| Summary: | Learning a second language such as English is a challenging task for many language
learners due to various psychological factors such as anxiety and unwillingness to
communicate in the language. Although the two factors individually are said to
contribute to the success or failure in learning the language, it is not clear whether the
interplay between anxiety and willingness to communicate is present or not. In relation
to this, the current study primarily aims to investigate the levels of foreign language
anxiety (FLA), find out levels of willingness to communicate in English (WTC), and
find out the correlation between language anxiety and the willingness to communicate
in English among students. Quantitative approach was employed whereby data were
collected using two instruments; the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale
(FLCAS) and the Willingness to Communicate Scale (WTCS). The questionnaires were
administered to 123 diploma students at Politeknik Hulu Terengganu. Using SPSS 22.0,
data were analysed descriptively, namely minimum, maximum, mean, and standard
deviation, and data were also analysed inferentially, namely independent sample t-test
and correlation. The findings revealed that most students experienced a moderate level
of English language anxiety. In addition, there was a significant difference in the
learners' language anxiety in English language classrooms based on gender, whereby
female students were more anxious than males. The female students were found to be
statistically significantly more anxious than the male students. Besides that, students
also reported having a very low willingness to communicate in the English language.
The study also revealed that there were significant negative correlations between
students' FLCAS and their WTC. Anxiety is common among learners of English as
Second Language (ESL). The study provides several pedagogical implications to both
ESL students and practitioners. They could potentially guide educators in improving
their teaching and learning process by creating a more conducive and stress-free
environment to encourage students to communicate more confidently. This new
environment will hopefully enhance students' performance, especially in using the
English language to communicate.
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