SUDAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES

Psychological Factors Affecting Sudanese EFL Learners’

Oral Performance. A Case Study of Sudan University of
Science and Technology

‫ دزاظت‬.‫العْاهل الٌفع٘ت الوؤرسة فٖ الدازظ٘ي العْداً٘٘ي عٌد ححدرِن للغت االًضل٘صٗت‬

‫حالت صاهعت العْداى للعلْم ّالخكٌْلْص٘ا‬

A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of

M.A in English Language (Applied Linguistics)

Submitted by: Elhadi Nasr Elhadi Mustafa

Supervised by: Dr. Mohamed Eltayeb Abdalla

2015 -1436
ii
 DEDICATION

To my parents and family for support and encouragement.

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr.

Mohamed Eltayeb for his constructive criticism, fair guidance and advice,
supportive comments and efficient support and for helping me to
understand the subject deeply. I would like to express my deepest
gratitude for his continuous guidance, assistance and cooperation.

It is also a great pleasure to express my deepest gratitude to my family,

especially my wife for her understanding and continuous encouragement.

And finally, I wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to

my father, mother, brother, sisters and family whose prayers, love and
best wishes were a source of encouragement for completing this study
successfully.

ii
 ABSTRACT

The present study attempts to investigate the psychological factors

affecting Sudanese students' speaking ability and to draw the attention of
the teachers, students and educationists toward the importance of
speaking as one of the important language skills. The aim of this study is
to come out with constructive recommendations for students, teachers and
educationists in order to improve the processes of teaching and learning
speaking English. In addition, it attempts to specify the psychological
factors affecting speaking English. The sample for the study was (100)
students from third and fourth year of Sudan University of Science and
Technology - College of Languages - English Department.The instrument
of this study was a questionnaire for the students. A questionnaire of (16)
statements was distributed during formal lectures. Data was statistically
analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. The
findings of the study indicate that the lack of self-confidence, aptitude
and anxiety are the most affecting factors of speaking. In addition, the
study points out that these psychological factors can have more impact on
speaking than any other language skills. It also suggests that the teacher
who wishes to improve his students' speaking skills have to consider
these psychological factors toward the learning process. Finally, the study
points out that self-confidence and aptitude are the most influential
psychological factors that hinder Sudanese university students when
speaking English.

iii
 ‫‪ABSTRACT‬‬
‫)‪(Arabic Version‬‬

‫مستخـــــــلص البحــــــث‬

‫حبحثثذ ُثثرٍ الدزاظ ثت العْاهثثل الٌفعثث٘ت الوثثؤرسة فثثٖ الدازظثث٘ي العثثْداً٘٘ي عٌثثد‬

‫ححدرِن للغت االًضل٘صٗت ّ حْض٘ح أُو٘ت الخحدد كْاحد هي اُن الوِازاث اللغْٗت لثدٓ‬

‫الدازظثث٘ي ّ الوعلوثث٘ي ّعلوثثاب الخس ٘ثثت‪ .‬الِثثدم هثثي ُثثرٍ الدزاظثثت الاثثسّس ْ ثثاٗا‬

‫للطثثثو ّ الوعلوثثث٘ي ّ علوثثثاب الخس ٘ثثثت لخطثثثْٗس عول٘ثثثَ حثثثدزٗط ّ حعلثثثن ححثثثدد اللغثثثت‬

‫االًضل٘صٗثثثت‪ ،‬االضثثثافَ الثثثٖ حْضثثث٘ح العْاهثثثل الٌفعثثث٘ت الوثثثؤرسة علثثثٔ ححثثثدد اللغثثثت‬

‫االًضل٘صٗت‪ .‬عٌ٘ت البحذ هاخْذٍ هي (‪ )100‬طالب فٖ العثٌت الزالزثت ّ السا عثت ضاهعثت‬

‫العْداى للعلْم ّ الخكٌلْص٘ا – كل٘ت اللغاث – قعن اللغثت االًضل٘صٗثت‪ّ .‬قثد كاًثج ّظث٘لت‬

‫صوثثا الب٘اًثثاث عبثثازٍ عثثي اظثثخباًت ّشعثثج أرٌثثاب الوحاضثثساث السظثثو٘ت داخثثل قاعثثاث‬

‫الثثدزض‪ّ .‬قثثد احخثثْث علثثٔ ‪ 66‬صولثثت‪ .‬اظثثخادام الباحثثذ سًثثاهش الحرهثثت االحئثثا َ٘‬

‫ّعثدم‬ ‫(‪ )SPSS‬لخحل٘ل الب٘اًاث‪ .‬حْ ل الباحذ اى عدم حْفس الزقت الٌفط ّ القلث‬

‫الوقدزة علٔ الخحدد ُٖ أُن أظبا الفشل‪ .‬االضافت لرلك حش٘س الدزاظت الثٔ اى ُثرٍ‬

‫العْاهل الٌفع٘ت لِا دّز هؤرس فٖ ححدد اللغت االًضل٘صٗت لثدٓ الطثو هثي إ هِثازة‬

‫اخثثسٓ‪ّ .‬قثثد اّضثثحج الدزاظثثت اى الوعلثثن الثثرٕ ٗسٗثثد اى ٗطثثْز هِثثازة الخحثثدد لثثدٓ‬

‫طو َ فعلَ٘ ضثسّزة االُخوثام ِثرٍ العْاهثل الٌفعث٘ت حضثاٍ العول٘ثت الخعل٘و٘ثت‪ ّ .‬اخ٘ثسا‬

‫اشازث الدزاظت الٖ اى اكزس العْاهثل الٌفعث٘ت الوثؤرسة الخثٖ حع٘ث الطثو الضثاهع٘٘ي‬

‫العْداً٘٘ي عٌد ححدرِن االًضل٘صٗت ُٖ عدم الوقدزة ّ عدم حْفس الزقت الٌفط‪.‬‬

‫‪iv‬‬
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Abstract (Arabic Version) iv
Table of Contents V
List of Tables Viii
List of Figures X
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background 1
1.1 Statement of the Problem 2
1.2 Objectives of the Study 3
1.3 Study Questions 3
1.4 Hypotheses 3
1.5 Significance of the Study 4
1.6 Methodology of the Study 4
1.7 Limitations of the Study 5
1.8 Definition of Terms 5
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction 7
2.1 Speaking Skill 7
2.2 Psychological Factors That Hinder Students When Speaking 14
2.2.1 Lack of Motivation 15
2.2.2 Lack of Aptitude 18
2.2.3 Anxiety 20
2.2.4 Lack of Confidence 23
2.2.5 Shyness 25
2.2.6 Fear of Mistakes 25

v
2.3 Previous Studies 26
2.4 Summary of the Chapter 31
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction 32

3.1 Data Gathering Method 32

3.1.1 Subject 32

3.1.2 Instrument of the Data Collection 34

3.2 Pre-study 35

3.3 Procedures of Data Collection 35

3.4 Data Analysis Techniques 36

3.4.1 Statistical Analysis 36

3.4.2 Statistical Reliability and Validity 38

3.4.3 Statistical Instruments 40

3.4.4 Application of the Study‟s Tool 40

3.5 Summary of the Chapter 41

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS, AND

DISCUSSION
42
4.0 Introduction
42
4.1 Presentation of the Questionnaire Results
59
4.2 Results of the First Hypothesis
64
4.3 Results of the Second Hypothesis
71
4.4 Summary of the Chapter
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS,
IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
5.1 Summary 72
5.2 Conclusions 73

vi
5.3 Implications of the Study 73
5.4 Recommendations 74
5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies 75
REFERENCES 76
APPENDICES 83

vii
 List of Tables

Table 3.1 Frequency distribution for the study respondents according 33

to gender.
Table 3.2 Frequency distribution for the study respondents according 33
to level.
Table 3.3 The questionnaire‟s referees and their jobs and places of 37
work.
Table 3.4 Statistical reliability and validity of the pre-test sample 39
about the study questionnaire.
Table 4.1 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 42
about statement 1.
Table 4.2 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 43
about statement 2.
Table 4.3 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 44
about statement 3.
Table 4.4 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 45
about statement 4.
Table 4.5 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 47
about statement 5.
Table 4.6 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 48
about statement 6.

Table 4.7 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 49

about statement 7.

Table 4.8 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 50

about statement 8.

Table 4.9 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 51

about statement 9.

viii
Table 4.10 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 52
about statement 10.

Table 4.11 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 53

about statement 11.

Table 4.12 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 54

about statement 12.

Table 4.13 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 55

about statement 13.

Table 4.14 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 56

about statement 14.
Table 4.15 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 57
about statement 15.
Table 4.16 Frequencies distribution for the respondents‟ answers 58
about statement 16.
Table 4.17 (a) Median of respondents‟ answers about statements of 59
the first hypothesis.
Table 4.17 (b) Chi-square test results for respondents‟ answers about 61
statements of the first hypothesis.
Table 4.17 (c) Frequency distribution for the respondents‟ answers 64
about all statements of the first hypothesis.
Table 4.18 (a) Median of respondents‟ answers about statements of 65
the second hypothesis.
Table 4.18 (b) Chi-square test results for respondents‟ answers about 66
statements of the second hypothesis.
Table 4.18 (c) Frequency distribution for respondents‟ answers about 69
all statements of the second hypothesis.
Table 4.19 Summary of chi-square test for the respondents‟ answers 70
about hypotheses 1 and 2.

ix
 List of Figures

Figure 2.1 Concept of Motivation as it related to SLA 15

Figure 2.2 Recursive relations among anxiety, cognition 21

and behavior.

Figure 3.1 Frequency distribution for the study 33

respondents according to gender.

Figure 3.2 Frequency distribution for the study 34

respondents according to level.

Figure 4.1 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 43

answers about statement 1.

Figure 4.2 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 44

answers about statement 2.

Figure 4.3 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 45

answers about statement 3.

Figure 4.4 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 46

answers about statement 4.

Figure 4.5 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 47

answers about statement 5.

Figure 4.6 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 48

answers about statement 6.

Figure 4.7 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 49

answers about statement 7.

Figure 4.8 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 50

answers about statement 8.

Figure 4.9 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 51

answers about statement 9.

Figure 4.10 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 52

x
 answers about statement 10.

Figure 4.11 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 53

answers about statement 11.

Figure 4.12 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 54

answers about statement 12.

Figure 4.13 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 55

answers about statement 13.

Figure 4.14 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 56

answers about statement 14.

Figure 4.15 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 57

answers about statement 15.

Figure 4.16 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 58

answers about statement 16.

Figure 4.17 Frequency distribution for respondents‟ 64

answers about all statement of the first
hypothesis.

Figure 4.18 Frequency distribution for respondents‟. 70

answers about all statements of the second
hypothesis.

Figure 4.19 Summary of chi-square test for respondents‟ 70

answers about hypotheses 1 and 2

xi
xii
xiii
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background
In Sudan, the process of learning a foreign language, especially
English, has been a constant headache to the concerned governmental
bodies, teachers, and parents. In spite of the great efforts, energy, and
money for changing the syllabus and teachers' training that have been
spent, still some learners fail to speak the language because of many
reasons.
According to the researchers' observation, speech is a great blessing.
People use English language as a medium of communication. It is the
most widely spoken language in the world. A great number of non-
English speakers as well as native speakers use English as an important
medium of international communication. English is no longer the
language used in English speaking countries. No developing country can
ignore the role of spoken English in improving its international profile
and prominence. Sudan is no exception. Subsequently, the ability to listen
critically and to express oneself clearly and effectively contributes to a
student‟s success in school and college and later in life. However the
teaching and learning of spoken English in Sudan are confronted by a lot
of problems and challenges. One of the problem is psychological factors.
It is not always easy to speak spontaneously in a foreign Language.
This may be because the students feel nervous or anxious about speaking
or because they lack self-confidence or they don‟t have the ability to
speak English (Ellis, 2000).
The students must be given a certain environment, to see how far
they can communicate in situations where all the choices of language

6
used are made by the people speaking English. In general, it increases the
students‟ attitude and motivation toward speaking English, and helps
bridge the gap between the rather artificial world of the classroom, with
its controlled language practice, and the real world outside (ibid, 2000).
Fluency can be thought of as “the ability to keep going when speaking
spontaneously” (ibid, 2000). Teachers should aim to create a comfortable
atmosphere where students are not afraid to speak and enjoy
communicating with you and their fellow students (ibid, 2000).
According to the researcher, there are several psychological factors
that hinder students when speaking such as motivation, attitudes,
aptitudes, shyness, fear of mistakes, lack of confidence and anxiety.
Gebhard (2000) says that the students‟ problems in speaking are caused
mostly by their self-confidence or anxiety.
Most researchers concentrated mainly on three psychological factors:
motivation, attitudes and anxiety. Therefore, this study will concentrate
mainly on the other psychological factors that hinder students when
speaking English such as self-confidence, aptitude in addition to anxiety
as a related factor.

1.1 Statement of the Problem

Speaking a foreign language, especially English, has been a constant
problem to the teachers, educationists and parents. The researcher noticed
that most of the Sudanese students can not speak English fluently. So, this
study is going to investigate different psychological factors affecting the
Sudanese learners' ability to speak English as a foreign language.
Therefore, the study will deal with some psychological factors affecting
learning speaking, in particular self-confidence, aptitude and anxiety.

2
1.2 Objectives of the Study
The study aims to:
1. Find out the extent of the influence of self-confidence, aptitude and
anxiety on learning spoken English.

2. Investigate these psychological factors, so as to find out those which

hinder Sudanese students most when speaking English.

3. Produce some constructive recommendations for students, teachers

and educationists in order to help them recognize the main factors
affecting speaking English.

1.3 Study Questions

The present study addresses the following research questions:
1. To what extent do psychological factors affect the skill of
speaking among Sudanese learners of English?

2. What impact does anxiety have on Sudanese university

students‟ abilities to speak English?

3. What are the most influential psychological factors among the

group measured in this study?

1.4 Hypotheses
The study hypothesizes that:
(1) There are psychological factors that affect speaking English
among Sudanese university students such as lack of self-
confidence and lack of aptitude.

3
 (2) Another factor causing failure in speaking English among
Sudanese learners is anxiety which is a result of communication
apprehension, fear of negative evaluation and low ability in
speaking English.

(3) The most influential psychological factors that hinder university

students when speaking English are self-confidence and aptitude.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The present study differs from the previous studies in Sudan because
the previous studies neglected some factors such as self-confidence and
aptitude. There are different psychological factors that affect students
when speaking English language. The purpose of this study is to delineate
the psychological factors which cause the weakness of speaking English.
Therefore, this study will state the problem to the teacher who is the
key of the educational process, in order to be aware of these
psychological factors.
So, the researcher hopes that this study will contribute in solving this
problem that results in low achievement in learning speaking as one of
the important language skills.

1.6 Methodology of the Study

The sample of the study will be drawn from enrolled students (100
subjects) from the third and fourth year of Sudan University of Science
and Technology – College of Languages – English Department. A
questionnaire will be distributed during formal lectures (class). It will be
divided equally between third and fourth year students, 50 for each. So,
the measuring instrument used for collecting data for the present study is

4
a questionnaire. The questionnaire will consist of 16 statements.
Statements from 1 to 8 represent aptitude and self-confidence since they
have the same dimension, while statements from 9 to 16 represent
anxiety. Then, the collected data will be statistically analyzed by Statistic
Package for the Social Sciences (henceforth SPSS) program.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

Most previous researches were concentrated mainly about
motivation, attitudes and anxiety. That is why the present study will cover
other psychological factors that hinder Sudanese students when speaking
English. These psychological factors are self-confidence, aptitude, and
anxiety as a related factor.
The data necessary to conduct the study will be collected from
enrolled students of Sudan University of Science and Technology –
College of Languages – English Department; in particular, students from
third and fourth year; in the academic year 2013 – 2014.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Accuracy: the quality or state of being correct or precise.
Anxiety: a feeling of worry, nervousness about something with an
uncertain outcome.
Aptitude: natural ability to do something.
Attitudes: a settled way of thinking or feeling toward something.
Cognition: the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and
understanding through thought, experience, and senses.
Fluency: the ability to speak a particular foreign language easily and
accurately.

5
Language acquisition: the process by which humans acquire the
capacity to produce words and sentences to communicate.
Native speaker: a person who has spoken the language from earliest
childhood.
Self-confidence: a feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities, and
judgement.
Target language: a language which a person intends to learn.

6
 CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction
This chapter consists of five sections. The first section is an
introduction which presents the chapter‟s sections. The second section
deals with definitions and importance of speaking. The third section is
divided into six subsections. It deals with the psychological factors that
hinder students when speaking. It deals with lack of motivation, lack of
aptitude, anxiety, lack of self-confidence, shyness and fear of making
mistakes. Then section 2.4 deals with the previous researches from
various area of the study. Finally, section 2.5 is a summary of the chapter.

2.1 Speaking Skill

Speaking is one of the four language skills: listening, speaking,
reading and writing.
Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the
use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts” (Chaney,
1998:13).
According to Donough and Shaw (1993), speaking is a skill which
enables people to produce utterances when communicating to achieve a
particular end. This may involve expressing ideas, wishes or opinions,
negotiating or solving problems, or establishing or maintaining social
relationships.
Thus, speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that
involves producing and receiving, and processing information. Its form
and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs including

7
the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical
environment and the purpose of speaking.
According to Richards and Rerandya (2008), speaking is one of the
centeral elements of communication. In English Foreign Language
(henceforth EFL) teaching, it is an aspect that needs special attention and
instruction. In order to provide effective instruction, it is necessary for
teachers of EFL to carefully examine the factors, conditions, and
components that underlie speaking effectiveness. Effective instruction
derived from the careful analysis of this area together with sufficient
language input and speech – promotion activities, will gradually help
learners speak English fluently and appropriately.
Speaking is one of the skills that have to be mastered by students in
learning English. It is important for students to know definition first.
Many experts define speaking in different ways. Brown and Yule (2001
:25), stated in their book that “speaking is to express the needs – request,
information, service, etc”. The speaker says words to the listener not only
to express what in his/her mind but also to express what he needs. Most
people might spend their everyday life in communicating with others.
Revell (1990:27), defines communication as follows: “communication, of
ideas, of opinions, of feeling”. Therefore, communication involves at
least two people where both sender and receiver need to communicate to
exchange information, ideas, opinions, views, or feelings. Meanwhile,
Rhodi Jones (1989:14) states that “speaking is a form of communication”.
We can say that the speaker must consider the person he is talking to as a
listener. Speaking is not only producing sounds but also a process of
achieving goals and transferring messages.
Albert Valdman says, “the ability to speak a foreign language is without
doubt the most highly prized language skills. According to Solahudin

8
(2008) speaking is to express his or her needs, ideas, feelings and thought
in real communication, one must be able to ask as well as answer
questions.
Alrabaa (1991) says: “why speaking activities do not work: the
classes are too big for speaking activities; the students have too little time
to speak. Speaking section of text books gives very few students the
chance to talk, while the rest of the classes remain listeners, often
inattentive ones”.
Mc. Donough and Shaw (1993) say speaking is the ways to express
ideas and opinions, expressing and desire to do something, negotiating or
solving a particular problem, and maintaining social relationship and
friendship. They also say speaking is a complex set of ability that
involves many components, including pronunciation, listening and
grammar skills.
Chaney in Alfira (1998) says that speaking is the process of building
and sharing meaning. So, the students should have capability in telling
their ideas about some problems or some things. The goal of speaking is
to improve students‟ communicative skill. By telling their ideas, the
students can improve their speaking ability and increase their confidence.
It is difficult to say which skill is the most important among the four
language skills. However, speaking seems the most important and the
closest to the goal of language teaching: communicative competence.
Besides that, Ur (1996:120) states, “of all the four skills (listening,
speaking, reading and writing), speaking seems to be the most important.
The nature of speaking has been discussed by many researchers.
Byrne (1981:8) clarifies, “speaking is a two-way process between
speakers and listeners involving the productive skills of understanding”.

9
 Another author- Bygate (1987) shows that in order to be able to
speak a foreign language, learners not only need to understand some
grammar and vocabulary but also know how to use knowledge as well as
language on deciding what to say and how to say. One more thing
concerning the ability to speak is that of fluency and accuracy.
Luoma (2011:9-10) states that when people hear someone speak,
they pay attention to what the speaker sounds like almost automatically.
On the basis of what they hear, they make some tentative and possibly
subconscious judgements about the speaker‟s personality, attitudes, home
region and native / non-native speaker status. As speakers, consciously or
unconsciously, people use their speech to create an image of themselves
to others. By using speed and pausing, and variations in pitch, volume
and intonation, they also create a texture for their talk that supports and
enhances what they are saying. The sound of the people‟s speech is
meaningful, and that is why this is important for assessing speaking.
The sound of speech is a thorny issue for language assessment,
however. This is first of all because people tend to judge native/non-
native speaker status on the basis of pronunciation. This easily leads to
the idea that the standard against which learner pronunciation should be
judged is the speech of a native speaker. But is the standard justified?
And if it is not, how can an alternative standard be defined? (ibid:10).
Luoma (ibid) also states that all languages have different regional
varieties and often regional standards as well. The standards are valued in
different ways in different regions and for different purposes, and this
makes it difficult to choose a particular standard for an assessment or to
require that learners should try to stick to one standard only. Very few
learners are capable of achieving a native-like standard in all respects. If

60
speaking like native speaker is made the criterion, most language learners
will „fail‟.
It is important to remember that speaking forms a part of the shared
social activity of talking. In a typical spoken interaction, two or more
people talk to each other about things that they think are mutually
interesting and relevant in the situation. The aim can be to pass the time,
amuse each other, share opinions or get something done, or they can aim
to do several of these and other things at once. The point in their
interaction is that they do these things together. Each participant is both a
speaker and a listener; they construct the event together and share the
right to influence the outcomes – which can be both shared and individual
(ibid:20).
According to Luoma (ibid), there are, furthermore, several
psychological reasons why many learners may not even want to be
mistaken for native speakers of a language.
Brown and Yule (2001:25) state that learning to talk in the foreign
language, is considered to be one of the difficult aspects of language
learning for the teacher to help the student. Each speaker needs to speak.
He needs someone to listen to him and to respond to him.
According to the researcher experience English learners are very
intelligent. Most are highly motivated when they begin. Most students are
very successful in school, in their jobs, in their business, and in their
relationships. So why many learners fail to speak English easily and
fluently? What are the problems? Why do good learners fail in this area?
There might be three answers to that question:
1- Psychological Factors.
2- Bad Teaching Materials.
3- Bad Teaching Methods.

66
 The grammar and text book methods used in schools here in Sudan,
and some other countries may not be helpful. They might be total failures.
Very few people may learn to speak English easily if they use those
methods.
Psychological factors here mean: motivation, anxiety, aptitude, lack
of confidence, shyness and fear of making mistakes. That is why the
psychological factors have great effect on speaking English as a foreign
language. When learning English, psychology is very important. To
succeed as an excellent English speaker, you must learn to manage your
emotions. You must develop a psychology of success. In fact, the most
important element of success is psychology. Poor emotional state will
lead to failure, powerful emotional state lead automatically to success.
What do we mean by speaking skill? Speaking has many different
aspects. One of the important aspects is fluency. It can be thought of as
“the ability to keep going when speaking spontaneously” .When speaking
fluently students should be able to get the message across with what ever
resources and ability they‟ve got, regardless of grammatical and other
mistakes (Ellis 2000).
It‟s not always easy to speak fluently in a foreign language. This may
be because you‟re nervous about speaking or because of other
psychological factors (Ellis, ibid). You can help yourself to sound
fluently and in control if you build up your confidence by learning how to
use techniques which give you time to think (Ellis, ibid).
Getting students to have a free discussion gives them a chance to
rehearse having discussions outside the classroom. Good speaking
activities can and should be highly motivating (Harmer 2001).
According to the researcher, to become a fluent English speaker, the
students must study and master listening and speaking. Therefore, the

62
more they practice both skills, the more they will be able to improve their
speaking skills.
Speaking skills are an important part of the curriculum in language
teaching, and this makes them an important object of assessment as well.
There are so many factors that influence our impression of how well
someone can speak a language (Luoma 2011).
Speaking is generally discouraged in classrooms and schools.
Speeches in class are used only when EFL learners are called upon to
repeat or answer a question. Silence is one of the characteristics of the
English language classroom. Learners are active listeners but passive
speakers. As a result, oral production of the target language is almost
absent in English classes (Abu-Ghararah, 2005:33).
According to Cameron (2011:54), Learners of a foreign language
will learn to interact conversationally with an increasing range of people,
in different situations, with different goals and of different topics, moving
from the familiar settings of home, family and classroom to situations in
the wider world.
Abu-Ghararah (2005) states that a great attention should be given to
speech production. The importance of oral expression should be
recognized. Learners should be engaged in a rich environment to
stimulate speaking. They should share ideas, exchange thoughts and
converse in the English language.
According to Abu-Ghararah (ibid), the EFL teacher should create a
positive and relaxed atmosphere for verbal communication. The
classroom filter should be low anxiety. It should be friendly, sympathetic
and comfortable. The learners should feel that they are accepted by others
when they speak. They will feel more self-esteem and self-confident to do

63
better in second language learning. The teacher‟s positive attitude
towards students affect their speaking performance and oral interaction.
In the teaching of English, as one of the productive skills, speaking
activity must focus on how to assist students to use and to communicate
in English (Richard, 2008). This is important as Richard further says that
most students often evaluate their success in language learning as well as
the effectiveness of their English course on the bases of how much they
feel they have improved in their speaking proficiency. In this sense,
teachers have to give more opportunities to their students to express
themselves by providing them with speaking activities that enable them to
speak English (Brown, 2001). Regarding this, it‟s found in the literature
that some psychological factors such as anxiety and shyness are
considered as the main causes of students‟ reluctance to speak (Brown,
ibid). This is also in line with Gebhard (2000) who says that the students‟
problem in speaking is caused mostly by their shyness or anxiety. All
these indicate the importance for teachers to help students reduce those
feelings to maximize their learning to speak in English. Therefore, the
aim of this study is to state the psychological factors affecting speaking
English among Sudanese learners so as to improve the learners speaking
skills. Regarding this, it‟s hypothesized that the main psychological
factors hinder students when speaking or learning a foreign language are
motivation, anxiety, self-confidence, aptitude, shyness and fear of
mistakes. All these psychological factors are interrelated to each other.

2.2 Psychological Factors That Hinder Students when Speaking

It has been mentioned earlier that there are some psychological
factors that hinder students when practicing their speaking and they are
interrelated to each other. Each of them is explained below.

64
2.2.1 Lack of Motivation
Although the word “motivation” might appear simple and easy, it is
in fact very difficult to define. It seems to have been impossible for
theorists to reach a wide agreement on a single definition. According to
Gardner (1985), motivation is concerned with the question, “Why does an
organism behave as it does?” Moreover, motivation involves four aspects:
a goal, an effort, a desire to attain the goal, and a favorable attitude
toward the activity in question. It is important because it “determines the
extent of the learner‟s active involvement and attitude toward learning”.
According to Gardner (ibid), motivation is a combination of effort
plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favourable
attitudes towards learning it. The concept of motivation as it relates to
Second Language Acquisition (henceforth SLA) is presented in the
schematic representation below (Figure 2.1).

Goal
Attitude toward
Desire Learning Learning French
French is important to
me because....
………………
Figure 2.1 Concept of Motivation as it related to SLA
As represented in figure 2.1 above, motivation consists of four
components: attitudes toward learning the language, desire to learn the
language, motivational intensity and goals. Motivational intensity is
influenced by the attitudinal component. So we realize that there are two
reasons or orientations for studying a foreign language, which are labeled
as integrative and instrumental orientations for language learning.
Littlewood (1984:57) defines instrumental and integrative motivations by
saying that:

65
 “A learner with instrumental motivation is more interested in how
the second language can be useful instrument toward furthering
other goals e.g. improving employment prospects while a learner
with integrative motivation is having a genuine interest in the
second language community”.
The purpose for learning English language is for communication and
for gaining closer contact with its speakers and their culture.
Al-Busairi (1990:45) criticizes previous researchers, classification of
motivation into integrative and instrumental and came out with a third
orientation which combines both. He labeled this new category as
„Integra-instrumental‟ motivation. He says that, „for example people who
live in the native language country but have the expectation of working in
the target language country will have a mixture of both motivations‟. He
states that:
“…, there may be a mixture of both motivation, an integra-instrumental
motivation reflecting the learners reasons for learning the language to
get a job to run one’s business in an English speaking country, such as
Britain or USA”.
Researchers have agreed that motivation is one of the two
dimensions of success in Foreign Language Learning (henceforth FLL).
Researchers and teachers reached a conclusion that motivation of the
learners is one of the most important factors influencing their success or
failure in learning a foreign language. So motivation is the key to
learning.
It is mentioned that motivation is a key to students‟ learning success.
With regard to the issue of motivation in learning, Nunan (1999) stresses
that motivation is important to notice in that it can affect students‟
reluctance to speak in English. In this sense, motivation is considered as
an important factor to a successful communication. It has been proven in

66
many studies that students with a strong motivation to succeed can persist
in learning and gain better scores than those who have weaker motivation
of success showing that building students motivation to learn is urgent for
every teacher.
With respect to the causes of lack of motivation, Gardner in Nunan
(ibid) states the causes of the students‟ lack of motivation; e.g. uninspired
teaching, boredom, lack of perceived relevance of materials and lack of
knowledge about the goals of the instructional program. These four
causes as he further says, very often become source of students‟
motivation. In this context, a monotonous teaching, in many cases,
reduces the students‟ motivation due to their feeling of boredom. This
shows that paying attention to those four factors is vital.
In response to the issue of motivation, Babu (2010) argues that lack
of motivation in learning causes students‟ hesitation to speak English in
the classroom. He says that the background of this situation is that
students are not motivated by the teachers towards the communication in
English. In other words, students‟ motivation is really influenced by the
teachers‟ teaching performance. Therefore, it is important that teachers
should try to improve their teaching performance so as to give the
students a motivation toward learning and speaking English in particular.
Dornyei (2011:77) stated that it is necessary to make learning
stimulating and enjoyable for the learner by increasing the attractiveness
of the tasks. People usually enjoy a task if they play an essential part in it.
This can take part through class discussions, which are usually seem to be
interesting by those who have contributed to it and boring by those who
have not. This means that another way of making learning stimulating
and enjoyable is creating learning situations where learners are required
to become active participants and the students ability increase toward the

67
learning process. So, we are going to come across one of the important
psychological factors which is “aptitude”; the student ability to learn a
foreign language.

2.2.2 Lack of Aptitude

According to Richard and Renandya (2008:205), “Lack of Aptitude”
is influenced by a number of factors. Age is one of the most commonly
cited determinant factors of success or failure in Second Language
(henceforth L2). This shows that the aging process itself may affect or
limit adult learners‟ ability to pronounce the target language fluently.
Adult learners do not seem to have the same innate language – specific
endowment or propensity as children for acquiring fluency and
naturalness in spoken language.
Littlewood (2008:62) proposes to use „ability‟ in a broader sense than
is often the case. The term is often restricted to cognitive aspects of a
person‟s ability to learn, notably intelligence and a set of more specific
language-learning abilities called „language aptitude‟. Here Littlewood
uses it to refer to a broader set of factors which – given similar motivation
and opportunities – make some people better at learning than others.
People greatly differ in how fast, how well and by what means they
learn an additional language. The variability in rates, outcomes and
processes can be strikingly large, particularly for people who begin
learning an L2 later in life (Ortega 2009:145).
Aptitude is an important psychological factor. It is the student‟s
ability in learning a language. According to Griffiths (2009:142),
language aptitude is defined in terms of speed in language learning.
According to Carroll (1981:84), aptitude refers to a disposition to be
able to do something well and perfectly.

68
 Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
states that aptitude is the relationship between a learner‟s personal
strengths and weaknesses in learning and the learning situation, including
the type of programme one enrolled in (Richard, 2002:31).
According to Ortega (2009:158-165), language aptitude is the
psychological formulation behind the intuition that some people have a
gift for additional language learning while others seem to struggle.
Language aptitude partially overlaps with traditional intelligence and with
early first language ability. Many SLA researchers believe that children
learn their first language so well because they have the cognitive and
linguistic endowment to learn it entirely implicitly.
In addition, aptitude seems to operate independently of many of the
affective variables involved in Second Language Learning (SLL). Several
researches suggest that aptitude and intelligence are the most stable
predicators of learning a language or other subjects.
The Ability Differentiation Hypothesis claims that some L2 learners
may have more clearly differentiated abilities – and strengths in
corresponding aptitude complexes – than other learners and further that it
is particularly important to match these learners to conditions of practice
which favor their strengths. This is in contrast with other learners who
may have less differentiated abilities and equivalent strengths and
aptitudes for learning under a variety of conditions of exposure and
classroom practice (DeKeyser, 2008:278).
According to Richard and Reranda (2008:205-210), there is a little
doubt that listening plays an extremely important role in the development
of speaking abilities. Speaking feeds on listening, which precedes it.
Usually, one person speaks and the other responds through attending by
means of the listening process. In fact, every speaker plays double role –

69
both as a listener and as a speaker. So, speaking is interrelated with
listening.
Richard and Reranda (ibid), state that speaking a foreign language in
public, especially in front of native speakers, is often anxiety provoking.
Sometimes, extreme anxiety occurs when EFL learners become tongue –
tied or lost for words in an unexpected situation. Unlike children, adults
are concerned with how they are judged by others. Clearly, the sensitivity
of adult learners to making mistakes, or fear of “losing face” has been the
explanation for their inability to speak English without hesitation.
Therefore, Lack of aptitude causes anxiety as one of the major
psychological factors that affect students L2 Learning.

2.2.3 Anxiety
According to researchers, “anxiety” is a feeling of tension,
apprehension and nervousness associated with the process of learning a
foreign language. It is considered as one of the most psychological factors
that affect students learning a foreign language in particular when
speaking.
Tanveer (2007:1) states in his study that such statements are
commonly uttered by foreign language learners and are too familiar to the
foreign language teachers. These statements indicate an important
problem that the majority of students face in learning and particularly
speaking a second or foreign language. Many learners express their
inability and sometimes even acknowledge their failure in learning to
speak a second/foreign language. These learners may be good at learning
other skills, but when it comes to learning to speak another language, they
claim to have a „mental block‟ against it (Horwitz et al., 1986: 125). What
then, hinders or stops them to succeed in learning a second/foreign

20
language? In many cases, students‟ feeling of stress, anxiety or
nervousness may hinder their language learning and performance
abilities. Theorists and second language acquisition (SLA) researchers
have frequently demonstrated that these feelings or anxiety are
specifically associated with learning and speaking a second/foreign
language, which distinguishes L2/FL learning from learning other skills
or subjects. Both teachers and students are aware and generally feel
strongly that anxiety is a major factor to be overcome when learning to
speak another language.
Researchers differ widely about the definition of anxiety. Anxiety is
a well-known phenomenon among learners in general and especially
language learners. Several researchers realized that anxiety is experienced
physically.
Researchers have found a recursive or cyclical relationship among
anxiety, cognition and behavior (Leary, 1990; Levitt, 1980: cited in
Maclntyre, 1995:92). This can be explained by the following figure.

Anxiety

Behavior Cognition

Figure 2.2 Recursive relations among anxiety, cognition

and behavior.

Figure: 2.2 shows that anxiety, behavior and cognition are mutually inter-
related.
So, anxiety is a state of apprehension (anxiety about future) and it is
one of the affective variables in SLA.

26
 There are several types of anxiety, but most of them are not
associated with language learning and performance. Language learning
and performance anxiety are social, trait etc. Trait anxiety refers to a
permanent personality feature, or stable characteristics of a person as
Allwright (1991:173) in reporting Schovel says that state anxiety refers to
„a temporary condition brought about by some environmental stimulus
and it is an acknowledged feature of language learning‟
Al-Busairi (1990) says that anxiety may improve one‟s performance
and may lead to success in second language learning. So anxiety affects
the performance of the learner of a foreign language as indicated by
several studies.
Several researchers indicate that learners with high level of anxiety
should be less successful in learning a foreign language than relaxed
ones. They indicate in their study that language teachers share the same
opinion.
Anxiety is a feeling of tension, apprehension and nervousness
associated with the situation of learning a foreign language. (Horwitz
cited in Nascente, 2001). Further, Nascente writes that among other
affective variables, anxiety stands out as one of the main blocking factors
for effective language learning. In other words, anxiety influences
students negatively in learning language. Therefore, paying attention to
this factor of learning should also be taken into consideration.
The fact that anxiety plays an important role in students‟ learning is
also shared by other researchers like Horwitz (1991) as cited in Sylvia
and Tiono (2004). He believes that anxiety about speaking a certain
language can affect students‟ performance. It can influence the quality of
oral language production and make individuals appear less fluent than
they really are. This explanation suggests that teachers should make an

22
attempt to create a learning atmosphere which gives students more
comfortable situations in their learning activity.
Regarding the causes of anxiety, Horwitz and Cope (1986) based on
the findings of their study, found out three main causes of students‟
anxiety; i.e. communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of
negative evaluation. The communication apprehension refers to the
students‟ ability to communicate in the target language. Their low ability
in this aspect, in many cases, causes anxious feeling among many
students. The second cause which is test anxiety deals with students‟ fear
of being tested. The last cause has to do with other students‟ evaluation.
In this case, as mentioned above, very often that other students‟
evaluation causes anxiety among students themselves. In addition, fear of
being evaluated by their teachers is also another factor affecting students‟
anxiety. All these show that understanding students better and being
skillful in managing classroom should be part of the teachers‟ concern.
As suggested by Harmer (2001), to reduce this anxiety feeling, teachers
need to pay attention to each student‟s strengths and weakness so that
they can create a learning method which accommodates all students in the
classroom. Therefore, anxiety can be as a result of lack of self-confidence
as one of the important psychological factors that affect students‟ oral
performance.

2.2.4 Lack of Confidence

According to Dornyei (2011:86 - 87), “confidence” is closely related
to concepts like „self-esteem‟, „self-efficacy‟ and „anxiety‟. Self-
confidence is like the foundation of a building: if they are not secure
enough, even the best technology will be insufficient to build solid walls
over them. You can employ your most creative motivational ideas, but if

23
students have basic doubts about themselves, they will be unable to
„bloom‟ as learners.
It is commonly understood that students‟ lack of confidence usually
occurs when students realize that their conversation partners have not
understood them or when they do not understand other speakers. This
shows that building students‟ confidence is an important part of teacher‟s
focus of attention. It means that the teacher should also learn from both
theories and practical experience on how to build the students‟ confidence
(Dornyei, ibid).
Several researchers state the main cause of students‟ lack of
confidence is their low ability in speaking English. In this case, as they
add, many students think that their English is bad and feel that they can
not speak English well. The other cause of students‟ lack of confidence
also deals with the lack of encouragement from the teacher (Brown
2001). In this context, many teachers do not think that convincing
students that they are able to speak English is important. As a result, as
Brown adds, students find the learning demotivating rather than
motivating. This suggests that encouragement becomes a vital thing in
order to build the students‟ confidence. Therefore, giving students
encouragement and showing that they will be able to communicate well
in English plays a role in students‟ success of learning.
Dornyei (2011:89) states that to provide learners with the necessary
confidence-building experiences should be through encouraging the
learners and reducing language anxiety.
According to the researcher, lack of self-confidence can be as a result
of students‟ shyness.

24
 2.2.5 Shyness
Shyness is an emotional thing that many students suffer from at some
time when they are required to speak in class. This indicates that shyness
could be a source of problem in students‟ learning activities in the
classroom especially in the class of speaking. Therefore, paying attention
on this aspect is also quite important in order to help the students do their
best in their speaking performance in the classroom (Gebhard 2000). In
line with this, Baldwin (2011) further explains that speaking in front of
people is one of the more common phobias that students encounter and
feeling of shyness makes their mind go blank or that they will forget what
to say. As they say, their inability in speaking is also influenced much by
their feeling of shyness. In other words, it can be said that shyness plays
an important role in speaking performance done by the students.
With regard to the cause of shyness, Bowen (2005) and Robby
(2010) argue that some shy learners are caused by their nature that they
are very quiet. In this case, the students are not very confident and tend to
be shy because most of them find it very intimidating when speaking
English in front of their friends and teacher. In addition, Saurik (2011)
indentifies that most of English students feel shy when they speak the
language because they think they will make mistakes when they talk.
They are also afraid of being laughed at by their peers. In this sense, they
are afraid of being laughed at by their friends due to their low ability in
speaking English.

2.2.6 Fear of Mistake

As argued by many theorists, fear of mistake becomes one of the
main factors of students‟ reluctance to speak English in the classroom.
With respect to the fear of making mistake issue, Aftat (2008) adds that

25
this fear is linked to the issue of correction and negative evaluation. In
addition, this is also much influenced by the students‟ fear of being
laughed at by other students or being criticized by the teacher. As a result,
students commonly stop participating in the speaking activity. Therefore,
it is important for teachers to convince their students that making
mistakes is not a wrong or bad thing because students can learn from their
mistakes.
The primary reason of fear of mistake is that students are afraid of
looking foolish in front of other people and they are concerned about how
other will see them (Kurtus 2001). In addition, Hieu (2011) explains that
students feel afraid of the idea of making mistakes as they are worried
that their friends will laugh at them and receive negative evaluations from
their peers if they make mistakes in speaking English.
Students‟ fear of making mistakes in Speaking English has been a
common issue especially in an EFL context. As argued by Middleton
(2009), most EFL students are afraid to try and to speak in a foreign
language they learn. In this context, as he adds, students do not want to
look foolish in front of the class. In some other cases, they also worry
about how they will sound, and are scared of sounding silly and so on.

2.3 Previous studies

There are so many studies that in some way or another link to this
research. Burns and Joyce quoted in Nunan (1999) argue that
psychological factors such as anxiety or shyness, lack of confidence, lack
of motivation, and fear of mistakes are the factors that commonly hinder
students when speaking.
Another study conducted by Ballard (1996, quoted in JIN Yan-hua,
2007) that students fail to join the English discussion because of their

26
vocabulary problems and fear of making mistakes resulting in their
inability to speak English well. In addition, she said that students find
speaking a stressful activity especially if they have to perform something
using English.
The third study was conducted by Tanveer (2007:61), University of
Glasgow in U.K, entitled "Investigation of the Factors that cause
language Anxiety for ESL/EFL Learners in Learning Speaking Skills and
the Influence it casts on Communication in the target Language". The
tool for the data collection was an interview administered to students and
teachers. The main finding is that the most anxiety provoking skill in
L2/FL (English) learning is speaking skill. Almost all research subjects
acknowledged that people feel anxious and nervous while speaking
English in front of others as a result of lack of self-confidence. In
addition, some EFL learners even expressed that they feel „stupid‟ when
they can not speak English well and others explained that they try to skip
or escape the situation, which demands speaking in front of others, either
in the classroom or outside of the classroom.
The fourth was a study conducted by Juhana (2012), Indonesia Open
University, entitled "Psychological Factors That Hinder Students From
Speaking in English Class". The tool for collecting data was a
questionnaire administered to English teachers. It stated that students
have psychological factors such as anxiety, self-confidence and
motivation that hinder them from practicing their speaking in English
class. To turn to the possible solutions to overcome the psychological
factors that hinder students from speaking, the students believed that
motivating them to be more confident to speak is worth considering. In
this sense, motivating students to speak in English, to some extent,
encourages them to actively participate in speaking in the class. All these

27
suggest the importance of creating a supporting atmosphere of learning in
the classroom.
The fifth study was conducted by AL-Sadik (2011), Sudan
University of Science and Technology, entitled "Teaching Speaking
Skills to Secondary school students", a case study of secondary school in
Libya. The tool for collecting data was a questionnaire. He found that
most students believe that they always or often feel ashamed when they
make mistakes and hesitate a lot when speaking. Moreover, some
students said that they are not confident when speaking English.
The sixth study was conducted by Mai (2011), University of
Languages and International Studies, entitled "An investigation into
factors that hinder the participation of university students in English
speaking lessons". The tools for the data collection were a questionnaire,
classroom observation and the interview reports from a different
environment. Mai found that there are three main factors hindering
students‟ participation coming from teachers, students and classroom.
Firstly, some factors come from learners such as learners‟ language level,
their interest, personalities, learning style, attitude and anxiety. In the
speaking lessons, the students with lower proficiency might feel
unconfident. They were afraid of making mistakes and losing face in
front of their teacher and other students. As a result, they tried to avoid
any speaking activities. Regarding students‟ personalities, Mai (ibid)
stated that most of the students felt worried, hesitant and not self-
confident enough in front of the classmates and teachers because of
shyness and low English proficiency. Students‟ shyness and lack of
English Knowledge made them passive in the speaking activities.
Furthermore, a larger number of the students suffered from anxiety which
caused negative effects on their learning process in general and on their

28
participation in speaking activities in particular. Many students felt
nervous and tense when being asked to speak English in class. He also
found that the teacher's characteristics, teaching methods, and teachers‟
role are very important. Teachers should encourage their students in order
to increase students‟ participation. Mai (ibid) also stated that teaching and
learning condition also played an important role in increasing students‟
participation. Most teachers complained that a large-class size caused the
difficulties in teaching speaking. A pleasant and supportive classroom
atmosphere would create students‟ motivation and encourage their
participation in speaking activities.
The seventh study was conducted by Ahmed (2004:54), entitled
"Receptivity, Defensiveness, and Certain Affective Factors in
Communicative Language Learning and Teaching", University of
Khartoum. The tool for the data collection was a questionnaire distributed
to Sudanese university students. He found that highly motivated students
are more receptive than students with low level of motivation. He also
stated that students who have positive attitudes toward the English
language speakers, the English language classroom, and the English
language teachers are expected to be more receptive than those with
negative attitudes. Ahmed (ibid:55) stated that students who have self-
esteem are more receptive than students who have low self-esteem. In
line with this study, he also found that students who have low level of
anxiety are more receptive than students who have a high level of
anxiety. He also stated that the subjects of his study have positive
attitudes toward the language itself and its speakers.
The eighth study was conducted by Osman (1995:109), University of
Khartoum and entitled "Anxiety and Self-esteem in English Language
Achievement". The tool of collection of the study was a questionnaire.

29
She found that females are more anxious than males in learning English.
The higher the anxiety is, the lower is the achievement and vice-versa.
The ninth study was conducted by Osman (2012), Sudan University
of Science and Technology, entitled "Problems of Oral Communication
Among Secondary School Students", a case study-Kosti locality-White
Nile State. The instrument of the data collection was a questionnaire
administered to the students. She found that shyness and fear of making
mistakes are behind students' reluctance to participate in oral interaction
in the classroom.
In the tenth study, Abdalla (1999:166), University of Khartoum,
conducted a research entitled "The Relationship Between Learning Style,
and Teaching Styles as Determining Factors on EFL Learners'
Achievement". The instrument of data collection was a questionnaire
administered to Sudanese university students. He stated that a feeling of
anxiety is found to be experienced by both groups of respondents when
they are participating in oral classroom interactive activities.
Finally, Elhadi (1999:69) conducted a research entitled "The Role of
Attitudes and Anxiety in Learning a Foreign Language". The tool for the
data collection was a questionnaire administered to Sudanese university
students. She found that facilitating anxiety helps to learn English
language whereas, debilitating hinders to learn English language. She
also found that Khartoum university students have favourable attitudes
toward learning English and English speakers.
There are similarities between this study and the previous studies
reported above. First, all researchers from the same environment consider
factors related to learning English as a foreign language. Second, some
factors are common between most of the previous studies and the current

30
one such as the factor of anxiety. Beside that, most previous studies and
current study used a questionnaire as a tool to carry out the study.
On the other hand, this study differs from the previous studies
considered above in that it focuses on certain factors related to oral
communication such as self-confidence and aptitude. A factor like
anxiety can have more impact on speaking than on comprehension of
reading texts, for instance. Moreover, different samples were used.

2.4 Summary of the Chapter

This chapter is divided into four sections. The first section is devoted
to the introduction and review of literature written on the importance of
speaking, the role of the teacher toward the students and why so many
students fail to speak English (Section 2.0). Section 2.1 is divided into
one section which tackles definitions and importance of speaking skill.
Section 2.2 is divided into six sub-sections. It tackles the different
psychological factors that hinder students when speaking. Section 2.3
tackles some previous researches about the psychological factors
affecting students to speak English. To sum up, aptitude, anxiety and self-
confidence play important roles in foreign language learning as they
affect the students‟ speaking process either by hindering or enhancing it,
and the three factors are interrelated to each other.

36
 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter describes the methodology used to explore factors
affecting Sudanese EFL learners‟ oral performance: A psycholinguistic
study in particular, Sudan University of Science and Technology –
English Department – Faculty of Languages. Firstly, it contains the
description of subjects (section 3.1.1), data collecting instruments
(section 3.1.2), pre-study (section 3.2) and the procedures followed in
data collection (section 3.3), the data analysis techniques (section 3.4),
statistical analysis (section 3.4.1), statistical reliability and validity
(section 3.4.2), statistical instruments (section 3.4.3). Then section 3.4.4
deals with the tool of the study. Finally, section 3.5 is a summary of the
chapter.

3.1 Data Gathering Method

3.1.1 Subject
The original subject for this study is all the students who are enrolled in the
third and fourth year at the Department of English Language - Sudan
University of Science and Technology – College of Languages. The researcher
used the simple random sampling to select the persons. The study sample
respondents differ according to the following characteristics:

 The respondents are from different genders (Male, Female).

 The respondents are from different levels (3rd year, 4th year).
The following is the detail description of the study sample individuals
according to the above variables (respondents' characteristics):

32
 1- The Gender:
Table 3.1
The frequency distribution for the study respondents according to
gender
Gender Number of students Percentage
Male 40 40.0
Female 60 60.0
Total 100 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 3.1
The frequency distribution for the study respondents according to
gender

Male
40%

Female
60%

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2014

It can be seen clearly from the above table and figure, that most of
the study's respondents are female, they are (60) persons with percentage
(60.0%) while the male are (40) persons with (40.0%).

2- The level:
Table 3.2
The frequency distribution for the study respondents according to
level
Level Number of students Percentage
3rd year 50 50.0
4th year 50 50.0
Total 100 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

33
 Figure 3.2
The frequency distribution for the study respondents according to
level
50 50

50

45

40

35
No.of Respondents

30

25

20

15

10

0
rd year3 th year4
Level

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2014

It can be seen clearly from the above table and figure that the number
of the respondents is equal from third and fourth year. They are (50)
persons with percentage (50.0%).
All the subjects had been learning English as a foreign language for
at least 10 years starting from basic school and continuing through
secondary, and then to college. Third year students studied English for
10 years, whereas fourth year students studied it for 11 years. Hence, the
subjects' overall language proficiency was supposed to be high. The
students of each level were homogeneous in terms of learning experience
and learning environment.

3.1.2 Instrument of the Data Collection

The questionnaire consists of one type of scale:
It consists of 16 statements. The first 8 statements represent aptitude and
self-confidence while the next 8 statements from 9 to 16 represent the
anxiety. Therefore, the total are 16 positive statements (Appendix).
Subjects were asked to tick statements that are more applicable to them.
The statements were set by the researcher. Subjects were asked to

34
indicate the frequency of their feelings by putting a tick in the appropriate
box indicating their choice (always, often, sometimes, rarely or never).

3.2 Pre-study
The researcher made a pre-study questionnaire in order to validate
the questionnaire instrument. The subjects of the pre-study were 20
students drawn from the Department of English, College of Languages,
Sudan University of Science and Technology. They were a sample of the
same subjects in the main study. The total number of the questionnaire
items were 16 items. No questions were raised from the subjects, no
misunderstanding or confusion. In addition, the time was suitable (formal
class). After piloting the study using the SPSS program, the 16 statements
were kept to constitute the final version of the questionnaire.

3.3 Procedures of Data Collection

The questionnaire was administered directly to the students by the
researcher. They were given 15-20 minutes to fill in the questionnaire.
The subject were informed before filling in the questionnaire that the
results of the questionnaire will contribute to the improvement of
teaching speaking in Sudan and that their answers would not be disclosed
to anyone except the researcher himself. They were asked to write their
gender and class. The data got from the questionnaire were computed and
analyzed by using the (SPSS) programme. The results from the computer
were tabulated, discussed and added to this thesis. Having described the
methodology used in the study, it is time to shift to the analysis of the
data.

35
3.4 Data Analysis Techniques
After receiving the responses to the questionnaire, the researcher
classified them according to their groups (levels). The whole of each
student has been counted and entered into the computer using the SPSS
program.

3.4.1 Statistical Analysis

In order to check the apparent validity for the study questionnaire and
validation of its statements according to the formulation and explanation,
the researcher referred the first version of the questionnaire to eight
referees. One of them is specialized in statistic, the others in language,
linguistics and methodology. Five are Sudanese, one is Indian, another is
from Pakistan and the last one is Egyptian. Their comments were used as
a guide for determining whether or not this questionnaire was well set in
the basis of language, whether the result would match statistically, and
whether the statements were relevant to the topic.
The referees were selected on the bases of their long teaching
experience at the tertiary level. The questionnaire was given to three
lecturers and five Ph D‟ holders (Assistant professors). Most of them
mentioned that the questionnaire was excellent because, firstly, the
instructions were very clear and written in a clear and simple language. In
addition to that, the statements of the questionnaire were also written in a
simple and clear language which wouldn‟t confuse the students, and all
the statements of the questionnaire covered the goal of the study. There
were 8 referees (one is an associate professor, 4 assistant professors, and
3 lecturers) in order to give their suggestions written as to any
modification, deletion of, or addition to the 16 items which constituted
the questionnaire. All of the referees have either a Ph D or a MA in

36
English, English language teaching and Linguistics. One of the referees,
called AL-Sadig Yahya, pointed out that some statements in scale A and
C are irrelevant and only feed one component. His suggestions were
discussed with the supervisor who agreed to his points. All his points and
suggestions were taken seriously and incorporated into the questionnaire
which contributed positively to the study. Another referee called Yassir
Al-Hassan stated that some of the statements were repeated similarly in
both scales A and C. Therefore, his suggestions were also discussed with
the supervisor who agreed to change some of the statements although
both factors: aptitude and self-confident are interrelated to each other and
refer to one dimension. Therefore, the researcher reduced the scale to one
scale instead of three scales and he combined the three scales A, B and C
together. The first 8 statements represent both factors aptitude and self-
confidence while the next statements from 9 to 16 represent the other
factor anxiety and some of the statements had been changed to positive
statements instead of negative statements according to the supervisor‟s
opinion.
The following table shows the referees and their jobs and places of
work.

Table 3.3 The questionnaire’s referees and their jobs and places of
work
No. Name Job Place of work
1 Dr. Mohammed EL-Tayeb English Language Sudan University of
Assistant Professor Science and Technology
2 Dr. EL-Sadig Yahyha English Language Almajmaa University-ksa
Associate Professor
3 Dr. Yassir EL-Hassan English Language Najraan University-ksa
Assistant Professor
4 Dr. Omaima Mustafa English Language Gasim University-ksa
Assistant Professor
5 Dr. Gamal Shehata English Language Taibah University-ksa
Assistant Professor

37
6 Ms. Mumtaaz Obeid English Language Gasim University-ksa
Lecturer
7 Mr. Sasidhar Bandu English Language Salman Bin Abdulaziz
Lecturer University- ksa
8 Mr. Mohamad EL-Ameen Statistic Lecturer Sudan University of
Science and Technology
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2013

3.4.2 Statistical Reliability and Validity:

It is meant by the reliability of any test to obtain the same results if

the same measurement is used more than one time under the same
conditions. In addition, the reliability means when a certain test was
applied on a number of individuals and the marks of every one were
counted; then the same test applied another time on the same group and
the same marks were obtained; then we can describe this test as reliable.
In addition, reliability is defined as the degree of the accuracy of the data
that the test measures. Here are some of the most used methods for
calculating the reliability:

1. Split-half by using Spearman-Brown equation.

2. Alpha-Cronbach coefficient.

3. Test and Re-test method

4. Equivalent images method.

5. Guttman equation.

On the other hand, validity also is a measure used to identify the

validity degree among the respondents according to their answers on
certain criterion. The validity is counted by a number of methods, among
them is the validity using the square root of the (reliability coefficient).
The value of the reliability and the validity lies in the range between (0-
1). The validity of the questionnaire is that the tool should measure the
exact aim, which it has been designed for.

38
 The researcher calculated the validity statistically using the following
equation:

Validity  Re liability

He calculated the reliability coefficient for the measurement, which

was used in the questionnaire using (split-half) method. This method
stands on the principle of dividing the answers of the sample individuals
into two parts, i.e. items of the odd numbers e.g. (1, 3, 5, ...) and answers
of the even numbers e.g. (2,4,6 ...). Then Pearson correlation coefficient
between the two parts is calculated. Finally, the (reliability coefficient)
was calculated according to Spearman-Brown Equation as the following:

2r
Reliabilit y Coefficien t 
1 r

r = Pearson correlation coefficient

For calculating the validity and the reliability of the questionnaire from
the above equation, the researcher distributed about (20) questionnaire
copies to the respondents. In addition, depending on the answers of the
pre-test sample, the above Spearman-Brown equation was used to
calculate the reliability coefficient using the split-half method; the results
are shown in the following table:

Table 3.4 The statistical reliability and validity of the pre-test sample
about the study questionnaire
Correlation Reliability
Validity
coefficient
Over all 0.77 0.87 0.93
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

It is noted from the results of the above table that all reliability and
validity coefficients for pre-test sample individuals about each
questionnaire's theme, and for over all questionnaire, are greater than

39
(50%), and some of them are nearest to one. This indicates the high
validity and reliability of the answers. So, the study questionnaire is valid
and reliable, and that will give correct and acceptable statistical analysis.

3.4.3 Statistical Instruments

In order to satisfy the study objectives and to test its hypotheses, the
researcher uses the following statistical instruments:
1. Graphical figures.

2. Frequency distribution.

3. Person correlation coefficient.

4. Spearman-Brown equation for calculating Reliability coefficient.

5. Median.

6. Non-parametric Chi-square test.

In order to obtain accurate results, Statistical Package for Social

Sciences (SPSS) was used. In addition, to design the graphical figures,
which are needed for the study, the computer program (Excel) was also
used.

3.4.4 Application of the Study’s Tool:

After checking the questionnaire reliability and validity, the
researcher distributed the questionnaire to the determined study sample
(100) students, and he constructed the required tables for collected data.
This step consisted of transforming the qualitative (nominal) variables
(never, rarely, sometimes, often, and always) to quantitative (numerical)

40
variables (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) respectively, also the graphical representations
have been done for this purpose.

3.5 Summary of the Chapter

This chapter has presented the methodology used in the present
study, including a description of the respondents, materials, procedures,
and the data analysis procedure. A brief description of the statistical tests
used to analyze the data was provided. In the following chapter, the
results of the data analysis and the findings of the present study will be
presented and discussed.

46
 CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS, AND DISCUSSION

4.0 Introduction
This chapter describes the statistical analysis and results which are
discussed in the light of the hypotheses. The data for the present study is
collected through a questionnaire which is administered to third and
fourth year university students.

4.1 Presentation of the Questionnaire Results

In this section, all statements, which presented in the questionnaire,
will be proved statistically one by one basing on the mutual frequencies
and percentages. Each statement provided with a table and a figure
reveals the frequency and percentage.
Statement No. (1): I speak English fluently with my English teacher.
Table (4-1) and figure (4-1) display the frequency distribution for the
answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (1).
Table 4.1
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no.(1)
Answer Number Percent
Always 8 8.0
Often 10 60.0
Sometimes 10 60.5
Rarely 47 47.0
Never 25 25.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

42
 Figure 4.1
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no.(1)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It is clear from table (4-1) and figure (4-1) that 72 out of 100 students
mark rarely and never which indicate that the majority can not speak
English fluently with their English teacher, as a result of lack of self-
confidence and aptitude. As mentioned in the literature review on page
25, that most of the students are worried, hesitant and not self-confident
enough in front of the classmates and teachers because of their shyness
and their low English proficiency which make them passive, and that is
why they are afraid of making mistakes, and losing face in front of their
teacher and students.
Statement No. (2): I speak English well with my classmates.
In line with statement (1), table (4-2) and figure (4-2) show the
frequency distribution for the answer of the study's respondents about
statement no. (2).
Table 4.2
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (2)
Answer Number Percent
Always 5 5.0
Often 14 64.0
Sometimes 24 24.0
Rarely 40 40.0

43
 Never 17 67.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.2
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (2)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It is clear from table (4-2) and figure (4-2) that 57 participants mark
rarely and never which indicate that students lack self-confidence and
aptitude. Therefore, teachers need to reduce the classroom anxiety. As
mentioned in the literature review on page 25, shyness is a source of
problem in students‟ learning activities in the classroom. According to
Bowen (2005) and Robby (2010) on page 25, state that some shy learners
are caused by their nature that is why they are very quiet and not very
confident when speaking English in front of their classmates and teacher.
Statement No. (3): I speak English well in front of the audience.
In line with statement (1) and (2), table (4-3) and figure (4-3) present
the frequency distribution for the answers of the study's participants about
statement (3).
Table 4.3
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (3)
Answer Number Percent
Always 10 60.0
Often 20 20.0
Sometimes 17 67.0

44
 Rarely 31 36.0
Never 22 22.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.3
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (3)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It is clear from table (4-3) and figure (4-3) that there are (53)
participants who mark rarely and never which is slightly similar to
statement (2) for the same reasons as a result of lack of self-confidence
and aptitude that the students feel shy, afraid of mistakes, and losing face
because of their low ability in speaking.
Statement No. (4): I try to find out how to improve my English
accent.
Table (4-4) and figure (4-4) show the frequency distribution for the
answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (4).
Table 4.4
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (4)
Answer Number Percent
Always 4 4.0
Often 16 66.0
Sometimes 2 2.0
Rarely 20 20.0

45
 Never 60 60.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.4
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (4)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It can be seen clearly from table (4-4) and figure (4-4) that the
majority of the participants mark rarely and never. (60) of them mark
never while (20) mark rarely. That is to say that (80) out of (100) are
pessimistic about improving their English accent as a result of lack of
aptitude and self-confidence because of their low language proficiency,
lack of the target language environment, bad teaching materials, and bad
teaching methods. So, it is considered as the highest rate of the
questionnaire, and that indicates that most students lack aptitude and self-
confidence according to what is mentioned in the second chapter on page
(11) that the problems of learning a spoken language are: psychological
factors, bad teaching materials and the bad methods of teaching.
Statement No. (5): I’m not afraid of starting a conversation in
English.
In line with the previous statements, table (4-5) and figure (4-5)
display the frequency distribution for the answers of the study's
respondents about statement no. (5).

46
 Table 4.5
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (5)
Answer Number Percent
Always 4 40.0
Often 12 62.0
Sometimes 20 20.0
Rarely 24 24.0
Never 40 40.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.5
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (5)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It is clear from table (4-5) and figure (4-5) that there are (40) students
who respond with never while (24) students respond with rarely. That is
to say that (64) students out of (100) are afraid of starting a conversation
in English as a result of lack of self-confidence and aptitude for the same
previous reasons.
Statement No. (6): I don’t feel shy when speaking English.
Table (4-6) and figure (4-6) below show the frequency distribution
for the answers of the study's participants about statement no. (6).

47
 Table 4.6
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (6)
Answer Number Percent
Always 9 9.0
Often 10 60.0
Sometimes 21 26.0
Rarely 23 23.0
Never 37 37.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.6
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (6)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It can be seen that from table (4-6) and figure (4-6) the similarity
with statement no. (5) that the result looks quiet similar. (37) students
respond with never while (23) with rarely. The total number of the
frequency adverb is (60) out of hundred. This indicates that most students
fail to make real conversation because of their shyness as a result of their
quiet nature or due to their low ability in speaking English as mentioned
before in the literature review on page (25).
Statement No. (7): I feel self-confident when speaking English.
Table (4-7) and figure (4-7) display the frequency distribution for the
answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (7).

48
 Table 4.7
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (7)
Answer Number Percent
Always 5 5.0
Often 13 63.0
Sometimes 22 22.0
Rarely 24 24.0
Never 36 36.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.7
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (7)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

Taking a quick look at table (4-7) and figure (4-7), and in line with
the previous statements, it is clear that all statements of self-confidence
and aptitude have received high scores between (60% and 80%) except
statement (2) which is (57%) and statement (3) which is (53%).
Concerning statement (7), it is noticed that (60) out of (100) students
mark rarely and never but those who mark never are (36) while those who
mark rarely are (24). Statement (7) reveals that most students lack self-
confidence when speaking English for the same previous reasons.

49
Statement No. (8): I think I will speak perfect English some days.
In line with statement (4), table (4-8) and figure (4-8) present the
frequency distribution for the answers of the study's respondents about
statement no. (8).
Table 4.8
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (8)
Answer Number Percent
Always 2 2.0
Often 9 9.0
Sometimes 10 60.0
Rarely 20 20.0
Never 59 59.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.8
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (8)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It is clear from table (4-8) and figure (4-8) that there are similarities
between statements (4) and (8) „I try to find out how to improve my
English accent‟ and „ I think I will speak perfect English some days‟. It
can be seen that in both statements the learners are pessimistic. In
statement (4), (60) students mark never while in statement (8), (59) mark
never. (80) students out of (100) mark rarely and never in statement (4)
while (79) out of (100) mark rarely and never in statement (8). It can be

50
seen clearly that there are similar results between both statements.
According to the researcher‟s point of view, that is because they lack self-
confidence, and they have low ability in learning a foreign language. As a
result, they are not highly motivated as mentioned in the literature review
on page (24).
Statement No. (9): I don’t fear making mistakes while speaking
English.
Table (4-9) and figure (4-9) below display the frequency distribution
for the answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (9).
Table 4.9
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (9)
Answer Number Percent
Always 9 9.0
Often 9 9.0
Sometimes 32 32.0
Rarely 20 20.0
Never 30 30.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.9
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (9)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It is clear from table (4-9) and figure (4-9) above that (50) students
out of (100) mark rarely and never. (30) of them mark never and (20)

56
mark rarely while (32) mark sometimes. Therefore, as mentioned in the
literature review on page (25) and (26), that many students fear of making
mistakes while speaking English because they think their friends and
classmates will laugh at them, and they will receive negative evaluation
from them.
Statement No. (10): I don’t feel nervous while someone is speaking
English.
Table (4-10) and figure (4-10) present the frequency distribution for
the answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (10).
Table 4.10
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (10)
Answer Number Percent
Always 15 65.0
Often 5 5.0
Sometimes 10 60.0
Rarely 32 32.0
Never 38 38.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.10
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (10)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It is clear from table (4-10) and figure (4-60) that (70) respondents
out of (100) mark rarely and never which indicate that the majority feel

52
nervous while someone is speaking English. According to what is
mentioned in the previous studies in chapter two on page (27), people feel
anxious and nervous while speaking English in front of others as a result
of lack of self-confidence. Some learners feel they are stupid when they
can not speak English well, and others explain that they try to escape
from the situation.
Statement No. (11): I don’t get nervous when speaking English in
lecture.
Table (4-11) and figure (4-11) display the frequency distribution for
the answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (11).
Table 4.11
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (11)
Answer Number Percent
Always 10 60.0
Often 8 8.0
Sometimes 30 30.0
Rarely 15 65.0
Never 37 37.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.11
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (11)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

53
 It is clear from table (4-11) and figure (4-61) that many students
mark rarely and never, quite similar with statement 9. In statement 9, (50)
students out of (100) mark rarely and never while (32) mark sometimes.
While in statement 11, (53) out of (100) mark rarely and never while (30)
mark sometimes. So, it can be seen clearly that there is a similarity
between both results in both sentences that many students get nervous
when speaking English in lectures, as mentioned in the laterature review
on page (25), and that is because students lack self-confidence.
Statement No. (12): I feel sure and relaxed when speaking English.
Table (4-12) and figure (4-12) show the frequency distribution for
the answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (12).
Table 4.12
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (12)

Answer Number Percent

Always 8 8.0
Often 10 60.0
Sometimes 30 30.0
Rarely 20 20.0
Never 32 32.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.12
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (12)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

54
 It is clear from table (4-12) and figure (4-62) that there are
similarities between the results of statements 9, 11 and 12. In statement
12, (50) participants out of (100) mark rarely and never while (30) mark
sometimes. This indicates that students do not feel sure and relaxed when
speaking English because they do not feel self-confident about
themselves, and because of their low ability in speaking English.
Statement No. (13): I don’t fear speaking English in public places.
Table (4-13) and figure (4-13) present the frequency distribution for
the answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (13).
Table 4.13
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (13)
Answer Number Percent
Always 15 65.0
Often 16 66.0
Sometimes 11 66.0
Rarely 21 26.0
Never 37 37.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.13
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (13)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

According to table (4-13) and figure (4-63), in comparison with

statements 9,11 and 12, it is clear from the results that they are quite

55
similar. (58) participants out of (100) mark rarely and never which
indicates that many students fear speaking English in public places
because they are afraid of losing face in front of the people as mentioned
before in the literature review on page (20).
Statement No. (14): I’m not in constant fear of forgetting my speech.
Table (4-14) and figure (4-14) display the frequency distribution for
the answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (14).
Table 4.14
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (14)
Answer Number Percent
Always 7 7.0
Often 20 20.0
Sometimes 20 20.0
Rarely 33 33.0
Never 40 40.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.14
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (14)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It is clear from table (4-14) and figure (4-64) that the majority marks
never and rarely. (73) students out of (100) mark rarely and never which
indicates that most students fear of forgetting their speech. According to

56
the researcher‟s point of view that is because students lack self-
confidence, and they have low ability in learning English language.
Statement No. (15): I don’t feel confused when I miss a word while
speaking English.
Table (4-15) and figure (4-15) show the frequency distribution for
the answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (15).
Table 4.15
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (15)
Answer Number Percent
Always 12 62.0
Often 10 60.0
Sometimes 20 20.0
Rarely 19 69.0
Never 39 39.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.15
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (15)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It can be seen clearly from table (4-15) and figure (4-65), in

comparison with statement (14) that the results look slight similar in
some parts of the students‟ responses. In statement (14), (40) students
mark never while (39) students mark never in statement (15). (33) mark

57
rarely in statement (14), while (19) mark rarely in the present statement.
(20) mark sometimes in both statements. Therefore, many students feel
confused when missing a word in English as a result of shortage of
vocabulary, lack of self-confidence, and their low ability in learning
English language as mentioned in the literature review on page (27).
Statement No. (16): I don’t fear speaking English with native
speakers.
Table (4-16) and figure (4-16) present the frequency distribution for
the answers of the study's respondents about statement no. (16).
Table 4.16
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (16)
Answer Number Percent
Always 10 60.0
Often 9 9.0
Sometimes 19 69.0
Rarely 30 30.0
Never 32 32.0
Total 600 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.16
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about
statement no. (16)

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

It is clear from table (4-16) and figure (4-66) that there is a high
score of the students‟ responses in both frequency adverb. (62)

58
 participants out of (100) mark rarely and never because they lack self-
confidence, and fear speaking English with native speakers as mentioned
in the literature review on page (23).

4.2 Results of the First Hypothesis:

The first hypothesis in this study states the following:
„There are psychological factors that affect speaking English among
Sudanese university students such as self-confidence and aptitude‟.
The aim of this hypothesis is to show that both factors which are
stated on the first eight statements are the main causes that hinder
university students to speak English.
To test this hypothesis, the researcher compute the median, which is
one of the central tendency which is used to describe the phenomena, and
it represents the central answer for all respondents' answers after
ascending or descending order for the answers and that can be seen
through the table below.
Table 4.17 (a)
The median of respondents’ answers about the statements of the first
hypothesis
No Statements Median Result
1 I speak English fluently with my English teacher. 2 Rarely
2 I speak English well with my classmates. 2 Rarely
3 I speak English well in front of the audience. 1 Never
4 I try to find out how to improve my English accent. 1 Never
5 I‟m not afraid of starting a conversation English. 1 Never
6 I don‟t feel shy when speaking English. 1 Never
7 I feel self-confident when speaking English. 6 Never
8 I feel self-confident when speaking English. 1 Never
Over all 1 Never
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

59
 From the table (4.17 a) above, it is shown that:
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the first statement is (2). This value means that most of the
respondents can‟t speak English fluently with their English teacher.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the second statement is (2). This value means that, most of the
respondents can‟t speak English well with their classmates.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the third statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents can‟t speak English well in front of the audience.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the fourth statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents are not able to find out how to improve their English
accent.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the fifth statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents are afraid of starting a conversation in English.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the sixth statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents feel shy when speaking English.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the seventh statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents do not feel self-confident when speaking English.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the eighth statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents do not think that they will speak perfect English some
days.
The respondents‟ results about statements of the first hypothesis can

60
 be seen through the table below.
Table 4.17 (b)
Chi-square test results for respondents’ answers about the
statements of the first hypothesis
Degree of Chi-square
No Statements freedom value
1 I speak English fluently with my English teacher. 4 40.44
2 I speak English well with my classmates. 4 40.54
3 I speak English well in front of the audience. 4 28.23
4 I try to find out how to improve my English accent. 4 33.24
5 I‟m not afraid of starting a conversation in English. 4 40.60
6 I don‟t feel shy when speaking English. 4 36.63
7 I feel self-confident when speaking English. 4 21.23
8 I think I will speak perfect English some days. 4 34.23
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

According to the table, the researcher demonstrates the results as follows:

 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences to the respondents‟ answers in the first statement is
(40.44) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (11.34). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-1),
there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports most of the
respondents who can not speak English fluently with their English
teacher.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the second statement is
(40.54) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-2),

66
 there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who can not speak English well with their classmates.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the third statement is
(28.23) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no.(4-3),
there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who can not speak English well in front of the
audience.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the fourth statement is
(33.24) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (2) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-4),
there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who can not try to find out how to improve their
English accent.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the fifth statement is
(40.60) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-5),
there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)

62
 among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who are afraid of starting a conversation in English.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the sixth statement is
(36.63) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-6),
there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who feel shy when speaking English.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the seventh statement is
(21.23) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-7),
there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who do not feel self-confident when speaking English.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the eighth statement is
(34.23) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-8),
there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the participants, which supports the
respondents who think that they won‟t speak perfect English some
days.

63
 From the above, it is noted that the first hypothesis is confirmed for
each statement that is related to this hypothesis and that can be seen
clearly through the following table and figure:
Table 4.17 (c)
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about all
statements of the first hypothesis
Answer Number Percent
Always 47 5.9
Often 602 62.8
Sometimes 626 65.8
Rarely 229 28.6
Never 296 37.0
Total 800 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

Figure 4.17
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about all
statements of the first hypothesis

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2113

It can be seen from the above results in table (4-17 c) and figure (4-
17), that the first hypothesis that states “There are psychological factors
that affect speaking English among Sudanese university students such as
self-confident and aptitude” is confirmed.

4.3 Results of the Second Hypothesis:

The second hypothesis in this study states the following:
„One of the main factors causing failure in speaking English is anxiety‟
The aim of this hypothesis is to display that there is another main
factor that hinders Sudanese university students when speaking English.

64
 Table 4.18 (a)
The median of respondents’ answers about the statements of the
Second hypothesis

No Statements Median Result

9 I don‟t fear making mistakes while speaking 3 Sometimes
English.
10 I don‟t feel nervous while someone is speaking 1 Never
English.
11 I don‟t get nervous when speaking English in 1 Never
lecture.
12 I feel sure and relaxed when speaking English. 1 Never
13 I don‟t fear speaking English in public places. 1 Never
14 I‟m not in constant fear of forgetting my speech. 2 Rarely
15 I don‟t feel confused when I miss a word while 2 Rarely
speaking English.
16 I don‟t fear speaking English with native speakers. 6 Never
Over all 1 Never
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

From the table (4-18 a), it is shown that:

 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the ninth statement is (3). This value means that most of the
respondents fear making mistakes while speaking English.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the tenth statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents feel nervous while someone is speaking English.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the eleventh statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents get nervous when speaking English in lecture.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of

65
 the twelfth statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents do not feel sure and relaxed when speaking English.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the thirteenth statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents fear speaking English in public places.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the fourteenth statement is (2). This value means that most of the
respondents are in constant fear of forgetting their speech”.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the fifteenth statement is (2). This value means that most of the
respondents feel confused when they miss a word while speaking
English.
 The calculated value of the median for the respondents‟ answers of
the sixteenth statement is (1). This value means that most of the
respondents fear speaking English with native speakers.
The respondents‟ results about statements of the second hypothesis
can be seen through the table below.

Table 4.18 (b)

Chi-square test results for respondents’ answers about the
statements of the second hypothesis

Degree of Chi-square
No Statements
freedom value
9 I don‟t fear making mistakes while speaking English. 4 20.22
10 I don‟t feel nervous while someone is speaking English. 4 19.23
11 I don‟t get nervous when speaking English in lecture. 4 26.24
12 I feel sure and relaxed when speaking English. 4 32.26
13 I don‟t fear speaking English in public places. 4 18.28
14 I‟m not in constant fear of forgetting my speech. 4 29.20

66
15 I don‟t feel confused when I miss a word while speaking 4 20.33
English.
16 I don‟t fear speaking English with native speakers. 4 20.21
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

According to the table, we can demonstrate the results as follows:

 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the ninth statement is
(20.22) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-9),
there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who fear making mistakes while speaking English.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the tenth statement is
(19.23) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-
10), there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who feel nervous while someone is speaking English.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the eleventh statement
is (26.24) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-
11), there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)

67
 among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who get nervous when speaking English in lecture.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the twelfth statement is
(32.26) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-
12), there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who do not feel sure and relaxed when speaking
English.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the thirteenth statement
is (18.26) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-
13), there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who fear speaking English in public places.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the fourteenth
statement is (29.20) which is greater than the tabulated value of
chi-square at the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value
level (1%) which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in
table no. (4-14), there are statistically significant differences at the
level (1%) among the answers of the respondents, which supports
the respondents who are in constant fear of forgetting their speech.

68
  The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the fifteenth statement
is (20.33) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-
15), there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who feel confused when they miss a word while
speaking English.
 The calculated value of chi-square for the significance of the
differences for the respondents‟ answers in the sixteenth statement
is (20.21) which is greater than the tabulated value of chi-square at
the degree of freedom (4) and the significant value level (1%)
which is (13.28). According to what is mentioned in table no. (4-
16), there are statistically significant differences at the level (1%)
among the answers of the respondents, which supports the
respondents who do not feel self-confident when speaking English.
From the above, it is noted that the second hypothesis is confirmed
for each statement that is related to this hypothesis, and that can be seen
clearly through the following table and figure.
Table 4.18 (c)
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about all
statements of the second hypothesis

Answer Number Percent

Always 86 60.6
Often 87 60.9
Sometimes 672 26.5
Rarely 260 26.3
Never 250 36.3
Total 800 100.0
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014

69
 Figure 4.18
The frequency distribution for the respondents’ answers about all
statements of the second hypothesis

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

From the above results, it can be seen that the second hypothesis that
states „One of the main factors causing failure in speaking English among
Sudanese university students is anxiety‟ is confirmed.
The results of the the study hypotheses can be summarized in the
following table and figure referring to the psychological factors:
Table 4.19
Summary of chi-square test for the respondents’ answers about
hypotheses 1 and 2
No Hypotheses referring to the psychological factors Chi-square
value
1 Lack of self-confidence and lack of aptitude 253.41
2 Anxiety 139.46
Source: The researcher from applied study, 2014
Figure 4.19
Summary of chi-square test for the respondents’ answers about the
first two hypotheses
300 253.41

250
Chi-square values

200
139.46

150

100

50

0
First Second
The Hypotheses

Source: The researcher from applied study, Excel Package, 2114

From the above table and figure, and according to the values of chi-
square test, that the first hypothesis is confirmed because it has the first

70
largest value of chi-sqaure (253.41). The second hypothesis is confirmed
with the second order according to the second largest value of chi-square
(139.46). The third hypothesis that states „the most influential
psychological factors that hinder university students when speaking
English are self-confidence and aptitude‟ is also confirmed according to
the results of the first and second hypotheses. It can be seen clearly from
the above results that the first hypothesis has the largest number, and the
first eight statements represent both psychological factors: self-
confidence and aptitude since they have one dimension.
Over all, the study results show that Sudanese EFL Learner‟s have
lack of self-confidence, lack of aptitude and anxiety when speaking
English.

4.4 Summary of the Chapter

The focus of this chapter is data analysis, results and discussion.
Data for the study were collected via one instrument : a questionnaire.
The questionnaire was administered to third and fourth years university
students‟.
Statistics show that there are psychological factors that affect
speaking English among Sudanese university students.
The next chapter deals with summary, conclusions, implications,
recommendations, and suggestions for further studies.

76
 CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS,
RECOMMENDATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER
STUDIES
5.1 Summary
This study is proposed to investigate the psychological factors that
hinder university students to practice speaking English. One hundred
university students studying English as a foreign language constituted the
final sample. The students were from College of Languages, Sudan
University of Science and Technology. The sample of this study was
taken equally from third and fourth year students (50 students from each
level). All the participants who constituted the final sample completed a
questionnaire concerning their lack of self-confidence, lack of aptitude
and anxiety.
The data collected by the questionnaire is presented in details in
chapter 4. In this chapter the findings are summarized. In addition, this
chapter deals with implications, recommendations and directions for
further studies.
The first hypothesis, that states that “there are psychological factors
that affect speaking English among Sudanese university students such as
self-confidence and aptitude” is confirmed and it has the first largest
value of chi-square (253.41). Beside that, both factors are interrelated to
each other and received high score.
The second hypothesis, which states that “one of the main factors
causing failure in speaking English among the Sudanese university
students is anxiety” is also confirmed with the second largest value of
chi-square (139.46).

72
 In line with the first and second hypotheses, the third hypothesis that
states that “the most influential psychological factor that hinder Sudanese
university students are self-confident and aptitude” is confirmed
according to the results of the first and second hypotheses.

5.2 Conclusions
The process of speaking English language is affected by many
factors. The present study investigated on these three areas. Referring to
the aim of the study:
1. It can be concluded that university students have psychological
factors that hinder them from practicing speaking such as lack of
self-confidence, lack of aptitude and anxiety.
2. It can be seen that the three factors are interrelated to each other
and all of them lead to failure especially when speaking.

5.3 Implications of the Study

1. The findings of this study suggest that the teacher who wishes to
improve his students' oral performance have to consider these
psychological factors toward the learning process.
2. The present study has reached at results similar to other results
although they were conducted at various environments. All previous
studies agreed that lack of self-confidence and anxiety affect students‟
oral performance.
3. The present study differs from the previous studies that it focuses on
certain factors related to oral communication.
4. The current study points out that psychological factors can have more
impact on speaking than any other language skills.

73
5. It also points out that self-confidence and aptitude are the most
influential factors that hinder Sudanese university students when speaking
English.

5.4 Recommendations
In the light of the results of this study, the researcher would like to
make the following recommendations to improve the Sudanese English
spoken language.
1. English spoken language must be taught through using good
teaching materials, techniques, tools and equipment such as
language laboratory, video and CD‟s.
2. Teachers should try to create a positive atmosphere to reduce the
classroom anxiety.
3. They should help to minimize their students' psychological
barriers.
4. They should try to use different activities inside the classroom to
avoid boring lessons.
5. They should inform their students about the importance of
speaking and how they can improve this skill.
6. There must be speaking quizzes to show the importance of
speaking to your students.
7. We need to fulfill the lack of the target language environment with
modern textbooks.
8. There should be presentations as well as English societies for
students to practice speaking.
9. Teachers must give the student opportunity to make real
conversation inside the classroom.

74
 10.There should be English language cafes for students to practice
real conversations in a relaxed atmosphere.
11.The teacher talking time should be far less than the students
talking time to avoid lecturing.
12. Finally, a strict action must be taken by the government for
changing the syllabus and making training workshops for the
teachers on how to improve the students‟ oral performance.
All the above mentioned recommendations have emphasized the
importance of speaking English as one of the important language skill.

5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies

Many issues seem to emerge from the responses and view of the
study.
1. There are other factors than self-confidence, aptitude and anxiety
which still need to be investigated within the area of learning
spoken English. More research in this area should be undertaken
in-depth and detailed studies to fill the gaps that this study points
out.

75
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 Appendix

Sudan University of Science and Technology

College of Graduate Studies

English Department

A questionnaire for EFL students on (Psychological Factors Affecting

Sudanese EFL Learners’ Oral Performance)

Dear Student,

Thank you for volunteering to take part in the study entitled

“Psychological Factors Affecting Sudanese EFL Learners’ Oral
Performance”.

I hope that you will mark each statement honestly. Mark the column
that you feel is right when you first read the statement.

Confidentiality Procedures: All your information will be kept confidential. I will

not reveal the information you provide to anyone. Remember that you shall remain
anonymous.

Thank you for all your help!

Yours sincerely,

The researcher,

Elhadi Nasr Elhadi Mustafa

Email: [email protected]

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Male Female 3rd Year 4th Year

The following are statements to which some people will agree and
others will disagree. They are not right or wrong statements, since many
people have different opinions. Please record your immediate response
to each of the items. On the other hand, please be as accurate as
possible, since it is important that we obtain your true feelings.

Put a tick in the appropriate column against each of the following

statements that best indicates your true feeling about each statement.

No Statement always often sometimes rarely Never

1 I speak English fluently

with my English teacher.

2 I speak English well with

my classmates.

3 I speak English well in

front of the audience.

4 I try to find out how to

improve my English
accent.

5 I’m not afraid of starting a

conversation in English.

6 I don’t feel shy when

speaking English.

7 I feel self-confident when

speaking English.

8 I think I will speak perfect

English some days.

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9 I don’t fear making
mistakes while speaking
English.

10 I don’t feel nervous while

someone is speaking
English.

11 I don’t get nervous when

speaking English in
lectures.

12 I feel sure and relaxed

when speaking English.

13 I don’t fear speaking

English in public places.

14 I’m not in constant fear of

forgetting my speech.

15 I don’t feel confused

when I miss a word while
speaking English.

16 I don’t fear speaking

English with native
speakers.

Thank you for your time!

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