Effective Classroom Strategies to Reduce Speaking Anxiety: A Gender-Based Study among Iraqi EFL Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/wjfh.Vol22.Iss1.1414Keywords:
Speaking anxiety, oral performance, , classroom strategiesAbstract
This study explores one of the main obstacles to Iraqi EFL learners’ oral performance—speaking anxiety—and investigates the effectiveness of several classroom strategies in reducing it. The strategies included small group work, role play, guided speaking with positive feedback, and technology-based recording. Using a quasi-experimental design, 120 third-year Iraqi EFL students were divided into experimental and control groups. Data were collected through a modified version of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and structured oral performance tests. Results revealed that the experimental group experienced a 38% reduction in speaking anxiety and showed significant improvement in oral performance, particularly in fluency, accuracy, and confidence, compared with the control group. Gender did not significantly affect the results, although female students initially reported higher anxiety levels. The study emphasizes the importance of integrating interactive, supportive, and technology-assisted approaches in Iraqi EFL classrooms and encourages gender-sensitive pedagogical practices for more effective language teaching.
Downloads
References
Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. The Modern Language Journal, 78(2), 155–168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1994.tb02026.x
Al-Ali, A. T. L. R. (2025). Investigating the impact of public speaking anxiety on EFL learners in Iraqi universities. Lark Journal, 17(4), 1817–1830. https://doi.org/10.31185/lark.Vol17.Iss4.4560
Al-Khafaji, H. (2020). Speaking anxiety among Iraqi EFL learners: Causes and coping strategies. Baghdad Journal of English Language Teaching, 12(1), 45–60.
Al-Khatib, M. A. (2019). Gender differences in foreign language speaking anxiety among Iraqi EFL students. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 10(2), 250–260.
Al-Tamimi, A., & Shuib, M. (2009). Language learning strategies and foreign language anxiety: A study of Iraqi EFL learners. Asian Social Science, 5(5), 20–30.
Burden, P. (2015). Classroom strategies for reducing speaking anxiety. International Journal of Education and Research, 3(4), 233–245.
Dewaele, J. M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2014). The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 237–274.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125–132. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1986.tb05256.x
Liu, M., & Jackson, J. (2008). An exploration of Chinese EFL learners’ unwillingness to communicate and foreign language anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 92(1), 71–86.
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C. (1991). Methods and results in the study of anxiety and language learning: A review of the literature. Language Learning, 41(1), 85–117. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1991.tb00677.x
Naeem, H., & Saad, S. (2020). Oral performance anxiety among Iraqi EFL learners. Iraqi Journal of Language Studies, 12(1), 45–60.
Oxford, R. (1999). Anxiety and the language learner: New insights. In J. Arnold (Ed.), Affect in language learning (pp. 58–67). Cambridge University Press.
Scovel, T. (1978). The effect of affect on foreign language learning: A review of the anxiety research. Language Learning, 28(1), 129–142.
Thornbury, S. (2005). How to teach speaking. Pearson Education.
Woodrow, L. (2006). Anxiety and speaking English as a second language. Regional Language Centre Journal, 37(3), 308–328.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Asmaa Hussain Jaber Al-Araji
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
