Speaking Anxiety of Learners of English in Turkey at Different Age Groups

Abstract

Being the most widely spoken language in the world, English is everywhere in our lives nowadays especially when searching for a job, traveling the world and trying to access media and arts without needing translations. There are many factors affecting the language learning process. Foreign language speaking anxiety is something very common among language learners. Majority of the studies focused only on adult learners, whereas there is a very important deficiency of research focused on foreign language anxiety among children or teenagers. This study is intended to investigate the speaking anxiety of child, teenager and adult language learners in Turkey with regard to their age. This study was conducted using the survey design out of the quantitative research methods. Quantitative data was gathered from 4,016 participants from different age groups. It was found that learners of English in Turkey have a moderate level of speaking anxiety and age is an undeniable factor affecting the language learning process. Younger age groups have lower level of speaking anxiety whereas older ones are more anxious, self-conscious and afraid of making mistakes while speaking. The study has implications for educators to develop different strategies attracting different age groups in order to raise motivation.