Original Research
The Influence of Teachers’ Behaviour on Learners’ Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety
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This study examines the influence of teachers’ behaviors on students’ foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA) in Turkish middle school classrooms. Conducted with 55 students and two non-native English teachers over 14 weeks, the research included classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and a foreign language anxiety scale. The findings reveal that teachers' behaviors have a moderately significant impact on students' anxiety levels, with positive behaviors reducing FLSA and negative behaviors exacerbating it. The results highlight discrepancies between teachers’ self-perceptions and their observed classroom practices, underscoring the need for greater teacher awareness of their impact on students’ learning experiences. This research contributes to the literature on FLSA by focusing on young learners in a Turkish context, emphasizing the importance of teacher attitudes and strategies in mitigating anxiety and fostering effective oral communication. The research took place in a Turkish state school classroom with 55 students and two non-native English language teachers over a period of 14 weeks. The findings concluded that teachers’ behaviours have an important impact, albeit small, on students' speaking anxiety levels, where positive behaviours decrease FLSA, while negative behaviours increase it. The outcomes also highlight a mismatch between teachers' self-perception and their classroom experiences.
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Keywords
Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety (FLSA); Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCAS); Teacher Behaviour; Classroom Observation; Teacher Awareness
Author(s) Information
Publisher’s Note
The claims, arguments, and counter-arguments made in this article are exclusively those of the contributing authors. Hence, they do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the authors’ affiliated institutions, or EUROKD as the publisher, the editors and the reviewers of the article.
Acknowledgements
Not applicable.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
CRediT Authorship Contribution Statement
Gizem Dane: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Formal Analysis, Resources, Data Curation, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project Administration
Sude Filiz:Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Project Administration
Gülsüm Sena Haylamaz:Conceptualization, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Project Administration
Şevval Çelik:Conceptualization, Software, Formal Analysis, Resources, Data Curation, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Project Administration
Generative AI Use Disclosure Statement
The authors did not use generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in the preparation of this manuscript.
Ethics Declarations
World Medical Association (WMA) Declaration of Helsinki–Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Participants
The study followed the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants provided voluntary informed consent, and their anonymity and data confidentiality were strictly guaranteed throughout the research.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.