An investigation into potential factors leading to efl students’ anxiety and their coping strategies when giving in class oral presentation at tuy phuoc no 3 high school

Trang 1 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITYNGUYEN TRUONG THUY TRANG AN INVESTIGATION INTO POTENTIAL FACTORS LEADING TO EFL STUDENTS’ ANXIETY AND THEIR COPING STRATEGIE

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN TRUONG THUY TRANG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO POTENTIAL FACTORS LEADING TO EFL STUDENTS’ ANXIETY AND THEIR COPING STRATEGIES WHEN GIVING IN-CLASS ORAL PRESENTATION AT TUY PHUOC NO 3 HIGH SCHOOL

MASTER THESIS OF THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

Binh Dinh – 2023

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

NGUYỄN TRƯƠNG THÙY TRANG

KHẢO SÁT NHÂN TỐ GÂY LO LẮNG Ở HỌC SINH EFL KHI THUYẾT TRÌNH TRÊN LỚP TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG SỐ 3 TUY PHƯỚC VÀ CHIẾN LƯỢC ĐỐI PHÓ ĐƯỢC HỌC SINH SỬ DỤNG

Ngành : Lý luận và Phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh

Mã số : 8140111

Người hướng dẫn: Tiến sĩ NGUYỄN TIẾN PHÙNG

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify that the work I completed for my Master of Arts thesis, "AN INVESTIGATION INTO POTENTIAL FACTORS LEADING TO EFL STUDENTS’ ANXIETY AND THEIR COPING STRATEGIES WHEN GIVING IN-CLASS ORAL PRESENTATION AT TUY PHUOC NO 3 HIGH SCHOOL," was entirely original and under the supervision of Quy Nhon University lecturer Dr Nguyen Tien Phung Besides, I have not turned in this thesis to any other university

or college for any other degree Additionally, I confirm that this thesis does not contain any previously written or published works, with the exception of those that are specifically referenced in the thesis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I sincerely thank my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Tien Phung, for being an inspiration and guidance for the majority of my graduate work The accomplishment of my M.A thesis has been greatly aided by his insightful counsel, insightful criticism, patient assistance, and tremendous encouragement

Then, I would want to express my gratitude to Quy Nhon University's instructors, lecturers, and professors for their patient and sincere efforts in sharing important information and advice with me during my academic career, especially Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thị Thu Hien Her mentoring together with Dr Phung's passionate support inspired me a lot and pushed me to continue pursuing this study issue, even if doing such unusual research has its initial challenges This project would not be where it is now if not for the patient consideration of these two thoughtful people

Moreover, it is inevitable that many other writers' thoughts in this topic will

be reflected and expanded in the thesis Their concepts have prompted me to consider writing this paper I am also deeply indebted to the writers cited in the references I shall always be grateful to each and every one of these scholars I shall always be indebted to all of these scholars

In addition, I really appreciate the all the teachers and students at Tuy Phuoc

No 3 High School, whom I chose to be the research's target subjects, for their enthusiastic support, collaboration, and significant assistance during the research process

Finally, I would want to thank my wonderful family, friends, and coworkers for their unwavering belief in me, support during the writing of my thesis, and overall greatness They will always be a tremendous source of inspiration and support I also dedicate this work to my parents, who have always supported my lifelong pursuit of knowledge

ABSTRACT

Foreign language learning anxiety has been extensively explored and investigated in English as a Foreign Language situations However, there has been little research conducted in Vietnamese settings on this issue, particularly anxiety about oral tasks in English classes The current study looked at foreign language anxiety in EFL students at Tuy Phuoc No 3 High School It attempted to uncover potential factors that may contribute to EFL students' anxiety during in-class English oral presentations, as well as the strategies that they utilized to deal with such anxiety To pursuit this aim, this study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods Classroom observations were combined with questionnaires distributed to 40 EFL high school students, followed by semi-structured interviews with six of these 40 students The study's questionnaires and interviews found that internal factors from participants and environmental factors from their physical environments are two major sources of anxiety among students At the same time, the results of analyzing observation and interview data revealed that the students utilized two types of strategies to minimize their anxiety, namely short-term coping strategies and long-term coping strategies Based on the study's findings, many suggestions are recommended for English teachers as well as learners, which can be useful in helping students avoid negative speaking habits and produce successful presentation performances However, anxiety in in-class oral tasks is regarded as multifaceted and complicated, and hence still requires further investigation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 RATIONALE 1

1.2 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 2

1.2.1 Research aim 2

1.2.2 Research objectives 2

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 3

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 3

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 3

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 4

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 ANXIETY 5

2.1.1 Definition of anxiety 5

2.1.2 Types of anxiety 5

2.1.3 Foreign language anxiety 6

2.1.4 Foreign language speaking anxiety 9

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF ORAL PRESENTATION 9

2.2.1 Concepts of speaking activities 9

2.2.2 In – class oral presentation as a speaking activity 10

2.2.3 Components of speaking for assessment 11

2.3 FACTORS CAUSING FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANXIETY IN PRESENTATION 11

2.4 STRATEGIES FOR COPING WITH IN-CLASS ORAL PRESENTATION ANXIETY 17

2.4.1 Short-term coping strategies 18

2.4.2 Long-term coping strategies 18

2.5 PREVIOUS STUDIES 20

2.6 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2 24

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 25

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 25

3.2 PARTICIPANTS 25

3.3 RESEARCH SETTING 26

3.4 DATA COLLECTION 27

3.4.1 Questionnaire 27

3.4.2 Observation 30

3.4.3 Interview 31

3.5 DATA ANALYSIS 32

3.5.1 Questionnaire 32

3.5.2 Observation 33

3.5.3 Interview 33

3.6 RESEARCH PROCEDURE 34

3.7 SUMMARY CHAPTER 3 35

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 36

4.1 FINDING OF THE FIRST RESEARCH QUESTION 37

4.1.1 The subjunctive factors 37

4.1.2 The objective factors 43

4.1.3 Concluding remarks 49

4.2 DISCUSSION OF THE FIRST QUESTION 50

4.3 FINDING OF THE SECOND RESEARCH QUESTION 57

4.3.1 Low-anxiety level students’ coping strategies 57

4.3.2 Average-anxiety level students’ coping strategies 58

4.3.3 High-anxiety level students’ coping strategies 59

4.3.4 Concluding remarks 60

4.4 DISCUSSION OF THE SECOND QUESTION 61

4.5 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 4 66

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 68

5.1 CONCLUSION 68

5.2 PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS 70

5.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 73

5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 74

REFERENCES 75

APPENDIX 83

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL English as a Foreign Language

ESL English as a Second Language

FLA Foreign Language Anxiety

FLCAS Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: The overall Anxiety levels of Tuy Phuoc No 3 High School EFL

students 36 Table 4.2: Level of anxiety experienced by the six chosen EFL participants 37 Table 4.3: Participants’ responses toward The factor “Preparation time” 40 Table 4.4: Participants’ responses toward The factor “Fear of making mistakes” 42 Table 4.5: Participants’ responses toward The factor “Audience attention” 44 Table 4.6: Participants’ responses toward The factor “Question section after

presentation” 47 Table 4.7: Participants’ responses toward The factor “Teacher’s grading” 49

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE

Since the open policy was carried out in Vietnam, English has become a valuable and indispensable means for integrating our country into the world community With the rising requirements from foreign companies, international trading, the tourist industry, and the students’ demand to study overseas, English has gained higher and higher status and become a compulsory subject at all levels of education (Nguyen, H T M., 2011) However, English as a foreign language has a challenging learning and teaching process For the Vietnamese, learning English requires skills including listening, speaking, reading, and writing Many learners stated that they had spent so many years studying the English language that they may be very good at writing or reading English Still, they fail to speak it properly and understandably (Bueno, Madrid, & Mclaren, 2006) It means speaking is the most challenging skill for students to learn English

In Vietnam, learning English as a foreign language has always been a challenge for students of all school levels, especially high school students With the implementation of the English pilot program, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) requires a comprehensive English test and assessment for the four skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening Students must achieve level three of the Vietnamese foreign language framework, equivalent to level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Language In light of the MOET document, high school students should be able to communicate in English in both spoken and written forms (Nguyen & Tran, 2018) As a result, English-speaking assessment has gradually become the main focus of language assessments in high school For the past few years, oral presentations have been increasingly used for assessment purposes in many language-learning classrooms However, most EFL learners see failure to learn English as being unable to speak English in the language class, leading to tension, and fear of negative evaluation, which can be known as foreign language speaking anxiety Besides, over the last decades, several

studies have been conducted on language anxiety in second and foreign language learning in general (Scovel, 1978; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991a, 1991b, 1991c; etc.) and in foreign language speaking skills in particular (Mak, 2011; Yaikhong & Usaha, 2012; Ozturk & Gurbuz, 2014; Ahmad Anwari, 2019; Suparlan, 2021) In fact, contrary to what is happening abroad, fewer studies in Vietnam have been conducted and acknowledged the level and effects of students’ anxiety on in-class oral presentations Only some empirical studies have touched on the factors of anxiety (Hoang, 2010; Nguyen, T T H., 2014; Bui, 2016), and few of them have focused on high school students in Middle Vietnam areas, especially those at Tuy Phuoc No 3 High School, Binh Dinh Province

As an English teacher at Tuy Phuoc No 3 High School, the researcher recognizes that anxiety is a dissuasive factor preventing EFL learners from successfully speaking English and requires continued investigation in the local context of Binh Dinh, where research on foreign language speaking anxiety is quite limited Therefore, all of the above issues have aroused the researcher’s interest and

motivated her to conduct the research entitled “An investigation into potential factors leading to EFL students’ anxiety and their coping strategies when giving in-class oral presentation at Tuy Phuoc No 3 High School”

1.2 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1.2.1 Research aim

The goal of this research is to investigate the subjective and objective factors that contribute to the anxiety that high school EFL students experience when giving oral presentations in class in two pespectives: factors and coping strategies

1.2.2 Research objectives

The specific objectives of the present study are:

- To identify the subjective and objective factors leading to EFL students’ anxiety when giving in-class oral presentation

- To discover the anxiety-coping strategies used by EFL students when

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This research is intended to answer these questions below:

1 What are the potential factors leading to EFL students’ anxiety when giving in-class oral presentation?

2 What are the anxiety-coping strategies used by EFL students when giving in-class oral presentation?

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Foreign language anxiety exists in learning all four skills, i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) However, within the framework of a minor M.A thesis, the study limits itself to the in-class oral presentation anxiety happening among EFL students in grade 11 at high school The type of anxiety under investigation is the one that students experience when giving oral presentations in the classroom at their school within the current English language curriculum for high school students

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Practically, this study has important pedagogical implications as it indicates that students' anxiety when delivering oral presentations does exist in the classroom and identifies the factors that contribute to EFL students' anxiety during the in-class oral presentation, thereby providing students with a more comfortable learning environment, which can improve students' language learning In addition, the results

of this study can help teachers and students better understand the nature of foreign language speaking anxiety and show them how to use appropriate learning strategies in the classroom to reduce speaking anxiety and improve students' English proficiency The findings will also illuminate the usefulness of language learning activities in foreign language classrooms and support teachers in providing students with a supportive environment that enables them to become successful learners

Theoretically, the current research findings are also expected to be valuable information for those concerned with teaching English as a foreign language They

are also likely to contribute theoretical knowledge to the development of theorists

on language teaching

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research paper is divided into five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter consists of the background of the research, the aims and objectives of the research, the research questions, the scope

of the study, the significance of the study, and the organization of the paper

Chapter 2: Literature review In this chapter, the writer discusses the theoretical framework by explaining the definitions of some key terms and clarifying several typical previous studies related to the current study, followed by

an indication of the research gap that the current study aims to fill

Chapter 3: Research Methodology This chapter first explains the research design, research setting, and research participants of the study It then introduces the research instruments that are used to collect data for the current study The chapter will come to an end with the detailed procedures by which the data are collected and analyzed

Chapter 4: Findings n this chapter, the writer reveals the research results by displaying the analysis of the information collected from the questionnaires and observations combined with semi-structured interviews to give further explanations

of the current study

Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion The last chapter contains the discussion, conclusion of the current study, and suggestions for further research First, it summarizes the conceptual framework and the mean findings of the study Then, it will clarify those findings, discuss their interference with the findings of the previous studies, and draw a conclusion Next, the pedagogical implications, the limitations of the study, and the suggestions for further research will be presented

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The primary purpose of this chapter is to review the literature on anxiety in general, as well as foreign language anxiety and anxiety about speaking a foreign language in particular This chapter thoroughly also discusses the potential factors that contribute to foreign language anxiety in oral presentations, as well as anxiety-coping strategies

2.1 ANXIETY

2.1.1 Definition of anxiety

The term anxiety has been well defined in a number of studies Scovel (1978) defined Anxiety as an affective state, an uncomfortable emotional state in which one discerns danger, feels powerless, and experiences tension in the face of

an expected danger In addition, “anxiety is a psychological construct, commonly described by psychologists as a state of apprehension, a vague fear that is only indirectly associated with an object” (Hilgard, Atkinson, & Atkinson, 1971, cited in Scovel, 1991:18) According to Carlson and Buskist (1997: 570), Anxiety is “a sense of apprehension or doom that is accompanied by certain physiological reactions, such as accelerated heart rate, sweaty palms, and tightness in the stomach.” However, Horwitz and Cope claimed that Anxiety was described as “the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with

an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” (1986:125) Based on the above explanation, it can be stated that Anxiety has been essential for almost all areas of understanding human behaviors, emotions, and physical and mental conditions, especially for foreign language teaching and learning Within the scope of the current study, the approach of Horwitz et al (1986) is adopted

2.1.2 Types of anxiety

Endler (1980) was influenced by Horwitz's investigation of perceived language anxiety from a more comprehensive psychological perspective There are three general categories of language anxiety in Endler’s study (1980), termed trait,

state, and situation-specific anxiety Trait anxiety is a stable feature of personality,

an acquired behavioral disposition that leads an individual to perceive a wide range

of non-dangerous situations as threatening (Spielberger, 1966), whereas state anxiety is nervousness that can fluctuate rigorously over time (Young, 1998) MacIntyre and Gardner (1991) then argued that people with situation-specific anxiety may consider a given situation to be anxiety-provoking in specific environments Anxiety when giving in-class oral presentations is viewed as being in this category Consequently, in the present research paper, the researcher will proceed from the perspective of the third type, situation-specific anxiety, by focusing on the context of the English classroom

According to Alpert and Haber (1960), language anxiety may be divided into two categories: debilitating (harmful) anxiety and facilitating (helpful) anxiety The majority of research that has been conducted focuses on reducing anxiety, which affects students and has a poor effect on their performance (Brown, 2007; MacIntyre, 1999; Horwitz et al., 1986; Oxford, 1999) The effects could be direct such as reducing class participation, or indirect such as fear, frustration, and worry (Oxford, 1999) In addition, though anxious students tend to overstudy, their course grades often do not reflect that effort (Price, 1991) Therefore, the present research will focus only on debilitating anxiety

2.1.3 Foreign language anxiety

2.1.3.1 Definition of Foreign language anxiety

Many distinct types of learning are considered to overlap with anxiety Still, when it is associated with learning a second or foreign language, it is termed second

or foreign language anxiety Anxiety about learning a foreign language is a concern brought on by a negative emotional response to learning or using a foreign language (Young, 1990) According to Horwitz and her colleagues (1986: 128), foreign language anxiety is “a distinct complex set of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process.” Some students who have no problem expressing

themselves in their mother tongue may struggle to do the same in a foreign language A type of situation-specific anxiety, foreign language anxiety is confined

to certain situations involving language learning and is stable over time

2.1.3.2 Models to explain foreign language anxiety

a Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis

Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis (1982) is a fundamental theory in second language acquisition This theory stresses how affective factors associate with the second language acquisition process Krashen (1982) stated that the affective factors are emotional variables, which can be categorized into (1) motivation, (2) self-confidence, and (3) anxiety These factors can indirectly influence learning by preventing input from reaching the language acquisition device in the brain For example, when the affective filter increases, learners may experience anxiety, tension, and lack of self-confidence that prevent success

On the other hand, low filters do not lead to anxiety, which helps language learners understand the input easily The importance of this hypothesis in pedagogy

is that the idea of an affective filter presents a language instructor in a new way, in which the language instructors can effectively facilitate input and make it understandable in a low anxiety situation where an appropriate classroom environment can be created By utilizing this theory, English is expected to be improved because input will be gained, the filter will be low, and the learners will not be afraid to take part in-class exercises

b Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope’s model of foreign language anxiety

Horwitz and her colleagues (1986) outlined a theoretical framework of Foreign Language Anxiety and identified three main components of foreign language anxiety communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation

Communication apprehension

Horwitz et al (1986: 128, cited in Tanver, 2007: 11) defined communication apprehension as “a type of shyness characterized by fear or anxiety about communication with other people,” which means that not all students have the same characteristics and how they act in the classroom Some of them might feel shy to communicate in the target language even though they talk with their friend beside her/him meanwhile, some of them are not

is gone

Fear of negative evaluation

Fear of negative evaluation was defined as “apprehension about others’ evaluations, avoidance of evaluative situations, and the expectations that others would evaluate oneself negatively” (Watson & Friend 1969: 449) Horwitz stated that fear of negative evaluation is an extension of the second component (test anxiety) of second/foreign language anxiety because it is not limited to test-taking situations; instead, it may occur in any social, evaluative situation, such as interviewing for a job or speaking in second/foreign language class It is also broader in that it pertains not only to the teacher’s evaluation of the students but also to the perceived reaction of other students (Shamas, 2006)

To sum up, the present study is mainly based on the model of foreign language anxiety theory proposed by Horwitz and her colleagues (1986) since it is suitable for the classroom process and appropriate for the study

2.1.3.3 The instruments used for foreign language anxiety research

Several tools have been developed to investigate the level of foreign language anxiety experienced by language learners The most commonly used tool for measuring foreign language anxiety is the FLCAS laid out by Horwitz and her colleagues (1986), which has been used in the majority of the research involving anxiety and was aimed at probing students’ experiences of anxiety related to the learning of a foreign language in the classroom context Following the success of FLCAS, similar instruments have been devised for measuring Foreign Language Reading Anxiety (FLRAS) (Saito et al.’s, 1999), Foreign Language Listening Anxiety (FLLAS) (Kim, 2000), and Second Language Writing Apprehension (SLWAT) (Cheng et al.’s, 1999)

2.1.4 Foreign language speaking anxiety

FLA in speaking skills is one element that draws little attention from EFL teachers One of the definitions of foreign language speaking anxiety is proposed by Deyuan (2011), who believed foreign language speaking anxiety can be conceptualized as an individual's fear or nervousness associated with either actual

or anticipated oral communication in a foreign language with another person or persons (2011: 4)

To measure foreign language-speaking anxiety, questionnaires are essential and recommended self-report tools (Horwitz et al., 1986) According to Horwitz (1986: 126), the FLCAS primarily tackles anxiety related to speaking in foreign language acquisition, which makes it a suitable tool to measure anxiety among the participants when giving an in-class oral presentation

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF ORAL PRESENTATION

2.2.1 Concepts of speaking activities

Brown (2004) proposed five basic types of speaking: imitative, intensive, responsive, interactive, and extensive Imitative speaking is the ability to imitate a word, phrase, or sentence Intensive speaking goes one step beyond imitation to

include any speaking performance designed to practice some phonological and grammatical aspects of language Responsive speaking is interaction at the somewhat limited level of a concise conversation, standard greeting and small talk, simple comment and request, and the like Interactive speaking is a complex interaction that sometimes includes multiple exchanges and multiple participants Extensive speaking is oral production, including speeches, oral presentations, and storytelling

2.2.2 In – class oral presentation as a speaking activity

According to Hussein (2021), oral presentation assessments are common in practically all curricula, notably in ESL disciplines in higher education Oral presentations offer several advantages, particularly when preparing students for job circumstances This evaluation form is necessary since students must successfully express their ideas to the audience Soft skills, in addition to presenting abilities, may be developed using this evaluation Students may benefit from more engagement and interaction in class

On the other hand, students in a classroom context may come from various backgrounds Not every student in the class would consider giving good oral presentations Some people suffer from stage fright due to their dread of public speaking Others may have unfavorable attitudes toward providing oral presentations As a result, individuals might not get completed oral presentations or successful outcomes When giving oral presentations in class, individually, or even

in groups, students frequently experience anxiety and trepidation (Hussein, 2021)

Likewise, it would be more challenging for students of non-native speakers

to talk with confidence during oral presentation in EFL classroom (Al Harun, Islam,

& Rahman, 2016) For students who have not been exposed to English in casual conversation, this is particularly true When the English language is evaluated, the difficulty is much more apparent to them Oral presentations, on the other hand, offer a learning opportunity and teach lifelong skills that will assist students in all

subject areas and later in their professions if properly guided and organized (Meloni

& Thompson, 1980)

2.2.3 Components of speaking for assessment

Several components of speaking skills should be considered when designing a speaking assessment Brown (2004) proposed six components, which included pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and task, while Hughes (2005) identified accent, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

as five elements Mazouzi (2013) divided the components into fluency and accuracy, which include comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation Nguyen & Tran (2015) found that high school students with poor speaking skills lack confidence and motivation MacIntyre et al (1991) also highlighted the importance of confidence in speaking skills The speaking assessment of oral presentations should consider these experts’ views about speaking components

Over the past thirty years, several discoveries made by many researchers involving anxiety factors from the standpoint of psychology have contributed to foreign language education (Horwitz et al., 1986; Wang, 2014) In the context of foreign language learning and instruction, there has been an increased focus on the factors that contribute to EFL students' speaking anxiety, especially in in-class presentations (Asnur, 2010; Chen, 2015)

One of the first researchers to develop theoretical frameworks for language anxiety based on second- or foreign-language classrooms was Horwitz and her colleagues (1986) They revealed in their research that there were three major factors of worry:

a Communication apprehension

Communication apprehension is a type of shyness characterized by worry about conversing with people, which occurs when people interact with others in

specific conditions People who suffer from communication apprehension struggle

to speak in front of others, and those who struggle to speak in front of groups will probably find it even harder to speak in a foreign language class (Horwitz et al., 1986)

b Test anxiety

Test anxiety is a sort of performance anxiety caused by a fear of failure It suggests test-averse students would struggle greatly in a foreign language class since tests and quizzes are prevalent, and even the smartest and best-prepared students will make mistakes on a test (Horwitz et al., 1986)

c Fear of negative evaluation

Avoiding situations where one might be evaluated and having the belief that others will adversely judge oneself are examples of fear of negative evaluation It can occur in any evaluative setting, such as speaking in a foreign language class or

if they get a question that they are unsure how to respond to (Horwitz et al., 1986)

Wang (2014) then classified the factors that produce speaking anxiety into three categories:

a Cognitive factors

The stages of speaking are conception, formulation, and articulation, according to Levelt (1989) Conceptualization is concerned with the information that will be used, formulation is concerned with the proper grammatical and word choices, and articulation is concerned with speech output

b Linguistic factors

In comparison to native speakers, English is not the same as the mother tongue of EFL learners As a result, EFL learners may struggle to employ accurate pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary (Wang, 2014)

3) Fear of losing the thread of material

If the speakers forget the topic, their worry can increase Failing to prepare and rehearse for presentations may cause them to forget what they are going to deliver

4) Fear of being stopped

The presenters were worried that because of their performance, which might not have been very excellent, the observer might interrupt their presentation

5) Conflicting emotion

Some presenters experience mixed feelings, wanting to succeed in the presentation while simultaneously being afraid of failing, making it harder for them

to do well

6) Speech anxiety

The more mistakes speakers make, the more anxious they get and the less likely they are to do well when speaking, creating a vicious cycle in which a person may grow uneasy about their speaking style and afraid of stuttering or forgetting words

7) Negative experiences

The performance of the pupils taking part in the presentation might potentially be impacted by their unpleasant prior experiences They ought to avoid thinking back on their bad previous experiences as a result

8) Negative thinking

Due to their inability to overcome their negative thoughts both before and during the presentation, several presenters were unable to deliver their speech effectively

b External Factors:

1) Condition of Presentation Room

The presenters were more anxious as a result of how the audience, supervisors, and examiners watched and responded to their presentation The unfamiliar arrangement of the presentation room also worries some of them

2) Failing to Practice

Lack of practice with public speaking and speeches can cause some people to have anxiety, making them feel unprepared and inadequate to stand in front of audiences

Meanwhile, Chen (2015) explored the factors leading to anxiety when giving in-class oral presentation based on three general categories grounding the source of language anxiety (communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and text anxiety) identified by Horwitz et al (1986) As regards the factors causing students to get anxious during presentations, they could be explained and categorized into subjective and objective factors Six possible factors have been found to contribute to anxiety in ESL students regarding oral presentations

a The subjective factors

1) Students’ English proficiency

According to Kondo and Yang (2004), one of the key factors impeding a learner's performance in a second language is language anxiety, which is correlated with second- or foreign-language competency In a recent study, it was shown that when given the opportunity to speak in front of the class, students expressed their challenges concerning their inability to articulate their thoughts and to be the object

of attention (Hasibuan & Irzawati, 2020) Students seem to be considering their grammatical structure, such as single or plural tenses, when being assessed orally

So, when they realize their mistake, they will easily get confused and nervous, which seriously affects the way they are presenting Another aspect of second- or foreign-language anxiety is vocabulary According to Liu's study (2007), students' limited vocabulary was one of the main causes of nervousness when speaking English Another component of English oral skills that raises students' worries about learning a foreign language is English pronunciation According to Tanveer (2007), pronunciation problems stress out second- or foreign-language learners He discovered that participants experienced stress when they immediately got comments regarding their pronunciation from the audience

2) Preparation time

Speaking anxiety may be influenced by the time needed for participants to prepare oral presentations, which is a potential concern for both students with lower and greater English competence This is supported by a few researchers who

pointed out that learners experience anxiety even more when they are ill-prepared or given insufficient time to prepare, which causes them to experience anxiety while giving oral presentations (Imaniah, 2018; Razawi, Zulkornain, & Mohd Razlan, 2019) According to Chen (2015), students who have less speaking anxiety could worry about their presentation preparation time if their teacher doesn't allow them enough time to do so Students might feel more at ease before in-class presentations with extra time to prepare

3) Prior presentation experience

The anxiety caused by a lack of prior presentation experience means the speaker may not have any experience in public speaking It happens when speakers lack speaking practice in class (Buss, 1980) In other words, novice presenters could feel increased nervousness during their very first presentations, which might even result in unpleasant experiences (Chen, 2015) Presenters with greater expertise said that their anxiety decreased as they did more presentations in class Presenters with more experience are therefore less anxious than those with less experience

b Objective factors

1) Unfamiliar presentation topic

Topics chosen by teachers may lead EFL students to get worried during presentations; even unfamiliar topics may have an impact on students' presentation performance Topic familiarity has been identified as another element that may influence students' anxiety during oral presentations (Kazemi & Zarei, 2015) Some

of the presenters discovered that unexpected topics were a key factor impacting anxiety in EFL oral presentations when they were required to deliver presentations without preparation Furthermore, the less the presenters understood about a topic, the more nervous they were (Kazemi & Zarei, 2015)

2) Audience attention

For inexperienced speakers, audience attention has a greater impact on creating anxiety than it does for expert presenters (Chen, 2015) According to Buss

(1980), it denotes that the speaker is anxious about the audience's judgment and is concerned about being observed by them A speaker's nervousness is likely to lessen if the audience appears to be highly friendly to them, according to Daly et al (1989) This suggests that giving presentations in class or speaking in public may be face-threatening since presenters fear being laughed at by their classmates (Tian, 2019)

3) Secondary presentation requirements

EFL students could experience anxiety due to peripheral presentation requirements, including time, notes, and an impromptu presentation For instance, some presenters mention how crucial notes are to them when they deliver a presentation, while others express anxiety about the time limit for the presentation Some people, however, appear hesitant to provide an impromptu presentation in classroom (Chen, 2015)

In general, many experts have been looking into the factors causing L2 students' oral anxiety for a very long time However, the present research needs to

be conducted in an in-class presentation context Therefore, Chen's theoretical framework was used in the current study to examine the factors influencing EFL students' in-class speaking anxiety during the presentation According to the description above, subjective factors (students' English proficiency, preparation time, and prior presentation experiences) and objective factors (unfamiliar presentation topics, audience attention, and secondary presentation requirements) both contribute to speaking anxiety, as identified in Chen's study

PRESENTATION ANXIETY

A strategy to cope with speaking anxiety is needed for learners since speaking anxiety become a real issue in English speaking Knowing a proper strategy to cope with speaking anxiety can help learners to identify their mistakes and reduce feelings of fear in speaking English (Hidayoza, Amri & Wahyuni, 2019)

Many researchers have studied the topic of anxiety-coping strategies in an oral presentation, but Chen (2015) is one of the very few who has narrowed it down

to the in-class English oral presentation among EFL students Chen stated that the strategies used by the participants in their oral presentations to regulate in-class speaking anxiety can be categorized into short-term and long-term coping strategies

2.4.1 Short-term coping strategies

Short-term coping strategies are strategies that can be used during presentations to reduce current speaking anxiety, such as adopting physical adjustments, using repetitions, pauses, and fillers, and focusing on the presentations (Chen, 2015)

These are commonly identified among learners who experience anxiety so as

to hide the feeling of nervousness and awkwardness when standing in front of others, such as in an oral presentation situation (Hammad, 2020) Based on the experience dealing with such learners, some of the common strategies used include avoiding eye contact, gazing at one point only, such as the wall at the back of the room or the floor of the presentation room, and looking at note cards most of the time (Hussein, 2021) Chen (2015) also reported other ways belonging to this type

of strategy to relieve their oral presentation anxiety, like only looking at friendly faces, cross hands, hiding behind the podium, speaking faster or more slowly, not being distracted and just focusing on what students are going to say, or adopting repetitions and fillers, etc

2.4.2 Long-term coping strategies

Long-term strategies refer to a long time of preparation and improvements in English speaking proficiency to ease in-class speaking anxiety, such as improving English proficiency, having good preparation, and having good random response capabilities with impromptu presentations or other presentation requirements (Chen, 2015)

Improving English proficiency

Possessing a good proficiency in the English language is necessary for shaping the students’ oral presentation skills When communicating, lecturers should emphasize that fluency is more important than accuracy The students should

be reminded that as long as they are able to convey the message to the audience correctly, then their presentation is already a success As for accuracy, language phrases are more important to master Therefore, get the students familiar with the language phrases as a preparation beforehand The enrichment of vocabulary is also deemed important This will help them find suitable words to express meaning and avoid being lost in the midst of delivering the presentation For non-native speakers, students tend to do a direct translation from Vietnamese to English, so lecturers should help them be exposed to authentic English conversation engagement When they are able to prioritize fluency over accuracy, their confidence level will be raised, resulting in a reduced level of anxiety while delivering oral presentations (Chen, 2015)

Having good preparation

Preparation refers to efforts to reduce the threat by enhancing learning and study tactics such as studying hard and attempting to collect solid summaries of lecture notes (Kondo & Yang, 2006)

Hanifa and Yusra (2018) indicated having a good preparation by mastering the topic and content before the presentation is the key to presentation success There are several typical items such as: trying to get used to using English by studying hard, preparing yourself better, perusing the material before calling on the teacher, asking for help from friends, checking the dictionary, asking the teacher some questions, practicing English in mind, thinking carefully about where you are having trouble, listening carefully to what classmates say in class, trying to perform the best, trying to read carefully, trying to guess the meaning of a difficult passage, and trying to obtain good summaries of lecture notes The use of these strategies

would be expected to increase students’ subjectively estimated mastery of the subject matter and reduce the anxiety associated with the language class

Developing good random response capabilities with impromptu presentations

Another coping strategy to lessen in-class speaking anxieties is improving random response capabilities with impromptu presentations or other presentation requirements

Impromptu speaking is speaking or making a speech without preparation or with very little preparation and depends only on experience (Lumettu, 2018) Impromptu means spontaneous; it means that the students are given the freedom to express their ideas related to the topics that are chosen for them At the same time, students should think and speak according to the topic; this is called impromptu speaking Developing a healthy spirit of improvisation in the classroom for impromptu presentations or other presentation requirements can be considered a long-term effective way to deal with anxiety (Chen, 2015) Therefore, it is clearly important to develop the reaction capacity in the class because we do not know what will happen in our presentation (Chen, 2015)

In brief, to better understand how EFL high school students manage their anxiety during in-class oral presentations, the researcher decided to use the findings

of Chen's study as a theoretical framework for her current research

foreign language classes Besides, foreign language tests and a lack of confidence in communication contributed to foreign language anxiety Similar to Tran's study, Le (2020) also concluded that EFL students have a moderate level of speaking anxiety when examining 128 first-year students at Thai Nguyen University But in addition

to a lack of confidence, speaking anxiety was also thought to be primarily brought

on by fears of being negatively evaluated and being the center of attention Additionally, a study by Tran, T P (2016) on 124 second-year SFL English majors using two adapted questionnaires developed by Horwitz et al (1986) and Young (1990) found that these students experience a high level of in-class speaking anxiety The findings showed that fear of negative evaluation and communication apprehension are the causes producing the most elevated anxiety in the student participants Test anxiety, on the other hand, causes them minor worry

Other researchers focused on the relationships between anxiety and in-class learning performance, the causes of language anxiety in EFL students, and strategies to lower language anxiety during oral presentations Chen (2015) investigated the relationships between the oral presentation anxiety of three Chinese students and presentation performance and the causes of oral anxiety during presentations Chen used the post-task interview, teacher evaluations with scores and rubrics, peer evaluations with scores, and the observation connected with presentation grades that he evaluated in classrooms to measure the three ESL students' presentation performances Additionally, to elicit students' L2 oral anxiety scales in in-class presentations, a pre-task questionnaire based on FLCAS (Horwitz

et al., 1986) was included in the post-task interview The results suggested that while anxiety in EFL students causes mental blockages during presentations, it has little impact on how well they perform Subjective and objective factors that cause students to get anxious during presentations may be described and classified as follows: English proficiency, preparation time, presenters' experiences, unfamiliar presentation topics, audience attention, and some presenting requirements

Contrary to Chen's conclusion, the study by Amini (2019) on 51 students 4thsemester students of Bengkulu University revealed that anxiety could influence the students' speaking skills, especially while performing a presentation in front of the class The more they have high anxiety, the more it can impact their performance in front of the class This is quite similar to the research results of Ibtissam (2017), who carried out a study on 35 second-year EFL master students through a classroom observation checklist The observation results showed that speaking anxiety negatively affects the oral performance of the majority of students As stated by Horwitz (1991), anxiety causes an affective filter, which will prevent students from receiving language input And then their language acquisition will fail

-to make progress

Furthermore, several recent research studies have been done to identify particular causes of students' anxiety when making oral presentations in the classroom, as well as strategies to cope with anxiety during presentations More than three-fourths of 50 English-major second-year students at a university in Thai Nguyen experienced moderate to high levels of anxiety, according to Do and Nguyen (2021) The study also found eight common reasons for anxiety: lack of English proficiency, perception of others, lack of preparation, technological problems, student characteristics, teacher instructions, study environment, and fear

of teachers At the same time, groupings of strategies such as preparation, positive thinking, relaxation, and peer correction were claimed to have been beneficial in lowering students' anxiety levels when making in-class oral presentations The results above from questionnaires and interviews with English lecturers are, to some extent, in line with previous research findings that students can overcome their anxiety in in-class English oral presentations through preparation, relaxation, positive thinking, peer seeking, and resignation (Kondo & Yang, 2004) Tian (2018) also mentioned that the factors leading to anxiety in students included preparation, English language proficiency, comparisons from peers and classmates, negative feedback from such comparisons, reluctance to make classroom presentations, and

negative attitudes toward classroom presentation activities Some of these results corresponded to those of Mak (2011), who stated that various factors caused in-class speaking anxiety, including negative evaluation, discomfort when speaking with native speakers, negative attitudes towards the English classroom, negative self-evaluation, and fear of failing the class Based on interviews and observation data, Chen's research (2015) offered helpful insights into anxiety coping strategies when giving in-class presentations from two perspectives: short-term strategies, such as using some repetitions, pauses, and fillers, and focusing on students' presentations, and long-term strategies, such as having good preparation and developing good random response capabilities with impromptu presentations or other presentation requirements

In summary, there are some parallels among the findings of studies conducted in various areas, despite the inconsistent results The first issue was that individuals had different anxiety levels when making oral presentations in class Most of them described experiencing moderate-to-high anxiety Second, the factors contributing to students' anxiety may be divided into subjective and objective categories Subjective factors arise from the learners themselves, whereas objective factors arise from the external environment and are difficult for the learners to manage Finally, students can employ a variety of anxiety-coping strategies when presenting oral presentations in class These strategies can be divided into two categories Short-term coping strategies were adopted during presentations to lessen current speaking anxiety, whereas long-term strategies refer to extensive preparation and better English competence to relieve future in-class speaking anxiety However, the results among different studies in different settings are pretty inconsistent, especially in the context of giving in-class oral English presentations at high school in Viet Nam As a result, this research is carried out to bridge the gaps left by the previous investigations

2.6 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2

In Chapter 2 of the current study, the researcher provided an overview of the basic theoretical background by reviewing relevant authoritative studies on anxiety, such as definitions, types, foreign language anxiety, foreign language speaking anxiety, and oral presentation, such as concepts of speaking activities, in-class oral presentation as a speaking activity, and components of speaking for assessment The major issues involved in the study, which are potential factors of anxiety and students' strategies for coping with in-class oral presentation anxiety, were extensively addressed in this chapter Furthermore, the chapter thoroughly examined various previous studies and their significant findings There are some parallels between the findings of those studies To begin, the factors that contribute

to students' anxiety can be divided into subjective factors that arise from the learners themselves and objective factors that arise from the external environment Secondly, when presenting oral presentations in class, students can use a variety of anxiety-coping strategies These strategies are classified as short-term coping strategies, which are used during presentations, and long-term strategies, which require extensive preparation and improved English proficiency However, some of the results from different previous studies are quite inconsistent Therefore, the purpose of this research is to define and bridge the gaps left by them

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the description of the research methodology It covers research design, participants, research setting, methods of data collection, techniques of data analysis, and research procedure

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

The researcher employs a descriptive study using qualitative and quantitative approaches in this investigation These two approaches are thought to deliver the most significant benefit when combined (Johnson & Christensen, 2008) A descriptive study depicts phenomena in their natural state without the need for manipulation or experimentation (Tarigan, 2008) Descriptive research allows the researcher to describe the features of various groups or quantify their attitudes and opinions about specific subjects (Ary et al., 2010) Researchers can supply information from one strategy not detected in another while decreasing non-sampling mistakes by giving redundant information from numerous sources using different data-gathering methods (Axinn & Pearce, 2006)

3.2 PARTICIPANTS

The participants of this study are forty students from two different classes, 11A3 and 11A7, in the 11th grade at Tuy Phuoc No 3 High School, studying English as the main subject All the students are taught by the researcher Six of the forty students who participated in the questionnaire survey and classroom observation were selected to answer the questions in the interview section Among the forty participants, seventeen (42.5%) were males and twenty-three (57.5%) were females The participants are all 16 years old and have been studying English since the third grade in primary school Besides, the students from 11A3 are evaluated to have a better level of English proficiency than those from 11A7 based on their English study results as well as the teaching experience of the researcher and other English teachers at school

3.3 RESEARCH SETTING

The current research will be done at Tuy Phuoc No 3 High School in Binh Dinh Province The school was established in 2014 and partitioned to educate and train more than 1,000 high school students After nearly ten years of establishment and development, the school has improved the quality of teaching and maintained the quality of education at national standards The school was recognized as the national standard school in 2019 There are some reasons why the writer chose this place to carry out this research First, the writer finds the problem discussed in this research at this school Second, similar research has never been conducted at this school before Last but not least, the chosen school is one of the national standard schools in Binh Dinh, as an example for other schools As a result, the method developed at this school is expected to be applied to others

Tuy Phuoc No 3 High School has three grades of 10, 11, and 12 All of those EFL students are provided with essential and necessary listening and speaking skills to improve their English proficiency, as well as some presentation skills mentioned for their speaking fluency In the classroom, teachers frequently employ oral presentations as an alternative evaluation method to evaluate students' learning progress and measure the improvement of EFL students' speaking abilities In addition, Tuy Phuoc No 3 High School's teaching and learning English curriculum for the academic year 2022-2023 specifies that there were two summative assessments (midterm and final term exams) and four formative assessments in each semester One of the four formative assessments was conducted as an in-class presentation, according to the decision made by the English group leader This implies that at least one presentation must be given by each student each semester

Out of the three grades, the current study was conducted in Grade 11 The grade has eight classes The study was conducted on some students from classes 11A3 and 11A7 only, from a total of eight classes, because students in these two classes are required to give a presentation orally in English and also because the

these classes and can identify the problems of students Therefore, for this study topic, the researcher gathered trustworthy data from oral presentations that these students gave in class

3.4 DATA COLLECTION

In this research, the researcher used questionnaires, observations, and interviews as instruments to collect the data The first phase took place in the final weeks of the second semester of the academic year 2022-2023 In this phase, the questionnaires were introduced to 40 participants right after they finished their in-class presentations because they remembered their own situation clearly at that moment The participants were asked to complete the questionnaires at home via Google Forms and submit them within at most 24 hours so that they would have as much time as they needed The questionnaires were then used to determine the participants’ anxiety levels and discover the factors leading to students' speaking anxiety when giving oral presentations At the same time, the researcher also conducted classroom observations to determine the students' strategies for reducing their anxiety when giving in-class oral presentations

After the collected data were analyzed, in the second phase, the six anxious students, randomly chosen from three different FLA levels, were contacted for semi-structured interviews with the researcher in locations they felt at ease in and at the times they suggested The semi-structured interview was used to get further detailed information about students’ factors leading to anxiety when giving oral presentations and the effective coping strategies they frequently adopt in the in-class oral presentations

3.4.1 Questionnaire

To answer the first question, the researcher used the questionnaires Written questionnaires enable field data collection for researchers (Nunan, 1992) The data gained are more quantitative than the data gathered using free-form field notes, participant observation diaries, or spoken language recordings Additionally,

according to Dörnyei (2003), the questionnaire was capable of gathering a lot of data in a short period of time Besides, processing the data is rapid and comparatively simple if the questionnaire is well designed, especially with modern computer software The researcher of this study decided to utilize the questionnaire

as one of the intermediate research methods to gather data on anxiety levels and the causes of students' speaking anxiety when making oral presentations in light of the questionnaire's benefits

Horwitz et al (1986) validated the FLCAS using 33 items and a five-point Likert scale Horwitz et al detected linguistic anxiety based on this questionnaire They divided it into three broad groups based on the source of language anxiety: communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety These sources are valid for all language anxieties, although speaking anxiety as a specific language anxiety only occurs in speaking contexts Nonetheless, in order to make the FLCAS questionnaire (Horwitz et al., 1986) more relevant to the context of an in-class presentation, Chen (2015) designed the Language Anxiety In-Class Presentations Questionnaire, which adopted 23 questions from FLCAS and grouped them into 10 subgroups, namely: Perception on in-class presentations, Preparation time, The number of presentations, The order of presenter, Mistakes making, The attention from the audience, Teacher’s feedback during presentation, Teacher’s feedback after presentation, Teacher’s grading, and Question section after presentation

The researcher chose to adapt a 23-item questionnaire from the Language Anxiety In-Class Presentations Questionnaire (Chen, 2015) The current study's questionnaires (see APPENDIX 1A) consisted of 23 items that students had to complete within 24 hours, just after they finished their classroom presentations The students were informed that the survey was just for academic purposes and that the findings of the questionnaires would be kept strictly confidential by their professor The original twenty-three items consist of twenty-one negative questions and two positive questions Anxiety is one of the students' negative attitudes toward English,

so to make judgments easier, the researcher changed two positive statements (“I don't worry about making mistakes when I give a presentation in the ESL class.”, “I

am usually at ease after finishing my presentation in class.”) into negative ones (“I worry about making mistakes when I give the presentation in the ESL class., “I still often feel tense, even after finishing my presentation in class.”) without changing the meaning of the questions

A five-point Likert scale, with responses ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree, was used in the questionnaire to ask participants to indicate their agreement or disagreement with each item For each level of agreement, a numerical value was assigned: "strongly disagree" received one point, "disagree" two, "neutral" three, "agree" four, and "strongly agree" five Highly anxious students could have a minimum FLA score of 92 points (4 points x 23 items = 92) since those who chose "agree" or "strongly agree" were thought to have a high level

of FLA (High) Contrarily, because "disagree" was given two points, those who indicated that they had a low FLA (Low) could obtain a maximum FLA score of 46 points (2 points x 23 items = 46) As a result, those whose total FLA scores ranged between 47 and 91 were thought to have an average level of FLA (Average) (see Table 3.1)

Table 3.1: Criteria to identify groups of FLA levels

et al (1986), and is reliable Its construct validity is supported by linguistic experts such as Dornyei, Horwitz, and Spolsky (Tasnimi, 2009)

For the current study with Vietnamese students, all the instructions and questions were translated into Vietnamese before being passed on to the participants

to ensure they did not have difficulty understanding (see APPENDIX 1) In this translation, the researcher attempts to be as faithful as possible to the original English version Regarding the documents' accuracy, the researcher asked some experienced teachers to verify the wording through a back-translation process, ensuring the data's validity

The questionnaires were distributed in Google Forms through a social media platform called Zalo to 40 students Google Forms offers many options for controlling the answers provided by respondents Questions can be set to "required"

to prevent respondents from skipping a question A number or text can be restricted

to a specific entry, character count, or range The number of options available on a checklist can be limited Also, the order of choices for a question can be shuffled to avoid placement within a list influencing selection Validation options provided by Google Forms help improve the recorded data quality (Howlett, 2021)

to get data dealing with the anxiety-coping strategies used by EFL students during their oral presentations

There are two kinds of observation: participant observation and nonparticipant observation (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2009) When researchers directly take part in the situation they are observing, it means they are engaging in participant observation On the other hand, the nonparticipant is the researcher, who only sits on the sidelines and observes rather than taking part in the action being