The Impact of Foreign Language Anxiety on FL Speech Production of Saudi EFL Learners (Case Study of Saudi Secondary School Students in Medina Region)

This study aimed to investigate the level and impact of FLA on speech production among EFL learners in secondary school in the Medina region, Saudi Arabia. The influence of teachers’ attitudes on FLA among students was also examined. Moreover, the study explored the teachers’ and students’ awareness of FLA’s effect on the students’ speech production. This study used mixed methods to collect data, the FLCAS questionnaire which consists of 33 items was administered to collect quantitative data from 150 (70 female - 70 male) Saudi EFL secondary school students, and a quasi-structured questionnaire consisted of 15 items was administered to collect quantitative data from English teachers (25 female - 25 male). In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data from 14 (7 female - 7 male) Saudi EFL secondary school students. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS descriptive statistics and Microsoft Excel while qualitative data was analyzed using the thematic analysis. Results showed that most EFL learners experience a moderate level of FLA. The study suggests that foreign language anxiety had positive and negative impacts on EFL learners’ speech production. Moreover, the result revealed that teachers’ attitudes had a significant effect on FLA among students. This study provided recommendations to investigate FLA in different English language fields such as writing, reading, and listening.