3.2.1. Research question 1: To what extent do the students experience anxiety in an oral English classroom?
A number of problems were found from classroom observations and pre-intervention questionnaire for students. A vast majority of students under investigation experienced moderate or high level of SA (87.5%- Figure 1). The most striking issue is that even some the able learners in terms of written test score found it hard to expressing their intended messages simply because of their nervousness. Notably, in such situations as answering the teacher‟s questions and presentation in front of the class, some students could hardly make themselves understood. They were confused and had difficulty in expressing even the simplest ideas. For instance, some could not give appropriate responses when asked about major sources of energy (Unit 11) or their favorite sports/ athletes (Unit 12) despite the fact that their scores on test of vocabulary, grammar and reading were still fairly high. This fact may signify that students‟ oral performance can be strongly affected by anxiety.
From the experience shared by my colleagues, it was recorded that USS from other classes they have been teaching also showed a rather high level of SA. Most of the manifestations of SA listed by the teachers were agreed upon by Spielberger (1983), Horwitz (1986) and some other scholars. Two of the teachers believed that about 40% of their students suffered from anxiety noticeably. One teacher found that the number could actually be much higher depending on the tasks students assumed. This helps to solidify the hypothesis that many USS learners have been experiencing anxiety somehow.
3.2.2. Research question 2: What factors contribute to students’ anxiety in English speaking lessons?
The findings from staff consultations and pre- intervention questionnaire suggest that SA have roots in both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Firstly, with regard to the intrinsic factors, the most serious affective factors among seven tested were: fear of making mistakes, inferiority complex, limited vocabulary and grammar, and lack of practice speaking. This fact may signify that even after three or four years of leaning English at school, the linguistic knowledge of many learners can hardly cater for their communicative needs. And the lack of exposure to frequent practice may have also led them to the state of anxiety and inhibition.
Besides, the cultural and psychological factors are worth a mention. As a matter of fact, most Vietnamese learners, especially, those from the mountainous and remote areas are not confident enough to express themselves in a FL, which makes learning speaking skill very difficult for them. Secondly, with regard to the extrinsic factors, lack of preparation, incomprehensible input and fear of being negatively evaluated were rated as the strongest anxiety generating factors. These findings indicate that many of the participants expected to be prepared somehow for what they were going to produce in the form of speaking. The two other causes are related to teachers or their ways of teaching. In this regard, providing students with linguistic knowledge but in an ambiguous way could be counter-productive. When being exposed to „public‟ speaking, over 60% of the respondents expressed their fear of being negatively evaluated. Therefore, teacher‟s criticism was not easy to put up with for most students.
The point that counts here is that in comparison with the intrinsic factors, extrinsic factors caused a lower level of SA reported by the subjects (Mean: 3.06 as compared to 3.15).
Therefore, the problems of SA can only be resolved by the joint efforts of both the instructor and the students.
3.2.3. Research question 3: How does the application of a CLE work in reducing anxiety in an oral English classroom?
The results of the post intervention questionnaire indicate that 96.8% students showed their improvement of certain degree after the intervention stage. The mean score of 2.3 in comparison with the mid-point set at 1.5 signals the effectiveness of the intervention techniques in reducing SA. Among the utilized techniques, the most favored ones can be listed as teacher’s the feedback on students’ oral performance, the cooperative group work, the needed linguistic input provided; and the way the teacher gives prompts and encouragement students. It is advisable that instructors should be very cautious in the way they give feedbacks to their students as it can have strong impacts on their learners‟ learning motivation. Besides, the use of group work once again proved to be a very efficient tool in getting students to speak as they may feel more secure. This practice is recommended by Young (1991). In addition, preparing the learners with the needed linguistic input as well as standing by them as a facilitator when they need help is very necessary. These factors together with others were believed to make students more confident in speaking class. To sum up, the positive outcomes of the intervention techniques justify that the students‟ inhibition and anxiety in speaking can be lessened via the cooperative spirits of the teacher and students.