ELS-JISH

ELS Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies on Humanities

Volume 3 Issue 2, 2020
ISSN (print) : 2621-0843
ISSN (online) : 2621-0835
Homepage : http://journal.unhas.ac.id/index.php/jish

The Effect of Motivation and Anxiety on Students’ Speaking

Performance: A Study at Dayanu Ikhsanuddin University

Sitti Nur Aisyah Ritonga1, Nasmilah2, Fathu Rahman3

1
[email protected]

Abstract
This study aims to know the effect of motivation and anxiety on students’ speaking
performance: a study at Dayanu Ikhsanuddin University. The study was designed in the form of
quantitative and qualitative descriptive studies (mixed methods). Subjects in this study were the
5th semester students of the teaching and education study program in Dayanu Ikhsanuddin
University who took the speaking class as part of their courses. The data were collected by
using the methods of observation, interviews, and questionairre. Data were analyzed through
triangulation data. The results showed that language anxiety felt by students during their
speaking presentation in English might result in their inability to deliver ideas clearly and this
would have a negative impact on their performance. In contrast, langauge motivation during
speaking presentation would help students to feel less anxious and be more concentrated on
the task and would result in a better speaking performance.
Keywords: Motivation, Anxiety, Student’s Speaking Performance.

How to cite: Ritonga, S. N. A., Nasmilah.,& Rahman, F. (2020). The Effect of Motivation and
Anxiety on Students’ Speaking Performance: A Study at Dayanu Ikhsanuddin University. ELS
Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 3(2), 198-213. DOI: 10.34050/els-
jish.v3i2.10263

1. Introduction
English is one of the major languages in the world and has been chosen
and accepted as an international language. The role of English language in
Indonesia is becoming more significant which can be seen clearly in some
aspects of society life.
In educational sector, English language is taught compulsorily at public
schools starting from secondary school to the freshman year of the university or
college. According to Rahman (2018: 1-2) English is widely taught as a foreign
language, in particular in Indonesia, The education system in Indonesia is very
aware of the importance of English. In addition to the language of science and
technology, it is also widely used as a means of international communication.
So the English teaching and learning proccess is very meaningful for the
development of education in Indonesia. There are some factors that influence
the teaching of English as a foreign language in Indonesia. They are: mother
1,2,3
Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia.

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tongue, motivation, social, culture, anxiety and some other determining factors
Krashen (1985).
Anxiety owned by students is one of the factors that play a profound role in
learning English. The level of language anxiety possessed by someone really
determines the learning process. Anxiety problem in the learning process has
become a serious concern. At school, many factors trigger anxiety on students.
From curriculum factor, the high target of curriculum, inefficient learning
atmosphere, lots of assignments and a rigorous and unfair assessment system
can be factors of anxiety. Likewise, from the teacher factor, the attitudes and
treatment of unfriendly, killer and less competent teachers are also another
source of students’ anxiety. In addition, the application of strict school discipline
that prioritizes punishment, the school atmosphere that is less comfortable as
well as the limited facilities and infrastructure are the formation of students’
anxiety coming from management factor.
Language anxiety is anxiety that arises when someone learns English.
Anxiety is a major factor that can hamper the learning process. Anxiety itself is
a subjective feeling of tension (tension), the state of apprehension, nervousness
and worry associated with the stimulation of the autonomic nervous system
caused by vague fear which is not directly related to the object. According to
Wolman and Stricker (1994), Foreign Language Anxiety (anxiety of learning a
foreign language) is a concern or negative emotional reaction that comes when
learning or speaking English. Understanding of Foreign Language Anxiety is
"distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors associated
with classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language
learning process". Foreign Language Anxiety consists of three dimensions,
namely communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative
evaluation. Gebhard (1996) stated that English teaching and learning process is
directed to make students understand and analyze English in order to to pass
the exam. In facts, education in Indonesia provides little opportunity for students
to implement communicatively outside the school of what they have learn. As a
result, English teaching and learning process only emphasize on "learning
about English" rather than "learning how to use English”.
The other factor influencing the speaking performance is motivation. It can
generate power, stimulate a person to do something and achieve a certain
satisfaction or purpose. It takes a boost within the students themselves in order
to create an atmosphere of effective teaching and learning process. According
to Ellis (2008) motivation if it were viewed from the side of foreign language
acquisition is an affective attitude or condition that influences the level of
students’ efforts in learning a foreign language. Meanwhile, Brown (2000) stated
that motivation is a choice taken by someone to gain experience or purpose and
efforts in order to reach the objective. Motivation is divided into several groups.
Ellis (2008) classified motivation into four parts namely, instrumental,
integrative, resultative and intrinsic, then Brown (2007: 188) adds extrinsic as
another type of motivation.
At English Department of Dayanu Ikhsanuddiin University, when analyzing
the syllabus, speaking is taught for three semesters starting from semester III
(Speaking1), semester IV (speaking 2) up to semester VI (speaking III). The
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way of teaching in Dayanu Ikhsanuddin University is less communicative. The

teaching approachment is still traditional in which accuracy is given more
emphasis than fluency. Furthermore, when I did preliminary studies on speaking
1 and 2, students who took the speaking class had a variety of traits often called
individual differences. Individual differences are a term that underpins the things
that I tried to explore in this study. There were some who had high anxiety when
attending speaking class while the rest was not, and the motivations that they
have vary. Thus, I am interested to analyze deeply of to what extent anxiety and
motivation affect student learning outcomes. Based on the investigation and
reasons above, the researcher decided to chose the topic entitled “The Effect of
Motivation and Anxiety on Students’ Speaking Performance: A study at Dayanu
Ikhsanuddin University”.
1.1. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study were formulated as follows: 1). To find out the
effect of anxiety and motivation in students’ speaking performance of EFL
students in Dayanu Ikhsanuddin University, 2) To reveal how students control
their anxiety during speaking.
2. Method
2.1. Research Location
Research Location is a place to conduct research in order to obtain
research data. The research was carried out in the Dayanu IKhsanuddin
University, located in Jalan Dayanu, Baubau city.
2.2. Respondents
The population of this research was the 5th semester students of the
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) in Dayanu Ikhsanuddin
University. Based on the preliminary study, the class in the faculty of teacher
training and education was divided into five classes in which the numbers of
every class were 39-42 students. The total numbers were 220 students. By
applying random sampling technique, the researcher took 3 classes to be
observed which are A, C, and E classes.
2.3 Respondents
The subjects of this study were the teachers and the students of an
English institution named TAF English where the teachers were usually referred
to as coach (es) so the term coach and teacher may be used interchangeably
but they refer to the same object. During the study, there were five cases
observed meaning that there were five observed classes with one coach and
one student for each class. The choosing of the subjects concerned to any
learning schedules of Intensive Speaking Program that were available to be
observed in the institution meaning that the students confirmed to come and to
have the class. Besides, the private setting of the program was also one of the
considerations. Private setting referred to the condition of one-on-one teaching
and learning class where each individual student was given lesson by a coach
so there were only two of them in the classroom.

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2.4 Procedure
The researcher collected the data by using observation, interview, and
questionnaire. Observation would be used during the teaching and learning
process to make deep analysis of the activity. So, the researcher would directly
witness the observed object. The second is interview sessions would help to
obtain the real object about the constraints faced by the lecturers and the
students in English speaking. Interviews would be conducted in different times.
At first, the researcher interviewed the lecturer while the students would be
interviewed on the following day. Such techniques are applied to match the
information obtained from the lecturer with the real context during the teaching
and learning process as well as to find out the response from students about
the lesson being delivered. Finally, questionnaire is a useful tool to collect
information of psychological factors (motivation and anxiety) and other
components related to this study.
2.5 Data Analysis
The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed to depict the
frequency of occurrence of each possible response. The data would be focused
to describe the learning process at Dayanu Ikhsanuddin University. Researcher
would use closed ended questions, open-ended questions, and semi closed
questions in questionnaires. To analyze and interpret the data obtained from the
questionnaire, the researcher used the statistic simple formula. The data will be
presented using the following formula.

Note :
P= Percentage
F= Frequency
N= Number of sample
100%= Constants value
The data obtained from observation and interview were used as additional
information to back up the questionnaire data. Then, those data would be
interpreted qualitatively
3. Findings
3.1. The Result of Classroom Observation
The researcher carried out the observation to find out the effect of
motivation and anxiety on students’ speaking performance. The researcher
was conducted the research from 2nd December 2019 till 3rd January 2020.
There were five classes in this major and the speaking subject was run twice a
week. However, the researcher only took 3 classes A, C, and E as the sample
of the research. The reason was those samples were taken randomly and the
lecturer’s recommendation to research the classes with nearly similar ability to
avoid the gap and to keep objective study.

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There were several categories of motivation and anxiety being asessed

during the observation process (See; Appendices, Table 1). A course of work
can be accomplished well by the motivated students. Dörnyei (1998) argues
the importance of motivation by stating that motivation provides learners
the primary stimuli for initiating second language learning, and later
motivation become the driving force for learners to be persistent in
tedious learning process, so that learners may be able to complete long-
term goals. On the other words, students have eagerness to learn and it
contributes to their learning outcome. Teachers should be creative enough to
provide teaching material and media in order to prompt students’ motivation in
learning for a better outcome. Aswar, et al (2019) stated that teachers should
play their best roles to choose the most proper learning media for their students.
In the context of this research, there are the results that can be captured during
the observation
a. Attentive; 78/121 students could keep their eyes on during the speaking
lesson. They could participate starting from the opening till the closing.
b. Intiative to ask; 29/ 121 students were found initiative to ask some
questions during the lecturing.
c. Confident to express idea; 15/ 121 students confidently delivered their
ideas with English.
d. Engage actively in learning process; 53/ 121 students engage actively
and lively during the lecturing. To illustrate, the students were initiative to
take some notes and interersted into the given activities.
e. Lively interaction; from eight meetings, the researcher noticed that the
lively interaction only happened in the first, fourth, fifthe, and seventh
meeting.
f. Responsive; 13/ 121 students dared to answer the lecturer’s question
well.
Anxiety would bring negative influence to students especially when
speaking English. (Greenberg, 2017) states that “anxiety is feelings of
discomfort that people experience before, during, and after speaking in public".
The basis of the statement is when the students feel anxious, student
discomfort and not confident to speak in front of the class and anxiety
makes the language learners nervous and afraid, which may contribute to
poor oral performance (Morris, 2017). Based on the observation conducted,
here are some anxiety that could be noticed during the lecturing.
a. Afraid of making mistake; one of the most problematic aspect in learning
English is feeling doubt to make errors. This aspect stimulated the
children not to speak up during the time given. 90/ 121 students were
noticed dealing with this aspect.
b. Unconfident to come forward expressing ideas; not every student are
willing to come forward expressing their ideas in English. Most students
struggled a lot to be expressive.

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c. Nervousness; 65/ 121 students felt tremble hands and did improper acts
during the speaking time.
d. Panic; 70/ 121 students were afraid to be pointed by the lecturer and shy
to speak up. Sometimes, they left the room to go to the toilet as the
reason to avoid their turns to speak.
3.2. The Result of Structured Interview
This study was also supported with the interview. The researcher
interviewed the students and the teacher structurally. For the interviews, it does
not matter how many participants it has so long as the research theoretical
saturation (see Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Saturation can only be determined in
retrospect, however, the researcher will need more interviews than the point of
saturation. In other words, 10 interviewees are needed before the researcher
determines hitting saturations at interview 8. Also, saturation changes
depending on the research question. So if the researcher wants to get more
than one study from mixed method data, then the number of interviewees
needed might vary. As for 6-8, it is possible to hit saturation there if having a
very simple question but it seems a bit unlikely. For a straight up thematic
analysis, it wouldn't have less than 20. Thus, the researcher took 30
interviewess for 3 classes (10/ each). The selection of the participants was
based on the students’ classroom participation and attitude toward English
class.
Table 1. Students’ attitude toward their English Class
Item Effect of Anxiety Effect of Motivation
Hard, I don’t understand my Great, nice, good but sometimes
Q 1: How do you
lecturer, I don’t know, need effort to understand, I like
feel about your
unclear. English speaking.
experience of
learning English?
Number of Interviewees: 17 Number of interviewees: 13
Coming to the front of the Nothing because I like English,
class and speak, being no big problem because English
Q 2: Please tell me
pointed so sudden by the is my favorite, the lecturer
what disturbs you
lecturer, shy to speak understands me so no problem
the most about
because I don’t know
learning and
English, when required to
speaking English
give presentation I don’t
and why?
know how to speak English

Number of interviewees: 22 Number of interviewees: 8

Q 3: Do you think Difficult because the writing Sometimes easy because I
learning and and the way we speak is know the answer, not really hard
speaking English as different, hard because of the because I have joined English
a foreign language 16 tenses, all English is hard course, my friend helps me so
is very difficult? because I don’t have basic, not difficult
What kind of my vocabulary is poor, I don’t
difficulties or understand structure or
problems do you grammar
feel when speaking
English? Number of interviewees: 19 Number of interviewees: 11

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English written test because I

don’t know much, speaking I enjoy learning English.
test because I am nervous
and I can’t remember what to
say, speaking in front of Number of interviewees: 2
Q 4: What kinds of
people because I am not
situations cause
confident, all English test
stress or anxiety for
made me stressful because I
you?
have zero English, English
presentation because hard;
the preparation and the
delivery

Number of interviewees: 28
Q 5: What happens Tremble, overuse gestures, Take a deep breath and
to you when you are blank, Want to cry, speak continue to speak, I repeat what
in a stressful short because what I I want to say and deep down in
situation while memorize is almost gone my heart I say I can do it, I beat
speaking English away, I finish my speaking my nervousness I say to myself
and what do you do and sit, I speak with low if somebody can do this, so do I.
in these voice, I don’t want to speak
kinds of situations? Number of interviewees: 10
Number of interviewees: 20
Lack of knowledge because
my lecturer’s explanation is
unclear, not get used to
speak in front of many
Q 6: What do you people, I think English so
think are the difficult to learn, I am not
reasons of this interested in English. I don’t
nervousness or know what to say so I am
anxiety? nervous. I am afraid of
making mistake, don’t get
much experience to speak
English in front of the public.

Number of interviewees: 30
When we aren’t required to When I understand my lecturer’s
give presentation, speak in explanation with clear
Q 7: In which kind of front of the class, not being instruction. When my friends
situations do you not pointed during the class to support me to speak (nobody
feel anxiety or feel speak. When only my lecturer laughs), when the lecturer
motivated while speaks doesn’t give long explanation
speaking English? make us confused, when the
Number of interviewees: 22 class is fun no pressure

Number of interviewees: 8
Q 8: Are you afraid Yes and my friends will Not really because I don’t care. I
of making errors laugh. Of course, my am okay with making mistake
while speaking classmates will laugh at me because I think nobody is
English and how do and it makes my mental prefect. I don’t bother because
you think people will down. Sure, I feel ashamed. my classmates will support me. I
react if you make Yes, I feel so stupid when feel okay because that’s what
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mistakes? making mistake because my learning for

lecturer will be angry.
Number of interviewees: 13
Number of interviewees: 17
Q 9: How do you My lecturer is serious when My lecturer claps showing some
think your language explaining. support when we don’t know
teacher plays a role My lecturer is not friendly how to speak
in creating or enough. My lecturer guides us to speak.
reducing the feeling
of anxiety? Number of interviewees: 13 Number of interviewees: 17
Change the lecturer Fun learning English with many
Don’t give us much task to do games
No more English peaking No more long explanation
class Interactive class
Q 10: What would
Teaching from basic because
you like to suggest
Number of interviewees: 5 most of us have lack of English
in order to reduce
knowledge
language anxiety in
The method of teaching
the learners and
Supportive classmates and
show a strong
lecturer
motivation?
Lecturer who understands
enough the psychological
factors of the students

Number of interviewees: 25
Never because I don’t care. Usually because I have joined a
Never, because I don’t know. course and I practice there
Sometimes, I study by myself at
home
Number of interviewees: 7 Sometimes, I watch English film.
Q11: How often do
Rarely, I practice with my
you practice
friends.
speaking outside the
Sometimes, I join English club
classroom?
or competition.
Sometimes, when there is a
speaking test.

Number of interviewees: 23
Unimportant; I don’t want to Normal; because we don’t need
be English teacher later to speak English all the time
Very unimportant ; because when having a job as an English
we can also have job without teacher
Q12: What do you English Important; because I will be
think about the English teacher
importance of Very important; because many
English speaking Number of interviewees: 6 people have job with English
skills to your future knowledge and every
career? technology use having English
instruction

Number of interviewees: 24

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Much pressure Motivated

Anxious Interested
Unconfident High spirit
Q13: How do you
Confused So so
feel in speaking
Lazy Sometimes lazy, sometimes
class?
Unclear diligent

Number of interview: 14 Number of interviewees: 16

Speak fluent in English
Q14: What would be
Speak well
the result of study
Confident to speak
for students with
Show better speaking skill
language
Good score
motivation?
Good achievement
Shy to speak in front of
Q15: What would be people
the result of study Average students
for students with Students with low
language anxiety? achievement
No achievement
The interview below was the result conducted for the English speaking lecturer.
Table 2. The presentation of question and responses in interview
Questions Response
Q1: How do you view the role of “In my opinion, anxiety could be the
language anxiety for learners in stimulus for students to deal with their
learning and particularly speaking speaking class either positive act or
English language? negative act. It depends on the way
students respond to this feeling.”
Q 2: What kinds of situations and “Being laughed at by the classmates when
language classroom activities have presenting something, so the students
you found to be anxiety- provoking for doesn’t want to speak anymore or getting
the students? correction many times during their speaking
sessions especially their pronunciation.”
Q 3: What do you think are the causes “Fear of making mistake, zero knowledge of
of students’ anxiety while speaking English, limited vocab, not get used to
English? speak in front of the public.”
“Yes, I have. They always assumed that
Q 4: Have you noticed any particular English is difficult. It is perhaps because
kinds of beliefs or perceptions about they are unfammiliar with the English stuff.
learning and speaking English in your Here in this area, English is still an
students and do you think they play a exclusive language. Not many people could
role in causing language anxiety for speak or master it. During their primary and
the learners? Please explain. secondary education, they were taught
English but it is not frequently as they sign
up in this major.”
Q 5: What signs of anxiety have you
“They are nervousness, overuse body
noticed in anxious learners during
language while speaking in the front,
your experience of teaching English to
sweating, and their bodies are suddenly felt
learners?
cold during the speaking session.”

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Q 6: How do you think language “As I told before, language anxiety can be
anxiety can be successfully controlled positive or negative. If the students let
in the learners? themselves feel down, negative results will
control them, vice versa”
“Support them while get stuck or don’t know
what to say in front of the public. Guide
them step by step so they will be able to
Q 7: What efforts you have been done
speak without thinking too much. Motivate
in order to overcome anxiety?
them through some figures who finally get
scholarship and continue their studies
overseas due to their English skills.”
Q 8: Do you agree that mastering “Totally agree. English nowadays has
English is really great? become a way for people to achieve their
higher education.”
Q9: Do you have any ideas of how “Create a friendly environment for the
English classes might be motivating? learners; not provoking and no pressure.”
Q10: Which students would probably Language anxiety would create low
perform better on speaking? Those achievement even no achievement for
with language anxiety or language students. So, I believe motivated students
motivation? perform better in speaking skill.
3.3. The Result of the Questionairre
There were two kinds of questionairre diistributing to the students. First is
a FLCAS (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale) questionnaire proposed
by Horwitz et al. (1986) and questionnaire of motivation in learning English-
Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) by Gardner, 1985 that was plan to
meet the needs of this research to find out the sources of their anxiety and
motivation in English speaking classroom.
Table 3. Number of The Students Who Opted For Each Choice Of Each Item In
The Flcas Sa=Strongly Agree, A=Agree, N=Neither Agree Nor Disagree,
D=Disagree, And Sd=Strongly Disagree
No Item SA A N D SD
I never feel quite sure of myself when I am
1 8 20 35 26 32
speaking in English.
I don't worry about making mistakes in English
2 17 23 20 56 5
class.
I tremble when I know that I'm going to be called
3 9 27 33 46 6
on in English class.
It frightens me when I don't understand what the
4 4 32 20 53 12
teacher is saying in English.
It wouldn't bother me at all to take more English
5 7 13 9 43 49
classes.
During English class, I find myself thinking about
6 2 22 32 46 19
things that have nothing to do with the course.
I keep thinking that the other students are better
7 1 12 32 55 21
at English than I am.
I am usually at ease during tests in my English
8 12 13 45 43 8
class.
I start to panic when I have to speak without
9 10 64 13 23 11
preparation in English class.

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I worry about the consequences of failing my

10 33 37 12 34 5
English class.
I don't understand why some people get so upset
11 23 42 48 34 13
over English classes.
In English class, I can get so nervous I forget things
12 17 35 38 21 11
I know.
It embarrasses me to volunteer answers in my
13 11 21 25 33 31
English class.
I would not be nervous speaking English with native
14 7 32 30 23 29
speakers.
I get upset when I don't understand what the
15 3 29 15 51 23
teacher is correcting.
Even if I am well prepared for English class, I
16 7 21 23 31 39
feel anxious about it.
17 I often feel like not going to my English class. 9 59 25 13 15
18 I feel confident when I speak in English class. 25 43 31 13 9
I am afraid that my English teacher is ready to
19 4 25 27 42 23
correct every mistake I make.
I can feel my heart pounding when I'm going to be
20 35 43 21 13 9
called on in English class.
The more I study for an English test, the more
21 3 8 7 53 50
confused I get.
I don't feel pressure to prepare very well for
22 3 5 10 53 50
English class.
I always feel that the other students speak the
23 4 13 45 37 21
foreign language better than I do.
I feel very self-conscious about speaking the
24 2 15 32 42 30
English language in front of other students.
English class moves so quickly. I worry about
25 4 11 19 63 24
getting left behind.
I feel more tense and nervous in my English
26 3 15 19 47 39
class than in my other classes.
I get nervous and confused when I am speaking in
27 2 9 31 78 40
my English class.
When I'm on my way to English class, I feel very
28 13 15 47 44 2
sure and relaxed.
I get nervous when I don't understand every word
29 65 30 35 3 25
the English teacher says.
I feel overwhelmed by the number of rules you
30 4 25 23 49 20
have to learn to speak English.
I am afraid that the other students will laugh at
31 47 25 24 7 20
me when I speak English.
I would probably feel comfortable around native
32 15 51 31 23 1
speakers of English.
I get nervous when the English teacher asks
33 13 47 27 22 13
questions which I haven't prepared in advance.
In answering this question, you should have circled one alternative. Some
people would have circled “Strongly Disagree”, others would have circled
“Strongly Agree”, while others would have circled any of the alternatives in
between. Which one you choose would indicate your own feeling based on
everything you know and have heard. Note: there is no right or wrong answer.
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Table 4. Number of The Students Who Opted For Each Choice Of Each Item In
The Flcas Sa=Strongly Agree, A=Agree, N=Neither Agree Nor Disagree,
D=Disagree, And Sd=Strongly Disagree
No Item 1 2 3 4 5 6
I have high motivation to learn English in order
1 3 13 24 35 27 19
to communicate with English speaking people.
I have a positive attitude toward English
2 11 10 15 13 34 38
speaking people.
I have a very high interest in English
3 21 3 13 17 45 22
language.
4 I have a strong desire to learn English. 6 23 16 30 32 14
I like my English class so much, I look forward
5 9 11 27 11 29 34
to studying more English in the future.
My English teacher is a great source of
6 19 4 13 31 33 21
inspiration to me.
Studying English is important because it will
7 19 12 7 18 23 41
be useful in getting a good job.
I worry about speaking English outside of
8 27 36 23 14 11 10
class.
9 English class is my favorite. 31 2 6 15 17 50
10 I worry about speaking in my English class 32 21 21 14 16 17
11 I wish I were fluent in English. 31 16 2 19 41 12
My parents encourage me to practice my
12 15 10 13 23 29 31
English as much as possible.
Legend: 1. Strongly Disagree, 2. Moderately Disagree, 3. Slightly Disagree, 4.
Slightly Agree, 5. Moderately Agree, and 6. Strongly Agree
4. Discussion
4.1. Effect of Motivation and Anxiety on Students’ Speaking Performance
a. Observation
From the observation, it can be concluded that motivated learners could
engage actively in the classroom activity. Their active participations lead them
to boost their proficiency in speaking English. As Ur (1996) said that the more
motivated the learners the higher their learning process is. So, the more
motivated the learner the higher their speaking ability is. With good motivation,
the students are going to put much effort to anything that may improve their
speaking achievement. They are going to try and finish speaking task. They
also will try and practice their speaking with their friends without being afraid to
create mistakes. The more practice in speaking, the higher their English skill
is.The students who had good enough motivation dare to perform their speech
in front of the public. Making errors stimulate them to do better in the next
opportunity.
Meanwhile, students with anxiety will not perform better in speaking class.
They tend to be afraid of making errors and fear of speaking in front of the
class. The studies between language anxiety and language skills have mostly
related to the oral performance (Horwitz, et. al., 1986; Aida, 1994). Most anxiety
studies in a language learning situation appear to be associated with the oral
aspect (Horwitz et.al, 1986; Young, 1991; Daly, 1991; Philips, 1992). This
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means that, as mentioned earlier, of the fours skills, speaking is probably

considered the most stressful for second language learners.
b. Interview
From the interview, the researcher could classify learners with motivation
and anxiety based on the way they answered the questions. Most of the
participants responded that classroom atmosphere plays a pivotal role in which
they feel motivated with the lesson taught. By having a motivated feeling, an
effective and effiecent learning could be gained which later triggers the learners
to perform better in speaking skill (English speaking mastery). 43.3 % students
responsed to question number 1 indicated student with language motivation
while 57 % categorized as students with language anxiety. In addition, they
were also asked about their feelings attending English speaking class. 53.3 %
of students responded that they feel motivated and interested while the rest
answered there was a pressure and laziness to attend the class.
On the other hand, when students being asked what would be the result of
study for those who are motivated and experience anxiety. They all agreed that
motivated students would probably have linguistic competence to produce
language performance. Whereas, students with dominantly having language
anxiety would experience nervousness and high tension when speaking which
are trapped them to go extra mile in mastering English speaking.
In further, researcher interviewed the lecturer to obtain data from both
sides objectively. In general, the lecturer seemed fully realizing about the
language anxiety and mitivation in L2 class. He could explain in detail every
aspect the researcher ask. He assumed that overuse gestures when speaking,
sweating, tension, and have no idea what to speak, afraid of making errors were
the indication of language anxiety while motivation was shown from being
confident, intiative to do the task, engage actively and positively during the
learning processs.
The lecturer believed that students with no intention to show their best in
speaking English (no achievement) were the effect of anxiety the experienced.
Besides that, the effect of motivation could be clearly seen for the learners who
tried, practiced, and performed their best during the speaking session.
c. Questionnaire
On the first questionairre (FLCAS), 61 % learners stared to panic when
they have to speak without preparation in English class. It shows that their
anxiety is highly controlled them. Students were getting so nervous when they
don't understand every word the English teacher says are calculated 78 %. It
was also seen during the observation, so nervousness is the major impact of
the students’ anxiety. 56% learners felt like not going to their English class
meaning that they showed their disinterest to their English speaking class. In
the next, heart pounding when going to be called on in English class was felt
by the students in 64 %. Being afraid that the other students will laugh at me
when speaking English was at 59%. On the item for not feeling pressure to
prepare very well for English class, only 6 % of learners agreed. Thus, the

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effect of anxiety on Students’ Speaking Performance was clearly shown by

inability of the students to engage well in speaking class.
On the other questionairre which is AMTB,34 % students had high
motivation to learn English in order to communicate with English speaking
people. Have a very high interest in English language was responded by 55 %
learners. Only 49 % of learners disagreed that they don’t like my English class
so much, they look forward to studying more English in the future. 52 %learner
go with the statement that studying English is important because it will be
useful in getting a good job. So students wished they were fluent in English are
claculated 43 %. At the item of parents encourage me to practise my English as
much as possible were only reponded by 49 % students. Consequently, their
motivations in the class to study were clearly seen from their responsive
participation and their ability to go further achieveing better speaking
proficiency.
d. How Students’ Control Their Anxiety
Based on the interview result to both students and teacher, students
assumed that the way they control their anxiety is by taking a deep breath and
continue to speak, repeating what to say and stimulatng their internal
motivation by saying “I can do it”, beating their nervousness by motivating
themselves and taking good example from motivated figures. Meanwhile the
teacher said that, if the students focused on negative things that made their
mental down, language anxiety controls them a lot. So, to hold back ourself is
by thinking positively eventhough bad things happened. You yourself keep your
enthusiasm on fire.
e. Suggestions to Create Friendly Classroom Environment oriented to
Speaking Skill Mastery
In 1960s, there was a method called Communicative Language Teaching.
The communicative approach is based on the idea that learning language
successfully comes through having to communicate real meaning. When
learners are involved in real communication, their natural strategies for
language acquisition will be used, and this will allow them to learn to use the
language (tesol.com). Language learning is learning to communicate using the
target language. The language used to communicate must be appropriate to the
situation, the roles of the speakers, the setting and the register. The learner
needs to differentiate between a formal and an informal style (British Council).
Based on the explanation above, the researcher assured that teaching English
should be easy, practical, and communicative.
4. Conclusion
The first hypothesis assumed that language anxiety felt by students during
their speaking presentation in English might result in their inability to deliver
ideas clearly and this would have a negative impact on their performance. This
was reflected by their confused and jumbled thoughts and being stuck not
know what to do or to interact with the audience, in addition to their physical
signs of anxiety. In contrast, langauge motivation during speaking presentation
would help students to feel less anxious and be more concentrated on the task

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and would result in a better speaking performance. The impact of motivation on

learners was positive. This was revealed by structured organization in their
deliveries, their interest and ability to perform well. The speaking presentation
gained the appreciation of both the audience and the teacher. Both aspects
stated above as the first hypothesis were confirmed as the main findings of this
study. All in all, langauge anxiety has a negative effect on learners while
motivation is needed, for this reason a student has to make a balance between
both variables in order to achieve the best performance. Researcher also
suggested that it is most likely effective to deliver the teaching of English
speaking with 3 principles. They are easy, practical, and communicative. By
knowing our students’ need, teacher/ lecturer could design the best material to
be delivered which in further could achieve the effictive and efficient learning
process. Students would obviously enjoy the class very much. At the end, nice
classroom atmospehere with better performance of students in speaking is
achieved well.
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