I.
Research Problem
1. Study Background
In today’s education system, English has transcended its role as a mere school
subject to become the global currency of commerce and innovation. Consequently, the
goal of teaching has shifted: we are moving away from rigid grammatical perfection
toward actual communicative efficiency. After all, as noted by Rao (2019), Speaking
fluently is often considered by both society and language learners as the most important
sign of language proficiency. However, a disconnect remains. Despite updated curricula
in high schools, there is a distinct gap between a student's theoretical knowledge and their
verbal performance. Many pupils are outstanding at reading or writing tasks but consider
speaking as a big challenge. This underscores a critical reality: linguistic skill does not
ensure communicative confidence. To eliminate this gap, educators need to look beyond
the content and address the psychological challenges that students experience.
2. The Research Problem and Gap
The core problem is that high school students often manifest a "passive silence" or
avoidance behavior in speaking classes, even when they possess adequate vocabulary. It
isn't a lack of ability that holds them back; it is the mental walls they build up. Horwitz,
Horwitz, and Cope (1986) identified this struggle as 'Foreign Language Classroom
Anxiety.' It is a unique, paralyzing pressure that hits learners right when the spotlight is
on them to speak.
While everyone acknowledges that anxiety plays a role, there isn’t enough
research showing exactly how a fear of making mistakes forces students to shut down.
For many students, mistakes are considered as social threats rather than opportunities for
growth. This way of thinking traps students in a loop where they stay silent to avoid
correction, while failing to improve themself. As Swain’s (1985) Output Hypothesis
suggests, language acquisition cannot fully occur without learners producing language;
therefore, if students’ attitudes toward error correction cause them to remain silent, the
learning process is fundamentally disrupted. Consequently, when a student’s defensive
attitude forces them to remain quiet, they effectively dismantle the very mechanism
needed for language acquisition. The gap this study addresses is the specific interplay
between these three dimensions: the affective states (fear/anxiety), the behavioral patterns
(avoidance/silence), and the cognitive perspective on errors, which have not been fully
explored as a cohesive triad in this specific high school context.
3. The Significance of this Investigation
Investigating this problem is worth undertaking because student attitude is often
the deciding factor between a successful learner and a failed one. If educators solely
focus on teaching language and neglecting the "emotional filter" that restricts a student’s
readiness to speak, pedagogical efforts may be wasted. When the unique fears
surrounding error correction are known, it becomes possible to build a psychologically
safe setting for learning. Solving this issue is about more than academic performance—it
is about giving students with the confidence they need to navigate their future
professional and personal landscapes.
II. Research Instruments
To comprehensively investigate the complex and multi-dimensional nature of high
school students' attitudes toward speaking English, this study employs a mixed-methods
data collection strategy. By integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches, the
research seeks to obtain a more nuanced understanding of the "affective, behavioral, and
attitude toward errors aspects" that influence oral production. The two primary
instruments chosen for this study are semi-structured interviews and structured
questionnaires, both of which support each other in achieving the study's goals.
The first instrument is the structured Attitude toward Speaking English
Questionnaire (ASEQ), designed to gather quantitative data from a larger sample of the
student population. Grounded in the literature surrounding the "Tripartite Construct of
Language Attitude," the instrument segments the student experience into cognitive,
affective, and behavioral components. The questionnaire is organized to isolate specific
psychological phenomena: affective states, behavioral patterns, and attitudes toward error
correction. Through the use of a Likert scale, the study quantifies the nuance of student
anxiety and confidence, effectively gauging the "High Affective Filter" that can stifle
even motivated learners. Consequently, this enables an assessment of the "Affective
Gap"—the dissonance between a student's desire to learn and the emotional barriers
preventing spoken practice. Furthermore, specific items will provide a statistical baseline
for how these motivational factors interact with the students’ reported silence or
hesitation in class.
Acknowledging that quantitative data provides range but not often depth, a Semi-
Structured Interview Guide was established to contextualize the survey results. If the
survey depicts the landscape of student attitudes, the interviews are designed to explore
the terrain, providing explanatory power where statistical tendencies fail. Through open-
ended questions, this instrument allows participants to articulate the reasoning behind
their "hesitant and passive" verbal interactions. This qualitative insight is essential for
understanding the social fears, such as the fear of ridicule or losing "face", that drive
students toward silence as a defensive strategy. In brief, these instruments ensure the
study progresses beyond basic reports of fear to a full assessment of the psychological
and behavioral impediments to speaking English.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom
anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125–132. [Link]
Rao, S. P. (2019). The Importance of Speaking Skills in English classrooms.
Alford Council of International English & Literature Journal, 2, 6-18. - References -
Scientific Research Publishing. (n.d.). [Link]
Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible
input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. Gass, & C. Madden (Eds.),
Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235-253). Rowley, MA Newbury House. -
References - Scientific Research Publishing. (n.d.). [Link]