Investigating the difference in English language classroom anxiety between special programme and regular programme students at SMK Telok Mas / Nurul Iman Ahmad Bukhari

This comparative study attempted to investigate the differences in English
Language anxiety level between Form 3 Special Programme and Regular Programme
students of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Telok Mas, Malacca. The sample
consisted of 154 Form 3 secondary school students, with 77 students in the Special
Programme and 77 students in the Regular Programme. Horwitz's (1986) Foreign
Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was utilized in collecting the data about
English Language anxiety among the students. Variables of English language anxiety
like communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety, and
anxiety of English classes were examined. Descriptive analyses, one-way ANOVA
and paired sample t-tests were used to conduct this comparison. The findings showed
that there were no significant differences of overall English Language anxiety
between Special Programme and Regular Programme students. As for the four
anxiety variables, only test anxiety proved to have a significant difference between the
two groups. Based on the findings, the conditions which influence high level of
anxiety in the English classroom are speaking English in the classroom, possibility of
embarrassment and rejection among peers, sitting and preparing for English tests, and
students' negative perceptions of the English Language. Main implications derived
from this study include utilizing the FLCAS in assessing students' anxiety level, and
also to make the English classroom environment less intimidating and less stressful
for learners by changing methods of teaching English in the classroom. For future
research, it is recommended that for this topic, a qualitative approach be added to
attain more detailed findings of students' perceptions on English language learning
anxiety.