English Language Anxiety and the Delivery in Oral Communications

Abstract

As a developing country, the Philippines encourages its human resources to learn the English language to become globally competitive. As much as it is not technically considered a second or foreign language, many Filipinos, especially in rural areas still find English a new and difficult language. This research is anchored on the theories of Krashen (1987) on Second Language Acquisition and Horwitz et al. (1986) on Foreign Language Anxiety. The study aimed to assess the English Language Anxiety and Delivery in Oral Communications in relation to Academic Performance among Grade 8 students at Union National High School in Ubay, Bohol. Using a purposive complete enumeration, the study employed a questionnaire patterned after the “Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS)” and a rubric patterned from the Rubric for the Assessment of Oral Communication for Delivery” used by Valencia Community College in Orlando, Florida. Using documentary analysis, the raw scores from a periodical test administered during the course of the study were utilized. Data were treated to Chi-square and Pearson r moment of correlation to test relationships among variables. Results show that there was no significant degree of correlation between English Language Anxiety and the students’ Oral Communication Delivery; however, there was a significant degree of correlation between Oral Communication Delivery and Academic Performance.