The Effect of Anxiety on Speaking Ability: An Experimental Study on EFL Learners

Abstract

The study is aimed to investigate the relationship between students’ anxiety and their communication performance. To this end, 40 upper-intermediate adult (male and female) EFL learners were chosen through convenience sampling. A speaking test was administered which were scored from 0 to 10 and then answered a 33-item 5-point Likert scale FLCAS questionnaire. The results of the study indicated that there is a significant negative relationship between students’ anxiety and their communication performance. Consequently, it could be concluded that (high) anxiety was effective (negatively) in the performance of students.