The Relationship Between Communication Apprehension And Self-Esteem In Esl Learning Classroom: A Case Study In A Rural Secondary School In Sibu, Sarawak / Nasirriffuddin Salehuddin

Communication Apprehension is believed as one of the negative factors that hinder the students to acquire English language in ESL classroom. This study aims to specifically the relationship between level of communication apprehension and self-esteem among ESL learners in rural school. Besides, the objective of the study also to identify differences of communication apprehension level and self-esteem level based on gender. A total of 117 students selected from one of rural secondary school in Sibu, Sarawak (SMK Sibu Jaya). All respondents are from form four students because to avoid the examination classes such as PT3 and SPM. A set of questionnaire that was constructed by researcher was used to collect data and data analysis was carried out with the use of SPSS Version 21.0. Results indicated that there is significant negative relationship between communication apprehension and self-esteem. Besides that, the study also reveals that there is no significant different in communication apprehension level and self-esteem among the students based on their gender. From the study, it was recommended that further studies should examine other factors pertaining psychological and social with the larger population and different groups of students in the state.