Abstract

 Feelings of anxiety, apprehension and nervousness are common problems voiced out by second or foreign language learners in acquiring the speaking skills in a second or foreign language. Such feelings are said to have a potentially negative and debilitating effect on oral performance. This study aimed to examine the level of English language learning anxiety of undergraduate ESL learners, its causes and relationship with the learners' oral performance in English. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches in data gathering. Data were collected via the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) questionnaire (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986), a structured interview, as well as class oral assessment tasks. Participants of the study comprised 70 undergraduate ESL learners of Universiti Putra Malaysia. Findings of the study revealed that the undergraduate ESL learners experienced a medium level of anxiety. English classroom anxiety, communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety, were identified as factors that significantly contributed to the language anxiety experienced by the learners. The findings suggest that anxiety is a learner variable that needs to be minimised so as to enhance optimal learning of a target language.