Facing the Fear: Investigating the Factors and Classroom Strategies Associated with Public Speaking Anxiety among ESL Learners

Public speaking anxiety (PSA) is a common challenge among ESL learners, often affecting their academic performance, and classroom participation. Developing speaking skills is a challenging process that requires learners to use correct vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, intonation, and body language. This study explores the key factors contributing to public speaking anxiety (PSA) and examines effective classroom strategies to help ESL learners manage their fear of speaking in front of an audience. Drawing on existing literature, the study identifies several major factors associated with speech anxiety, including fear of negative evaluation, lack of preparation, low self-confidence, limited speaking experience, and peer pressure. The study also highlights four classroom strategies theory by Kondo and Ying Ling (2004) that can create a supportive learning environment and reduce anxiety levels. A total of 106 students from the English study program at a Malaysian public university participated in this quantitative study. The findings indicate that relaxation strategies were the most frequently adopted by students to manage their public speaking anxiety (PSA), with a mean score of 3.8. Preparation strategies ranked second, also recording a mean score of 3.8. This was followed by positive thinking strategies, while peer- seeking strategies were the least preferred among the participants. The results of this study are expected to provide valuable insights for ESL learners, educators, and policymakers in developing effective approaches to reducing public speaking anxiety and enhancing speaking performance.

ESL learners, speaking skills, speaking, PSA, classroom strategies theory, quantitative method

1. Almira, D., Rachmawati, E., & Faridah, D. (2018). EFL male and female students’ perception on speaking anxiety in class-oral presentations. JALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literacy), 2(2), 56–70. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Amoah, S., & Yeboah, J. (2021). The speaking difficulties of Chinese EFL learners and their motivation towards speaking the English language. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 17(1), 56–69. https://doi.org/10.52462/jlls.4 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Ariska, S. (2019). Students’ Strategies to Overcome Anxiety in Speaking English at the Tenth Grade Students of SMK Negeri 4 Bulukumba (A Descriptive Method). Muhammadiyah University of Makassar. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Grieve, R., Woodley, J., Hunt, S. E., & McKay, A. (2021). Student fears of oral presentations and public speaking in higher education: a qualitative survey. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 45(9), 1281–1293. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1948509 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Haidara, Y. (2016). Psychological Factor Affecting English Speaking Performance for the English Learners in Indonesia. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(7), 1501–1505. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2016.040701 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Hamdani, S. U., Zill-e-Huma, Zafar, S. W., Suleman, N., Um-ul-Baneen, Waqas, A., & Rahman, A. (2022). Effectiveness of relaxation techniques ‘as an active ingredient of psychological interventions’ to reduce distress, anxiety and depression in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Mental Health Systems (Vol. 16, Issue 1). BioMed Central Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-022-00541-y [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Johari, A., Fauzi, S. F. N., Aidit, N. A., Morni, A., & Sahari, S. H. (2023). The influential factors of self-efficacy in English public speaking domain among university students. The 2nd International Conference on Modern Languages and Applied, 217. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Kondo, D. S., & Ying-Ling, Y. (2004). Strategies for coping with language anxiety: the case of students of English in Japan. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Li, T. (2020). Analysis on the causes and treatment of public speaking anxiety. 2020 4th International Seminar on Education, Management and Social Sciences (ISEMSS2020), 514–518. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Lucas, S. E., & Stob, P. (2020). The art of public speaking. McGraw-Hill. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Martiningsih, I., Susilawati, E., & Rezeki, Y. S. (2024). Students’ Strategies to Overcome Public Speaking Anxiety. Inspiring: English Education Journal, 7(1), 66–86. https://doi.org/10.35905/inspiring.v7i1.8766 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Munz, S. M., McKenna-Buchanan, T., & Wright, A. M. (2024). The Routledge Handbook of Public Speaking Research and Theory. https://resrhetorica.com/index.php/RR/article/view/904/493 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Netta, A., Trisnawati, I. K., & Helmanda, C. M. (2020). Indonesian EFL students' strategies in dealing with speaking anxiety in public speaking course. ACCENTIA: Journal of English Language and Educa-tion, 1(1), 1-9. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Palupi, R. E. A. (2022). Students’ speaking anxiety: ready or not. ELE Reviews: English Language Education Reviews,1(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.22515/ele-reviews.v1i1.3592 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Paridaluddin, N. N. F. B. M. S., Jing, N. Z., & Ruohan, N. C. (2025). Factors of Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) and Strategies to Mitigate PSA among Postgraduate Students of Malaysian Public Universities in Online Presentations. International Journal of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.24191/ijmal.v7i3.7480 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Pratama, R., Ikhsanudin, & Uray, S. (2018). A student’s strategies to overcome speaking anxiety in public speaking class. Jurnal Pendidikan Dan Pembelajaran Khatulistiwa (JPPK)., 7(9). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Rajitha, K., & Alamelu, C. (2020). A study of factors affecting and causing speaking anxiety. Procedia Computer Science, 172, 1053–1058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2020.05.154 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Raja, F. (2017). Anxiety Level in Students of Public Speaking: Causes and Remedies. Journal of Education and Educational Development, 4(1), 94. https://doi.org/10.22555/joeed.v4i1.1001 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Shokrpour, N., Sheidaie, S., Amirkhani, M., Bazrafkan, L., & Modreki, A. (2021). Effect of positive thinking training on stress, anxiety, depression, and quality of life among hemodialysis patients: A randomized controlled clinical trial. https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp 112020 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Tee, X. T., Joanna, T. A. T., & Kamarulzaman, W. (2020). A systematic review of self-coping strategies used by university students to cope with public speaking anxiety. English Language Teaching, 13(10), 57–73. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Thanh Tan Nguyen, & Truong, T. (2024). Investigation into Difficulties in Public Speaking among English-majored Students at University of Phan Thiet. International Journal of Language Instruction, 3(1), 17–30. https://doi.org/10.54855/ijli.24312 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]