Exploring EFL learners’ coping strategies during speaking development

Abstract

This research examines how EFL students at the tertiary level experience anxiety while speaking and how various affective factors contribute to students' oral performance. This research indicates that the majority of students’ experience fear of making mistakes, negative judgments from peers, and small vocabulary sizes, and that these affect students’ confidence during spontaneous speaking experiences. However, the study showed that providing structured speaking activities, giving students positive feedback from their teachers, and using familiar listening material may lessen anxiety and allow more students to actively participate in speaking. The present study is consistent with other prior research that indicates that the presence of an unnecessarily high level of difficulty may have a significant impact on the communicative performance of EFL learners in an increasingly global world. It appears that an anxiety-sensitive approach to the teaching of speaking in the EFL classroom could be an effective way to create a stimulating classroom atmosphere while also providing students with less stressful chances to develop their speaking ability.