شبكة المعلومات العربية التربوية

Anxiety that learners encounter while speaking in the foreign language classrooms is considered to be one of the most effective problem that can prevent learners from learning the target language. This quasi-experimental study aims at finding the sources of speaking anxiety learners feel in the foreign language classroom, and investigates the effect of using specific teaching strategies on mitigating this feeling. In order to do that, 79 female Saudi English foreign language learners, at their first year in the college of economy, participated in this study. The data were collected through a questionnaire and interviews that were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The participants were randomly divided into two groups experimental and control group. The teaching strategies were used with the experimental group only during the second term of the year 2014. However, the same material and time was given to the control group in order to achieve the goal of this study. The analysis of the collected data revealed a number of issues causing foreign language learners’ speaking anxiety. Furthermore, the use of specific teaching strategies helped in alleviating and reducing the speaking anxiety felt by the foreign language learners’ and encouraged them to use the target language. As a result, foreign language learners in the experimental group showed great improvements in their willingness to speak and participate in different tasks and activities in their foreign language classroom. (Author’s abstract)