A STUDY OF STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ANXIETY IN ENGLISH CLASS ( A Study in Third Grade of Junior High School in SMPN 15 Bengkulu )

This research aimed to find out the level and the most dominant factors that caused
students’ speaking anxiety faced by the third grade students of Junior High School in SMPN 15
Bengkulu in English Classroom. This research was descriptive quantitative. The population of
this research was the third grade students of Junior High School in SMPN 15 Bengkulu. The
sample of this research was selected by using total sampling technique, with the total sample 70
of students. The data were collected by using a questionnaire adapted from Horwitz et. al (1986)
which consisted of 33 items and the questionnaire represent 3 categories of students’ speaking
anxiety. The results of this research show that most of the students’ speaking anxiety was
categorized into Mildly Anxious level. Among the three factors causing students’ speaking
anxiety, Fear of Negative Evaluation is the dominant factor that caused students’ speaking
anxiety on the third grade students of Junior High School in SMPN 15 Bengkulu. In conclusion,
the researcher found that students are afraid to speak up in front of the class because they always
think that other students will laugh at them and judge the student who speaks in front of the
class. This might make the student’s speaking anxiety arise and make them to stay silent instead
of speaking. Students with high level of anxiety might be caused by several lacks such as lack of
support from the teacher, lack of preparation, lack of knowledge about the topic, and many
others. The researcher suggests to the students that they should realize that they can control the
anxious feeling by controlling and suggesting their mind if they can overcome their anxiety and
fear. The researcher also suggests the teachers as a facilitator in class to keep encourage and
motivate their students while speaking in front of the class, especially in English classroom have
to encourage and motivate their students while speaking in front of the class, especially in
English classroom. For further research, the researcher suggests for conduct research in the
future to research on anxiety in different skills such as writing, reading and listening.
Keywords: Anxiety, Speaking Anxiety, Anxiety Level, Anxiety Factors, English Classroom