Relationship between Iranian EFL Learners’ Level of Social Phobia and their Speaking Skill

Social phobia as fear of being negatively evaluated in a social or performance situation can have determinative influence on EFL learners’ speaking skill and prevent them from achieving the desired goal in interpersonal interactions. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ social phobia and their speaking skill. The participants of this study were ۸۰ EFL learners of an institute in Isfahan, Iran. Oxford Proficiency Test was used to measure learners’ foreign language proficiency. To measure learners’ social phobia, the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) was used. Guidelines for assigning rating in an interview was another instrument to measure learners speaking skill. To analyze the data, relationship between participants’ speaking scores and its subcomponents and their scores on the SPIN was calculated via Pearson Correlation. The results showed that there was no significant relationship between learners’ level of social phobia and their scores in speaking skill but there was a significant negative relationship between learners’ social phobia and their fluency and comprehension. The results of this study could be used by learners and teachers to adjust classroom environment and teaching processes to make learners speak English more fluently

Keywords:

EFL Learner , Fear , Fluency , Physiological Problem , Social Phobia , Speaking Skill