this new information, assigning meaning to what
they see or hear. Since learners have to process so many things initially, learners‟ anxiety in the
input stage interferes with the other stages (processing and output). They may miss some of the
information, and they try hard to make up for the missing input (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1994).
MacIntyre and Gardner (1994) point out that rapid speech or written texts which include difficult
structures are some typical cases in which learners may have difficulty in encoding information.
When learners have difficulty in encoding the new information, they feel anxious. This is
associated with input anxiety, which refers to the fear that a receiver has when perceiving
information from auditory or visual sources (Tanveer, 2007). The processing stage is the second
stage, in which learners process input or the information they received in the first stage.
Processing involves grouping and storing input. Since anxiety interferes with the cognitive
process, the time that learners spend on processing information increases. In the case of language
learning, higher anxiety in this stage prevents learners from learning new linguistic forms
(Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, & Daley, 2000). The output stage is the last stage, in which learners
attempt to use the information that they have learned (Onwuegbuzie et al., 2000). The success of
this stage depends heavily on the input and processing stages (Aydın, 2001).

In this stage, anxiety causes learners to retrieve information slowly, though they may
have learned the material. The interference of high anxiety at this level results in limited output
in learners‟ spoken and written products. These three stages are interdependent because learning
occurs when each step is successfully accomplished (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1994). For example,
if learners have some difficulty in encoding new information in the input stage, they will not be
able to process it in the second stage, and this will result in poor performance in the output stage.

Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety

Wilson (2006) states that for many learners speaking is one of the sources of anxiety in
language learning. That is, to some extent, many learners suffer from foreign language speaking

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anxiety, which can simply be defined as the fear of using the language orally. In order to discuss
why speaking promotes anxiety for many learners, speaking itself needs to be analyzed.

Foreign Language Anxiety and Speaking

Horwitz and Cope (1986) indicated that FLA is a situation-specific type of anxiety which
only occurs during certain conditions such as in school, conversation, and meeting new people
wherein learners are being evaluated by people (Kamalvand, Mohammadi, & Tabari, 2014). In
line to speaking, oral presentations or recitations in English classes may cause anxiety and as a
proof, literature reveal that among the four macro skills in English, speaking is reported to be the
most crucial and the most anxiety- producing task such as performing impromptu speech. This is
much more different from other areas, listening, reading, and writing, with which students have
more time to think and to prepare for their answers. Additionally, the proper use of the language
is not strictly monitored on the said areas. However, several failures in speaking a second
language may lead to frustrations (Cheng, 2009) and there may be detrimental effect on the
failure instructional practices of the learners (Liauw, n.d)
In western countries, English is basically considered as their first language so people
there encounter fewer problems in communicating unlike those in the Philippines. Some
Filipinos feel uneasy when using English just like Chinese students, who are highly anxious
when the situation ask them to speak in English than their native language (Barley, 2009). In
addition, the literatures have seen that Puerto Ricans and some individual from Asian countries
like Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and China also suffer from this difficulty in language
acquisition. However, some studies revealed that even people from United Kingdom, (Arquero,
Bramhall, Hassal, & Joyc, 2004) and United States (Pappamihiel, 2002) who practice English as
native language, experience a little discomfort and fear in speaking English. This happens with
the presenceS of variables which debilitate their skills in communication.

Speaking anxiety in English and Language Achievement

Anxiety plays whether a debilitating or facilitator role on students’ ability in second

language speaking. It either challenges them to improve their poor communication skills or let
them become more incapacitated on expressing their own thoughts and opinions (Tanveer,
2007). Also, there is an argument about the issue of communication anxiety and language

Page | 18
achievement. The question is that, do students’ ability to speak are impaired by anxiety or it is
just that they lack in knowledge and basic grammatical rules in English (Bailey, 1983). To
answer this, the language achievement or speaking ability of students were correlated to the
levels of their anxiety and according to Deyuan (2011) language achievement is not a predicator
of this type of anxiety likewise with what Orbeta and San Jose (2013) have found on their study.
However, in the study Woodrow (2006), the relationship between English speaking anxiety and
language achievement was recognized. In addition to this, Lee and Park (2007) have shown in
their study that the more nervous students are, the less they gain scores in oral performance. Due
to confusing and contracting results, the literature have no certainty to the relationship of these
variables.

Speaking Anxiety and Confidence Level in Speaking

The importance of confidence level is also seen as a determinant of anxiety in speaking

English. Confidence plays a major role in performance because it helps someone to excel or
confront threatening situations in life. In relation to academics, the level of student’s confidence
has an impact on his school performance which may lead to higher or lower scores. In Lee and
Park (2007) it was observed that confident students have higher oral grades in English compared
to others. In the study of Wilson (2006), it was found to be the second best predictor of English
speaking course.

Speaking as a Source of Anxiety

Like writing, speaking is a productive skill but the nature of speaking differs from writing
in many ways, such as grammatical, lexical and discourse patterns. In its simplest form, speaking
can be defined as a productive and an interactive skill (Carter & Nunan, 2002).

From a psycholinguistic point of view, the process that the brain goes through in
speaking is analyzed through an information processing model, which was developed by Levelt
(1989), and it has four steps: conceptualization, formulation, articulation and self-monitoring.
Conceptualization refers to a sort of pre-speaking stage in which the speaker plans what to say.
This involves connecting background knowledge to the topic and the conditions in which the
speech is made. During formulation, appropriate linguistic forms (words and phrases) are found

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and they are matched with the correct grammatical markers (affixes, articles, auxiliaries). In the
stage of articulation, the speaker articulates every word by means of articulatory 20

organs and in the last stage, the speaker checks the speech and correct mistakes by self-
monitoring. This process is completed in a very short time so it is impossible for the speaker to
control all the stages.

Therefore, the successful completion of the stages depends on automaticity. In the case of
foreign language learning, each stage might cause L2 speakers to have some difficulties due to
lack of automaticity (Carter & Nunan, 2002). Huang (1998) conducted a survey study to examine
the sources of the difficulties in learning that some students majoring in different fields in the
USA might have in speaking classes. It was found that one of the main sources of difficulty was
learners‟ lack of automaticity in using the language in the classroom, which caused them to feel
anxious (Huang, 1998). According to Shumin (1997), learning to speak a foreign language
effectively requires one to develop communicative competence.

Communicative competence is defined as the ability to “convey and interpret messages

and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within specific contexts” (Brown, 1994, p. 227).
Analyzing the elements of communicative competence enables one to identify the underlying
components of L2 speaking proficiency that learners may find difficult (Shumin, 1997). One
difficulty of L2 speaking may come from the complexity of communicative competence, in
which several other types of competence are involved: grammatical competence, discourse
competence, socio-linguistic competence and strategic competence.

Other Associated Factors with the Levels of Anxiety in Speaking

One of personal variables which matters to anxiety of speakers is their sex. However,
studies have shown inconsistent findings regarding this. Cheng (2002) and Almadabad and
Dordinejad (2014) found that there is a significant difference between the two variables such that
females are more worried than males. On the contrary, males showed more avoidance of the
language than females as Krohne, Schmukle, Burns, Egloff, and Spielberger (2001) claimed (as
cited in Occhipinti, 2009). While in Na (2014), it was found that sex has no relationship with
anxiety in English classroom. In addition, introversion and extroversion of EFL learners have
also been included as learner’s variable because the power of interaction depends also on the

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personality that an individual has. In an English classroom setting, Occhipanti (2009) suggests
that loquacious people who happened to be comfortable with their mother tongue become silent
while those students who are timid shy students at class have the tendency to communicate in
English as they feel different when speaking in other language. Moreover, introverts think twice
so they are able to avoid mistakes and negative feedbacks from classmates. In contrast with this,
Opt and Lofredo (2000) argyed that introvert people are more prone to apprehension that
extraverts as cited in Laurilla (n.d). The possible explanation for this would be extraverts are
sociable in a way that they always engage in class activities so they tend to communicate
regularly, as what is cited by Rashidi, Yamini and Shafiei (2001).

Another variables which matters to the level of anxiety is the parents’ ocuupation.The
socio-economic status is one of the learning characteristics that influences school performance,
both positively and negatively. Socio-economic encompasses the levels of cultural rank and
degree of financial independence. According to Eggen (2001) and Ward (2002) define that a
parent’s income, their occupation, and their greatest level of mastered education calculate the
socio-economic status. Current research has suggested that there is a direct relationship of socio-
economic status with exam performance in secondary school. Other influences on learning
include poverty and parental of adult supervision.

Socio-economic status is related to learning in that it affects the basic needs of a child,
such as nutrition, quality of their home life and their safety and security at school and home. It
also affect early and necessary background experiences that are vital to learning. A low status
may indicate that there is little existence of learning environment at home and few lessons
outside of school. Without the appropriate resources one cannot conquer one’s anxiety and
doesn’t have the privilege to access to available resources when it comes on learning language.
Thus, this learner characteristics builds a division between learners based on their status in the
community and economy.

Another set of variables that have been introduced by foreign and local studies is the social
variables. As a social animal, everybody wants to be socially desirable but this perception also
heightens the fear of being evaluated in a negative manner so we tend to be aware and begin to
worry about mistakes. In Young (1992), once anxious learners heard criticisms, they think of it
every moment and these degrading thoughts reinforce the anxiety more which is felt by students

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as cited in Abdullah and Abduk Rahmam, (2010). In addition, past experiences of learners with
English language are also potential source of anxiety because their past experiences determine
the way they anticipate an event as cited in Del Villar (2010). If someone thinks that he will fail
because he alredy experinced it before, he will surely unaable to do his task. Del Villar (2010)
also added that an anxious EFL learner who had unpleasant experiences with teachers and
classmates like being scolded in front due to some mistakes done during his early years which
pushed him to avoid frequent use of English language. Lastly, the interlocutor of learners direct
their fear toward communication. According to Tanveer (2007) students have lesser worries
when having a conversation with fellow students that talking to a teacher or to someone who has
higher social power and proficiency. In addition, EFL learnres may feel inferior and thus, their
confidence may avry depending on their audience.

In a cognitive view, Tanveer (2007) stated that irrational beliefs and degrading thoughts
makes students more anxious. It blocks the success of communication improvement as it
heightens their insecurities and make them aware of comparisons (Bailey, 1986). Moreover,
apprehensive people do not want to look stupid weak so as much as possible, failure are not
entertained (Tseng, 2012). To avoid criticisms, they choose not to speak and lessen mistakes.

Anxiety can also be seen as an outcome of socio-cultural factors such as culture or ethnic
background, and the fear of losing identity. Researchers argued that culture matters in having
anxiety in learning an English language. Many Asian EFL learners are undeniably apprehensive
to English language because some of them are used to speaking in their mother tongue (Tanveer,
2007). A Local literature suggest that student become more apprehensive during class recitations
and public speaking because of premise that English is not basically Filipino’s native language
(Del Villar, 2010). It is not practiced at home and not always used by Filipinos’s during casual
coversations. In Matsuoka (2008), it is stated that along with some Asian counties, Philippines
also experience communication apprehension next to japan, which may be the most susceptible
culture to FLA in the world. Besides, there are cultural practices by Japanese such as not being
assertive of own judgments and being hesitant to raise opinions, which cause them to be prone in
communication anxiety (Ohata. 2005). Hirasawa (n.d) explained that this phenomenon happens
because speech communication is not included to curriculum is some schools in japan and
besides, they also lack English teachers. Lastly, Rashidi et al. (2011) explained that the

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domination of males in one’s culture. (e.g. Iran) has also an effect on shyness and uneasiness of
females. It was also fund that English learners like Chinese and Japanese learners, believe that
they seem to be different when they use English in speaking. Tseng (2012) explained that
learners find it irritating when they hear their voices in other language.

Manifestations of speaking anxiety in English.

There are several manifestation which was observed by some researchers to the anxious
people when they speak. Tanveer (2007) stated that activities such as sweating, blushing of
cheeks, rubbing palms, stammering, and lack of eye contact are indications that a student suffer
from anxiety. In addition, Andrade and Williams, (2009) found that even drying of lips, muscle
tension, and fast heartbeats are results of it. Furthermore, Andrade and Williams (2009)
explained that the psychological state of apprehensive people is also affected by this, in a way
that they turn out to be mentally blocked when they try to speak. Next to this is a feeling of
embarrassment and helplessness due to inadequacy of communication skills. Andrade and
Williams, (2009) also added that some of anxious people tend to be socially inactive because
they lost willingness to speak and talk with people around them. They also experience school
truancy and the worst they drop their English classes.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the design of the study, the respondents of the study, instrument
methods used in the data gathering, the procedures used in gathering data and the statistical tools
used in the analysis.

Research Design

This study is a descriptive correlation research using description, recording, analysis, and
interpretation of socio-demographic characteristics, and level of anxiety among Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Senior High School Students of Central
Luzon State University (CLSU).

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of this study were identified as bona fide Grade 11 Senior High Students
of STEM strand of Central Luzon State University during the 1 st Semester of School Year 2016-
2017.

Research Instrument

The following were administered in order to determine the specific questioned in the
study. The research will use 4-part questionnaire as the data gathering devices.

Part I

This part was developed to gather the socio-demographic characteristics of the

respondents such as: age, sex, father’s educational attainment, mother’s educational attainment,
father’s occupation, mother’s occupation and type of school where did they graduate.

Part II

This part was formulated to find out if the respondents are suffering from anxiety and
what are the manifestations of this anxiety.

Part III

This part was designed in order to determine the level of English anxiety of the
respondents. The Level of Anxiety of the respondents were determined it terms of numerical

Page | 24
measured in a terms of rating scale of 5 – Strong Agree, 4 – Agree, 3 – No Comment, 2 –
Disagree, 1 – Strongly Disagree which are converted into corresponding points to come up with
the level of their anxiety.

Part IV

This part was made to determine the implications of the anxiety to Language learning of
the respondents. The implications of anxiety to language learning of the respondents were
numerical measured in terms of rating scale.

. The teaching method preference of the respondents was numerical measured in a terms of rating
and descriptive scale of 5 – Strong Agree, 4 – Agree, 3 – No Comment, 2 – Disagree, 1 –
Strongly Disagree.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers sought permission from the advisers of selected class. After, they are
permitted, together with the adviser they talked about the availability of the STEM students.
Then, after the schedule was settled, the researchers gathered the data by giving the
questionnaires to the selected respondents.

Methods of Data Analysis

Based on the objectives and hypothesis of the study the data were analyzed by means of
the following statistical methods:

1. Descriptive Statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, ranking, arithmetic mean

and standard deviation were used to describe the socio-demographic profile of the
respondents as well as to determine the levels of anxiety of the respondents.
2. Pearson Correlation, and Spearman RHO to test if there are significant relationships
among the variables.

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 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter presents and discusses the data gathered from the respondents.

Socio-Demographic Characteristics

The Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents in this study are sex, age,
father’s educational attainment, mother’s educational attainment, father’s occupation, and
mother’s occupation.

Sex

The sex distribution of the STEM senior high school respondents in Table 1 shows that
there are 43 or 61.4% females and 27 or 38.6% are males. This reveals that the majority of the
respondents are female which conforms to the study of Cheng (2002) and Almadabad and
Dordinejad (2014) wherein, the dominance of female respondents can be observed on this study.

Age

As shown in Table 1, 35 or 50% of the respondents are 16 years old, 31 or 44.3% are 17
years old, and 2 or 2.9% of the respondents that are 15 years of age and others.

This result conforms to the finding of Torres (2006) that age of students in particular
grade may differ due to some circumstances. Also, this manifests that in Philippines, senior high
school students are normally 16 to 17 years of age.

Type of School Graduated from

Table 1 tells that 45 or 64.3% of the respondents were graduates of public school and the
remaining 25 or 35.7% of the respondents came from private schools.

Father’s Educational Attainment

Table 1 reveals that 36 or 51.4% of the respondents’ fathers are college graduate, another
22 or 31.4% are high school graduate, 9 or 12.9% were others, 2 or 2.9% were elementary
graduates, and 1 or 1.4% were master’s degree holder.

This shows that all of the respondents have literate father. In fact, many of them have
attained high degree of education. Therefore, the results are in correlation to the study of Torres

Page | 26
(2006) and Ramones (2006) which associate the life’s goal and education of the children to their
parents’ education.

Mother’s Educational Attainment

Table 1 shows that 40 or 57.1% of the respondents’ mothers are college graduate, 20 or
28.6% are high school graduates, 5 or 7.1% have master’s degree, 3 or 4.3% were others and
only one or 1.4% was an elementary graduate. The result also revealed that all the mothers of the
respondents have obtained higher than secondary education.

It is notable that all their mothers have attained higher than secondary education. This
means that the STEM senior high school students have literate mothers. Therefore, the results are
in correlation to the study of Torres (2006) and Ramones (2006), which associate the life’s goal
and education of the children to their parents’ education.

Father’s Occupation

Table 1 shows that 28 or 40% of the respondents’ father fall in category of others, while
20 or 28.6% are farmers, 14 or 20% are public/private employee, 4 or 5.7% is engineer, 2 or
2.9% are unemployed, 1 or 1.4% fall to doctor and teacher. Most of the respondents’ father have
stable jobs. According to Eggen (2001) Ward (2002) Torres (2006) and Ramones (2006) parent’s
income, occupation, and greatest level of mastered education calculate their socio-economic
status. They also stated that one learning characteristics that influences school performance, both
positively and negatively, is the socio economic status of the students and his family.

Mother’s Occupation

Table 1 shows that 25 or 37% of the respondents’ mother are unemployed and others
while 10 or 14.3% are public/private employee, 8 or 11.4% are teachers, and 2 or 2.9% are
farmer.

Most of the respondents’ mother have no jobs. According to Eggen (2001) Ward (2002)
Torres (2006) and Ramones (2006) parent’s income, occupation, and greatest level of mastered
education calculate their socio-economic status. They also stated that one learning characteristics
that influences school performance, both positively and negatively, is the socio economic status
of the students and his family.

Page | 27
Table 1. Socio-Demographic Characteristics of STEM Senior High School Students

Socio-demographic characteristics Frequency Percentage

Sex
Male 27 38.6%
Female 43 61.4%
Age
15 2 2.9%
16 35 50.0%
17 31 44.3%
Others 2 2.9%
Type of School graduated from
Public 45 64.3%
Private 25 35.7%
Father’s educational attainment
Elementary graduate 2 2.9%
High school graduate 22 31.4%
College graduate 36 51.4%
Master’s degree 1 1.4%
Doctoral degree 0 0%
Others 9 12.9%
Mother’s educational attainment
Elementary graduate 1 1.4%
High school graduate 20 28.6%
College graduate 40 57.1%
Master’s degree 5 7.1%
Doctoral degree 1 1.4%
Others 3 4.3%
Father’s occupation
Teacher 1 1.4%
Farmer 20 28.6%
Doctor 1 1.4%
Public/Private Employee 14 20.0%
Engineer 4 5.7%
None/Unemployed 2 2.9%
Others 28 40.0%
Mother’s occupation
Teacher 8 11.4%
Farmer 2 2.9%
Public/Private Employee 10 14.3%

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 Unemployed 25 35.7%
Others 25 35.7%
Manifestations of Anxiety

The manifestations of anxiety that the respondents experienced are the 1) I am not
confident to speak in front of the class, 2) I am afraid to commit grammar mistakes, 3) I cannot
pronounce well some English words, 4) I cannot submit a good composition in English language,
5) I cannot fully express myself using English language, 6) I am afraid to participate in our
English class activities, 7) I cannot provide answers that my teacher is asking, 8) I am afraid to
be called in our English class, 9) I cannot understand the class instructions in English text, 10) I
cannot understand some English words, 11) I am afraid to read long English texts, 12) I find it
hard to understand the English text that I’m reading, 13) I feel threatened in my English class,
14) I cannot understand instructions in English texts, and 15) I am afraid to do my assignments in
English class. Table 2 shows that 58 or 82.79% of the respondents have experienced the
manifestation of anxiety no.1, 56 or 80% experienced the manifestation of anxiety no.2, 45 or
64.3% experienced the manifestation of anxiety no.5, 37 or 52.9% experienced the manifestation
of anxiety no.3, 35 or 50% experienced the manifestation of anxiety no.4, 29 or 41.4% have
experienced manifestation of anxiety no.10, 14 or 20% experienced manifestation of anxiety no.
11, 13 or 18.6% experienced manifestation of anxiety no. 12 and 13, 10 or 14.3% have
experienced manifestation of anxiety no.7, 3 or 4.3% experienced manifestation no 9 and 15 and
2 or 2.9% experienced manifestation no.14.

This results conforms to that of Andrade and Williams (2009) which explained that the
psychological state of apprehensive people is also affected by this, in a way that they turn out to
be mentally blocked when they try to speak. Next to this is a feeling of embarrassment and
helplessness due to inadequacy of communication skills. Andrade and Williams, (2009) also
added that some of anxious people tend to be socially inactive because they lost willingness to
speak and talk with people around them.

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Table 2. Manifestations of Anxiety

Manifestations Frequency Percentage

1. I am not confident to speak in front of the class.
58 82.9%
2. I am afraid to commit grammar mistakes.
56 80 %
3. I cannot pronounce well some English words.
37 52.9%
4. I cannot submit a good composition in English
35 50 %
language.
5. I cannot fully express myself using English
45 64.3 %
language.
6. I am afraid to participate in our English class
40 20 %
activities.
7. I cannot provide answers that my teacher is asking.
10 14.3 %
8. I am afraid to be called in our English class.
32 45.7 %
9. I cannot understand the class instructions in
3 4.3 %
English text.
10. I cannot understand some English words.
29 41.4 %
11. I am afraid to read long English texts.
14 20%
12. I find it hard to understand the English text that
13 18.6%
I’m reading.
13. I feel threatened in my English class.
13 18.6%
14. I cannot understand instructions in English texts.
2 2.9%
15. I am afraid to do my assignments in English class.
3 4.3%

Table 3. Level of Anxiety in Speaking English Among the STEM High School Students of
Central Luzon State University

Level of Speaking Anxiety Mean

Moderate Level of Anxiety 3.17

As shown in Table 3, from the cumulated level of speaking anxiety among the

respondents, and getting its mean, the researchers were able to identify the level of speaking

Page | 30
anxiety among the STEM senior high school students of CLSU A.Y. 2016-2017 as moderate

level of anxiety. This conforms to the study of Biala in 2015, wherein, she found out that the

college students of CLSU had a moderate level of anxiety.

Table 4. Pearson Correlation between Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Level of

Speaking Anxiety among STEM Senior High School Students of CLSU

Level of Speaking Anxiety

Socio-Demographic
Characteristics r p-value
Sex .066 .221ns
Age .234 -.144 ns
Type of School Graduated from .766 -.036 ns
Father’s Educational Attainment .220 .148 ns
Mother’s Educational Attainment .199 .155*
Father’s Occupation .451 .092ns
Father’s Occupation .857 .022 ns
* significant (p<.05)
** highly significant (p<.01)
ns not significant
Correlation between Socio-Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents and Level of
Speaking Anxiety among STEM Senior High School Students of CLSU

The table above reveals that there is a statistically significant relationship between one of
the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and the level of speaking anxiety. Table
4 shows that there is a relationship that exist between the mother’s educational attainment to the
level of speaking anxiety that the students had experienced. The result indicates that if the
respondent’s mother accomplished higher educational attainment, the student had more likely a
high level of anxiety, due to the fact that their mothers have high expectations upon them.

Implications of Speaking Anxiety to Language Learning of the Students

As revealed and shown by Table 5, the most common implication of speaking anxiety to
language learning is the implication no. 6 ranked as number 1 by the respondents with a mean of
3.67. Together with implication no.3 ranked as number 2 by the respondents with a mean of

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3.59, implication no.3 ranked as number 2 by the respondents with a mean of 3.59, implication
no.15 ranked as number 3 by the respondents with a mean of 3.57, implication no.8 ranked as
number 4 by the respondents with a mean of 3.36, implication no.13 ranked as number 5 by the
respondents with a mean of 3.30, implication no.14 ranked as number 6 by the respondents with
a mean of 3.29, implication no.9 ranked as number 7 by the respondents with a mean of 3.26,
implication no.5 ranked as number 8 by the respondents with a mean of 3.19 implication no.2
ranked as number 9 by the respondents with a mean of 3.06, implication no.11 ranked as number
10 by the respondents with a mean of 3.04.

On the other hand, the least likely to happen in terms of language leaning of the students
is the implication no.1 ranked as number 15 by the respondents with a mean of 2.76 followed by
implication no.7 ranked as number 14 by the respondents with a mean of 2.80, implication no.4
ranked as number 13 by the respondents with a mean of 2.83, implication no.10 ranked as
number 12 by the respondents with a mean of 2.87 and lastly implication no. 12 ranked as
number 11 by the respondents with a mean of 2.93.

These findings conforms to that of Andrade and Williams (2009) which they
explained that the psychological state of apprehensive people is also affected by this, in a way
that they turn out to be mentally blocked when they try to speak. Next to this is a feeling of
embarrassment and helplessness due to inadequacy of communication skills. Andrade and
Williams, (2009) also added that some of anxious people tend to be socially inactive because
they lost willingness to speak and talk with people around them. They also experience school
truancy and the worst they drop their English classes. As a result, they were not able to fully
learn language like the other students in the class because of the speaking anxiety they are
experiencing.

Table 5. Implications of Speaking Anxiety to Language Learning of the Students

Degree
of
Implication Mean Rank
Agreeme
nt

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 1. I am afraid to speak in English 2.76 NC 15
2. I am not patient in reading long English texts. 3.06 A 9
3. I am not confident of my English grammar. 3.59 A 2
4. I cannot spell difficult English words. 2.83 NC 13
5. I tremble when called in English class. 3.19 NC 8
6. I keep thinking that other students are better in English
3.67 A 1
than me.
7. I cannot fully understand figurative languages. 2.80 NC 14
8. I easily understand idiomatic expressions. 3.36 A 4
9. I am confident in answering tests in English class. 3.26 NC 7
10. I am at ease in speaking English in my English class. 2.87 NC 12
11. I am confident to get high grades on my paper works
(such as reflection papers, reaction papers, etc.) in my 3.04 NC 10
English class.
12. I am confident to answer questions verbally in my
2.93 NC 11
English class.
13. I am at ease in doing my homework in English class. 3.30 A 5
14. I am interested in participating any activity in our
3.29 NC 6
English class
15. I am sure to pass my English class. 3.57 A 3

Legend:
0.6-1.49 Strongly Disagree /SD)
1.50-2.39 Disagree (D)
2.40-3,29 No Comment (NC)
3.30-4.19 Agree (A)
4.20-5.00 Strongly Agree (SA)

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary

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 This research was conducted to determine the level of anxiety and its relationship
between the socio-demographic characteristic of Science, Technology, Mathematics, and
Engineering (STEM) Senior High School Students of Central Luzon State University.

The respondents of this study were composed of 70 STEM senior high school students
from Central Luzon State University CLSU A.Y. 2015-2016.which are randomly.

Data collection was done through the use of questionnaire which were administered by
the researchers; a checklist for identifying socio-demographic characteristics and manifestations
of anxiety; and a rating scale to determine the level of anxiety of the respondents and the
implications of speaking anxiety to language learning of the students.

The gathered data were analysed by using descriptive statistics, such as frequency counts,
percentages, ranking, arithmetic mean and standard deviation to describe the socio-demographic
characteristics of the respondents as well as the home factors. While, Pearson correlation test
were used to determine the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics of the
respondents and their level of anxiety.

Findings showed that the majority of the respondents are female with a percentage of
61.4 and the remaining 38.6 are males. While in age, 35 or 50% of the respondents are 16 years
old, 31 or 44.3% are 17 years old, and 3 or 6% are 15 years old, 2 or 2.9% of the respondents are
15 years old and another 2 or 2.9% are others.

Moreover, it revealed that 45 or 64.3% of the respondents are graduates from public
schools and the remaining 24 or 35.6% are from private schools.

Also, it revealed that 36 or 51.4% of the respondents’ father are college graduates and
another 22 or 31.4% are high school graduates, while 9 or 12.9% are others, 2 or 2.9% are
elementary graduates and only one or 1.4% has master’s degree.

While, 40 or 57.1% of the respondents’ mother are college graduates, 20 or 28.6% are
high school graduates, 5 or 7.1% have master’s degree, 3 or 4.3% fall into others category, one
or 1.4% is an elementary graduate and has a master’s degree.

In parents’ occupation, 28 or 40% of respondents’ father occupation fall to others

category, 20 or 28.6% of the respondents’ fathers are farmers, 14 or 20% are public/private

Page | 34
employee, 4 or 5.7% are engineers, 2 or 2.9% are unemployed and only 1 or 1.4% is a teacher
and a doctor. While 25 or 35.7% of respondents’ mother fall to others category and are
unemployed in terms of their occupation, 10 or 14.3% are public/private employees, 8 or 11.4%
are teachers 3 and 2 or 2.9% are farmers.

Regarding the manifestations of speaking anxiety among the students, 58 or 82.79% of

the respondents have experienced the manifestation of anxiety no.1, 56 or 80% experienced the
manifestation of anxiety no.2, 45 or 64.3% experienced the manifestation of anxiety no.5, 37 or
52.9% experienced the manifestation of anxiety no.3, 35 or 50% experienced the manifestation
of anxiety no.4, 29 or 41.4% have experienced manifestation of anxiety no.10, 14 or 20%
experienced manifestation of anxiety no. 11, 13 or 18.6% experienced manifestation of anxiety
no. 12 and 13, 10 or 14.3% have experienced manifestation of anxiety no.7, 3 or 4.3%
experienced manifestation no 9 and 15 and 2 or 2.9% experienced manifestation no.14.

With regards to level of speaking anxiety of the respondents, the researchers found out
that the level of speaking anxiety among the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics
(STEM) senior high school students during the academic year 2016-2017 is in moderate level of
anxiety with a mean of 3.17.

In terms of relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents

and their level of speaking anxiety, this study found out that most of socio-demographic
characteristics of STEM senior high school students do not affect their level of speaking anxiety
which are in terms of of age, sex, father’s educational attainment, father’s occupation, mother’s
occupation and type of school they graduated from. But, it was revealed that mother’s
educational attainment has to do with their level of anxiety.

With relation to the implications of speaking anxiety to the language learning of the
respondents, the researchers found out that the most common implication of speaking anxiety to
language learning is the implication no. 6 ranked as number 1 by the respondents with a mean of
3.67. Together with implication no.3 ranked as number 2 by the respondents with a mean of
3.59, implication no.15 ranked as number 3 by the respondents with a mean of 3.57, implication
no.8 ranked as number 4 by the respondents with a mean of 3.36, implication no.13 ranked as
number 5 by the respondents with a mean of 3.30, implication no.14 ranked as number 6 by the
respondents with a mean of 3.29, implication no.9 ranked as number 7 by the respondents with a

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mean of 3.26, implication no.5 ranked as number 8 by the respondents with a mean of 3.19
implication no.2 ranked as number 9 by the respondents with a mean of 3.06, implication no.11
ranked as number 10 by the respondents with a mean of 3.04.

Conclusions

The following conclusions emerged from the findings:

1. The null hypothesis that there is no relationship between socio-demographic

characteristics in term of mother’s educational attainment was rejected. The findings
revealed that there is a significant relationship between mother’s educational
attainment and the level of speaking anxiety of the students. It is perceived that the
higher educational attainment that the mother has, the increase in level of student’s
speaking anxiety most likely to also increase.
2. The null hypothesis that there is no relationship between socio-demographic
characteristics in terms of age, sex, father’s educational attainment, father’s
occupation, mother’s occupation and type of school they graduated from was
relatively accepted. The findings shown that the mentioned socio-demographic
characteristics do not affect the level of anxiety among the Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) senior high school students.
3. The null hypothesis that there is no anxiety that exist among the respondents was
rejected. Based from the findings it is observed that there are anxieties in speaking
English that exist among the students and their level of anxiety as a whole was
determined as moderate level of speaking English anxiety.
4. The null hypothesis that there are no implications of anxiety in speaking English that
affects the language learning of the students was rejected. The findings shown that
implications numbers 6, 3, 15, 8, and 4 have the high means which can be assumed
that these implications are more likely to be the effect of anxiety in speaking English
to the language learning of the respondents.

Recommendations

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 This study entitled: “Levels of Anxiety in Speaking English among Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Senior High Students of Central Luzon State University”
highly recommends the following:

1. The future researchers may utilize another measurement for English achievement such as
test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score to get a more accurate data.
Moreover, it is also interesting to study about speaking anxiety among Foreign Exchange
Students in CLSU. This will be a good contribution to the data of English Speaking
Anxiety in the Philippines. To further understand determinants of anxiety and its
implications to language learning, considering exploring this topic in a qualitative
approach.
2. To the students who are anxious in speaking English, use reading materials like grammar
books, and dictionaries to enhance vocabulary and audiobooks could also develop one’s
communication skills. Students might as well need to talk to a native speaker to put ideas
into practice and eventually lessen their fear. They must also change their cognition and
avoid thinking of negative things before their English oral communication performance
to help relax and deliver the speech well.
3. To English professors and instructors, monitor students’ English proficiency from time to
time to check how well and how far they comprehend with the lessons. Make the room
light and conducive to learn from they will be motivated and encouraged to complete oral
tasks with eagerness and confidence. As much as possible, avoid direct criticisms to
students who perform poorly. Instead, convince them that they can do better when they
practice more.
4. To the office of Students Affairs (OSA), they must be aware and take full actions for the
necessities and deficiencies of students so that they remain academically competitive.
Aside from Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics tutorials, OSA must also include
English tutorials and workshops to their services since it is very essential to improve
students’ communication skills.

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 APPENDICES

Appendix 1. Questionnaire

No:
Republic of the Philippines

Page | 44
 CENTRAL LUZON STATE UNIVERSITY
Science City of Munoz
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
CHED Center of Excellence for Teacher Education

Good Day Students!

We, fourth year students of Bachelor of Secondary Education major in English, are conducting a
research entitled “Levels of Anxiety in Speaking English among the Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Students of Central Luzon State University” as partial
fulfilment to the course Engl340: Language Research. In line with this, we are asking your help
for this research. Rest assured that the information that you provided will be kept confidential.
Thank you very much and God Bless!
-Researchers

Part I. Respondent’s Profile

Directions: Put a check (/) on the item that corresponds to your answer. Kindly, provide answer
on what is being asked.

Name (optional):_____________________________________________
Sex: ____Male ____Female Age: __ 13 __ 14 __ 15 __16 __17 __Others, please
specify
Type of School graduated from: ______Public ______ Private

Father’s Educational Attainment:

___Elementary Graduate ___High School Graduate ___College Graduate
___Master’s Degree ___Doctoral Degree _____Others, please specify.

Mother’s Educational Attainment:

___Elementary Graduate ___High School Graduate ___College Graduate
___Master’s Degree ___Doctoral Degree _____Others, please specify.

Father’s Occupation:
__ Teacher __ Farmer __Lawyer __Doctor __Physician __ Public/Private Employee
__ Fisher__ Engineer __Police __ None (Unemployed) _________Others, please
specify.

Mother’s Occupation:
__ Teacher __ Farmer __Lawyer __Doctor __Physician __ Public/Private Employee
__ Fisher__ Engineer __Police __ None (Unemployed) _________Others, please specify.

Do you like English Lessons? ____ Yes ____ No

Do you like studying English after Class? ____ Yes ____ No

Part II. Manifestations of English Anxiety

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Directions: Put a check (/) on the item that corresponds to your answer. Kindly, provide answer
on what is being asked.

1. Do you experience anxiety in your English Class? ____ Yes ____ No

2. What are the common anxiety problems that you experience in your English class? You can
check more than one answer.
Manifestations of Anxiety
1. I am not confident to speak in front of the class.
2. I am afraid to commit grammar mistakes.
3. I cannot pronounce well some English words.
4. I cannot submit a good composition in English language.
5. I cannot fully express myself using English language.
6. I am afraid to participate in our English class activities.
7. I cannot provide answers that my teacher is asking.
8. I am afraid to be called in our English class.
9. I cannot understand the class instructions in English text.
10. I cannot understand some English words.
11. I am afraid to read long English texts.
12. I find it hard to understand the English text that I’m reading.
13. I feel threatened in my English class.
14. I cannot understand instructions in English texts.
15. I am afraid to do my assignments in English class.

3. In your honest evaluation, what is your level of English anxiety?

_____Very High _____Moderate _____Very Low
_____High _____Low

Part III. English Anxiety Test (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale)
(A test based on the standardized Language Anxiety Test by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope [1986])

Directions: The following statements are about foreign language speaking anxiety. There is no
wrong or right answer. Please read the statements carefully and put a check (√) on the choice
corresponding to the degree of your agreement or disagreement.

1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = No comment, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree

Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1. I never feel quite sure of myself when I am speaking in my
foreign language class.
2. I don't worry about making mistakes in language class.
3. I tremble when I know that I'm going to be called on in language
class.
4. It frightens me when I don't understand what the teacher is saying
in the foreign language.

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5. It wouldn't bother me at all to take more foreign language classes.
6. During language class, I find myself thinking about things that
have nothing to do with the course.
7. I keep thinking that the other students are better at languages than
I am.
8. I am usually at ease during tests in my language class.
9. I start to panic when I have to speak without preparation in
language class.
10. I worry about the consequences of failing my foreign language
class.
11. I don't understand why some people get so upset over foreign
language classes.
12. In language class, I can get so nervous I forget things I know.
13. It embarrasses me to volunteer answers in my language class.
14. I would not be nervous speaking the foreign language with
native speakers.
15. I get upset when I don't understand what the teacher is
correcting.
16. Even if I am well prepared for language class, I feel anxious
about it.
17. I often feel like not going to my language class.
18. I feel confident when I speak in foreign language class.
19. I am afraid that my language teacher is ready to correct every
mistake I make.
20. I can feel my heart pounding when I'm going to be called on in
language class.
21. The more I study for a language test, the more confused I get.
22. I don't feel pressure to prepare very well for language class.
23. I always feel that the other students speak the foreign language
better than I do.
24. I feel very self‐conscious about speaking the foreign language in
front of other students.
25. Language class moves so quickly I worry about getting left
behind.
26. I feel more tense and nervous in my language class than in my
other classes.
27. I get nervous and confused when I am speaking in my language
class.
28. When I'm on my way to language class, I feel very sure and
relaxed.
29. I get nervous when I don't understand every word the language
teacher says.
30. I feel overwhelmed by the number of rules you have to learn to
speak a foreign language.
31. I am afraid that the other students will laugh at me when I speak

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the foreign language.
32. I would probably feel comfortable around native speakers of the
foreign language.
33. I get nervous when the language teacher asks questions which I
haven't prepared in advance.

Part IV. Implications of Anxiety to Language Learning

Directions: The following statements are about implications of anxiety to language learning.
There is no wrong or right answer. Please read the statements carefully and put a check (√) on the
choice corresponding to the degree of your agreement or disagreement.

1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = No comment, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree

Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1. I am afraid to speak in English
2. I am not patient in reading long English texts.
3. I am not confident of my English grammar.
4. I cannot spell difficult English words.
5. I tremble when called in English class.
6. I keep thinking that other students are better in English than me.
7. I cannot fully understand figurative languages.
8. I easily understand idiomatic expressions.
9. I am confident in answering tests in English class.
10. I am at ease in speaking English in my English class.
11. I am confident to get high grades on my paper works (such as
reflection papers, reaction papers, etc.) in my English class.
12. I am confident to answer questions verbally in my English class.
13. I am at ease in doing my homework in English class.
14. I am interested in participating any activity in our English class
15. I am sure to pass my English class.

-Thank you for your Participation! God Bless!-

Appendix 2. Photo Documentation

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 Photo Documentation

Students’ Orientation about the Research

Students while Answering the Questionnaire

Page | 49
Distribution of Questionnaires

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