The Impact of Anxiety on Sudanese EFL Undergraduates’ Oral Communication

Abstract

Abstract

This study attempts to investigate the factors that language speaking anxiety can

possibly stem from, a

nd its impact on students’ speaking ability. A hundred

and seven fourth level EFL undergraduates at Al

-

Neelain University, Faculty of

Arts, Department of

English were chosen as a sample. Two tools were used in

this study, a questionnaire to measure Engl

ish language speaking anxiety levels

of the students beside two interviews one with seven students and the other with

four EFL expert teachers.

The questionnaire data was analyzed quantitatively by the Statistical Package

for Social Sciences (SPSS).Howeve

r; the interviews data was analyzed

qualitatively. The findings revealed inconsistency between the questionnaire

results and the interviews’. The questionnaire results reflected low level of

speaking anxiety whereas the interviews showed high level of spea

king anxiety.

The findings also attributed the causes of speaking anxiety to lack of practice,

fear of making mistakes and poor linguistic competence. The researcher

recommends that speaking activities should be intensified from early stages of

English lan

guage learning