AN ATTEMPT IN DECREASING ANXIETY AND ENHANCING ENGAGEMENT IN ORAL CLASSROOM SETTINGS VIA BETTER TEACHERS’ SOCIABILITY

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to scrutinize the issue of anxiety among first year LMD students from the English department, and studying at Belhadj Bouchaib university centre. It also aims to achieve two main objectives. On the one hand, it tries to discover the principal reasons that stand behind English foreign language learners’ anxiety when performing orally in class. On the other, it attempts to maintain a supportive relationship between students and teachers as two partner-ships inside the classroom in order to improve the learners’ oral performance and reduce anxiety. Through the use of a research tool which consists of two questionnaires, and then, based upon a mixed- method approach embracing both quantitative and qualitative approaches, we have tried, in this study, to collect the relevant data, and then analyze them. The first questionnaire has been devoted to the students, whereas the second has been administered to the teachers being in charge of the oral expression subject. Our results reveal that the phenomenon of anxiety really exists among the learners, and more particularly in the oral expression subject. This anxiety originates from fear of failing tests or negative evaluation, in addition to the apprehension of using a foreign language in front of an audience. The results also suggest various strategies that both teachers and students may follow in order to decrease the amount of anxiety and enhance the level of students’ engagement in class through better teachers’ sociability.