Paper Example. Speaking Anxieties

Speech anxiety encompasses the fear of individuals speaking in the presence of other people, mostly in foreign environments. It occurs from the lack of confidence to speak in public settings. However, the underlying cause of the anxiety is the fear by the victim, which results from the forces in the current environment. Such forces include failure to understand the language and low grades, which demoralize the esteem of the affected parties (Al-Otaibi, 2016). People exhibit speaking anxiety in various ways. For example, individuals experiencing speech anxiety shake uncontrollably in the course of their presentations. Besides, such people sweat in an attempt to pass messages across foreign environments. Moreover, speech anxiety victims exhibit a squeaky voice and rapid heartbeat in the effort to speak (Altunkya, 2018). Summarily, most of the examples of speaking anxieties illustrate the speakers' lack of confidence to speak to foreign audiences.

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I experienced speaking anxieties in the early times of my high school years. Notably, the anxieties resulted from my lack of exposure to competitive environments. Previously, I had been a consistently bright student, often topping my class in the event of any academic tests. Such a fete boosted my morale immensely. However, upon reaching high school, it was hardly possible to retain the academic success I had enjoyed in the previous levels. I had come to believe that many other students liked me because of my academic achievements. Hence, the failure to retain the success made me think that nobody would love me, as Altunkaya (2018) states. It was, therefore, hard to verbally express myself to other learners and teachers.

There are multiple ways of managing speaking anxiety, especially among learners. In the context of learners, the teachers play a significant role in maintaining the oral presentation problems that result in speech anxieties. Most of the students feel anxious because of the frequency of oral examinations and the negative evaluations that come after that. Teachers can help manage the anxiety by making implicit corrections to the errors made by students. Another root of speaking anxiety is the self-perception of the learners (Al-Otaibi, 2016). The teachers or supervisors can help manage the anxieties by the use of supportive messages in the course of the evaluation. Moreover, speech anxieties occur from low perceived competencies of the learners or the presenters that experience such constraints. Hence, the division of the learners into groups helps boost the skills of individuals that are vulnerable to such anxieties. Most importantly, speech anxieties originate from the lack of prior preparation to conduct the presentations. Therefore, teachers ought to help the learners prepare their presentations in advance.

References

Al-Otaibi, G. (2016). Speech anxiety among EFL Arab college students. Language in India, 16(2), 83-100.

Altunkaya, H. (2018). Speech Anxiety in Guidance and Psychological Counselling Department Students. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences, 13(3), 328-339.