The Impact of Anxiety on B1 Level College Students' Oral Competence in the English Language

Oral communication is essential for anyone wishing to learn a foreign language. Feelings of anxiety and nervousness are common among learners and negatively influence the development of oral proficiency. This study aims to investigate the levels of anxiety present in the study and its impact on oral competence in a second language among students of Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Biochemistry & Pharmacy at UTMACH. For this research, quantitative and qualitative methods were applied through the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz (1986) and interviews to collect and analyze information on the feelings students experience when speaking English. The total sample consisted of 147 students, 87 of whom were B1 proficient according to the CEFR. JAMOVI 2.3.28.0 was used to analyse the scores, and MAXQDA24 was used for qualitative analysis. The results showed that anxiety towards learning English has a significant and negative correlation with students' oral proficiency development.