Although it is widely believed that English major undergraduates experience minimal anxiety when

conversing in English, a significant number of them continue to encounter substantial difficulties with

English-speaking anxiety. This study aimed to investigate the level of English Language Speaking Anxiety

among English major undergraduates in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam and to analyse

gender-based differences in the level of anxiety. Grounded in the theoretical framework of Foreign

levels based on gender. Overall, English major undergraduates at UiTM Shah Alam generally experience a

moderate to high level of English-speaking anxiety. The study highlights the need for supportive and

communicative learning environments that can foster students’ confidence and reduce anxiety in speaking

contexts.

English language proficiency is highly valued by most people, as it serves as a means of effective

communication across cultures and facilitates academic and professional success. The importance of

mastering the English language has been acknowledged by people as language plays a crucial role in one's

learning and acquiring language for effective communication (Miskam and Saidalvi, 2018). Language

Lin, Yih, and Long (2019) stated that English is taught and learnt as a second language in the Malaysian

education system and the fear of communicating in English is still prevalent among Malaysian students

whereby, they continue to face challenges in achieving fluency and communication effectiveness. Speaking

skill, acknowledged as the challenging aspects of learning English, continues to present difficulties,

intensified by the presence of anxiety. Miskam and Saidalvi (2018) noted that Malaysian students often find

speaking in English intimidating, attributing to English-speaking anxiety that inhibits their willingness to

speak. Moreover, this anxiety is pervasive among second-language students, who perceive mastering

English-speaking skills as a daunting challenge (Yacob and Mohamad, 2022). Furthermore, Kashinathan

and Aziz (2021) also mentioned that most of the students have anxiety due to physiological causes such as

classroom fear and shyness when using English in front of peers. Therefore, it is evident that English-

communicate effectively, competent ESL users who have achieved a high level of proficiency in the English

great amount of effort to maintain it. Research also has shown that there are significant differences in

differences among Chinese English-major students of various competencies and found out that from 123

participants, half of them had a moderate level of anxiety. In addition, Naudhani et al. (2018) found that

English majors experienced a moderate level of foreign language speaking and classroom anxiety, while

non-English majors encountered a high level of foreign language speaking and classroom anxiety.

Furthermore, despite the challenges faced by weak ESL students, there is also a misconception about more

competent ESL users where they are believed to be naturally confident and fluent speakers, leading to the

presumption that they do not experience anxiety when communicating in English. Bai (2023) reasoned that

English major students would still have anxiety when they used English language since they were enrolled

in English-centred programmes and needed higher oral English ability. Therefore, English-speaking anxiety

is a significant challenge faced by language students, especially English major students. Hence, there is a

Language anxiety is a well-documented affective factor that significantly influences second or foreign

language learning. It is commonly defined as a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and

behaviours related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning

process (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). Among the various forms of language anxiety, speaking anxiety

which is the fear or apprehension experienced when required to communicate orally in a second or foreign

language is considered one of the most debilitating and commonly experienced forms (MacIntyre &

Gardner, 1991).

especially in a second language.

 Fear of Negative Evaluation: a result of learners' apprehension regarding the possibility of being

negatively evaluated by peers, instructors, or listeners.

 Low Self-confidence: a learner's belief that they lack the capability to communicate effectively or

fluently in the target language.

The foundation of this study's framework is derived from Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale

(FLCAS) introduced by Horwitz et al. (1986). Based on this, the Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Scale

(FLSAS) offers a more targeted approach by focusing specifically on speaking-related anxiety. It captures

how emotional and cognitive factors interplay to hinder oral communication. According to Gao (2022),

FLSAS tends to yield higher anxiety levels than FLCAS, supporting the idea that speaking is often

to identify the dimensions of speaking anxiety among English undergraduates. As a result, two items were

removed from the initial 18-item scale, producing a more reliable structure centred on three key dimensions:

Communication Apprehension (CA), Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE), and Low Self-confidence (LSC).

By adopting this refined framework, the present study sought to measure speaking anxiety levels among

English major undergraduates and explore the potential influence of gender on these experiences

Speaking is an important linguistic skill that enables individuals to participate in oral communication for the

exchange and dissemination of information, particularly in English, which is in high demand among

learners across all levels of proficiency. Kashinathan and Aziz (2021) mentioned that developing speaking

skills is always regarded as a challenge as it requires a great amount of effort to maintain by ESL learners.

concern among language learners. Therefore, English language anxiety especially in terms of speaking skills

is a critical problem and it needs to be overcome by the language learners, especially among English major

undergraduates.

contributing factors have been identified in numerous studies that have examined this phenomenon across

different proficiency levels. Toubot et al. (2018) reported that based on their investigation of English

language speaking anxiety among undergraduates from the department of English language in three Libyan

universities, a moderate to high level of EFL speaking anxiety was observed in the students. The study also

demonstrated that the Low Self-confidence factor (LSC) had the highest average, followed by the Fear of

Negative Evaluation (FNE) and Communication Apprehension (CA) factors. This demonstrates that the

factor of reduced self-confidence was the most prevalent source of anxiety among the university students

English major undergraduates were anxious when facing oral test and expressed that speaking anxiety

greatly affected their oral performance. He further revealed this can be caused by a variety of factors,

including a language environment, students' personalities, a fear of negative evaluations, a limited

vocabulary, a lack of practice, and poor English skills. Overall, these studies emphasise the significance of

addressing the persistent challenge of facing speaking anxiety among English major undergraduates and the

multifaceted character of English-speaking anxiety.

Studies have explored the connection between gender and anxiety related to speaking a foreign language,

yet the results remain inconclusive. Some studies indicate that female learners often report higher levels of

speaking anxiety, which may stem from heightened concern about peer judgment and a stronger fear of

being negatively evaluated (Dewaele, 2017; Park & French, 2013). For instance, Park and French (2013)

observed that female students exhibited greater communication apprehension and anxiety about making

of error, it was determined that the sample size for this study would be 140. It is commonly considered an

(Pollfish, n.d.). Moreover, the study employed random sampling for the sampling method. Based on simple

random sampling, this method is widely recognised for producing unbiased, representative, and for

providing each member of the population with an equal probability of selection (Noor, Tajik and Golzar,

2022). Hence, all LG240 and LG243 students in UiTM Shah Alam had an identical chance of being

randomly selected and were able to represent the intended population.

The study utilised a 16-item online FLSAS questionnaire adapted from Toubot, et al. (2018). The online

questionnaire elicited responses from the respondent based on the Speaking Anxiety Scale between 1 to 5

overall level of English Language Speaking Anxiety among English major undergraduates in Universiti

Language Speaking Anxiety experienced by English major undergraduates at Universiti Teknologi Mara

(UiTM) Shah Alam. The factors considered were the Communication Apprehension Factor (CA), Fear of

Negative Evaluation Factor (FNE), and Low Self-confidence Factor (LSC). Next, T-Test was implemented

to evaluate gender-based disparities in the levels of English Language Speaking Anxiety across the three

anxiety factors.

The Independent Samples T-Test was employed to examine gender-based differences in English language

speaking anxiety across the three factors: Communication Apprehension (CA), Fear of Negative Evaluation

(FNE), and Low Self-Confidence (LSC). The results indicated that male students reported slightly higher

mean scores across all three dimensions (CA = 3.47; FNE = 3.48; LSC = 3.42) compared to female students

(CA = 3.25; FNE = 3.03; LSC = 3.12). However, the differences were not statistically significant for CA (p

= .174) and LSC (p = .120).

For FNE, the analysis indicated a p-value of .013, which falls below the conventional significance threshold

of .05. This result suggests that there may be a meaningful difference in students’ fear of negative evaluation

between genders, with male students scoring higher. Nevertheless, given the marginal nature of this finding

In terms of Fear of Negative Evaluation, the findings affirm earlier research by Halder (2018) and

Kashinathan and Aziz (2021), who reported that fear of being judged by peers or instructors remains a core

anxiety trigger. In this study, students were notably anxious about making mistakes or being laughed at,

which reflects a social and evaluative dimension to their speaking anxiety.

Regarding gender, the Independent Samples T-Test showed no significant differences in speaking anxiety

across male and female students. The findings contradict Halder (2018) who found out that the female

students experienced higher level of English language anxiety than male students. This shows that gender

does influence English language anxiety indicating that female students have higher English language

greater sensitivity to judgment (Park & French, 2013; Dewaele, 2017), this study aligns with the findings of

Tóth (2010) and Yan and Horwitz (2008), who argued that individual differences such as personality,

confidence, and past language experiences play a more substantial role than gender. Overall, the study

as the primary factor, followed by Low Self-Confidence (LSC) and Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE).

Contrary to the prevalent belief that English majors are inherently confident speakers, the findings revealed

that these individuals still encounter significant anxiety, especially in spontaneous speaking or performance-

based contexts. Furthermore, no notable differences were observed between male and female students