An investigation of English language speaking and writing anxieties and anxiety-reducing strategies in an online language classroom of Thai undergraduates

Abstract

This study seeks to understand how the online classroom apparatus within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic affects the degree of foreign language anxiety (FLA) towards productive skills (i.e., classroom speaking and writing) among Thai learners of English in two universities. This study was based on two frameworks, namely, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Howitz & Cope, 1986) measuring classroom speaking anxiety and the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) (Cheng, 2004), which investigates writing anxiety across three factors (i.e., somatic anxiety, avoidance behavior, cognitive anxiety). The field work took place over a period of 4 months. The data were collected from questionnaires from 44 students. Individual focus groups were conducted with two professors teaching academic English, from which questions were formulated for further interviews with 21 students (from the 44 initially surveyed). Content analysis from the qualitative data were used to observe emerging themes. Contrary to the hypothesis that first- and second-year Thai L1 students would show FLA in speaking and writing in virtual spaces, the findings show that students hold positive beliefs towards English learning and are moderately anxious to speak and write English in online classrooms. Students report acceptability of videoconferencing technology, and report that the sources of their FLA are related camera policy, teacher demeanor, the degree of impromptu speech, and self-perceptions of L2 proficiency. Having speaking anxiety does not mean that students do not want to speak in online classrooms. From extensive interviews, five pedagogical recommendations regarding classroom management and videoconferencing tools are made to ameliorate anxiety, increase engagement, and decrease communication breakdown in online classrooms.