English Department Students’ Anxiety in Interacting Orally with an English Native Speaker Lecturer

Abstract

Anxiety has a debilitating effect on the oral interaction of English Department students with English native speaker (ENS) lecturer. Thus, the present study seeks to discover the perceived factors that cause anxiety among students in interacting with ENS lecturer in the classroom. Informed by a qualitative approach, data were collected mainly using group semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. The study revealed that the English Department students reported four perceived factors, namely,; limited English proficiency, fear of being misunderstood, lack of self-confidence, and fear of negative evaluation. The study suggests that even though ENS has minor influence in students’ anxiety, it remains important for teacher and teacher educators to continuously encourage students to practice speaking English in and off classroom situation.