Investigating Vietnamese Students' English Language Anxiety: An Online TBLT Course

The issue of inadequate English oral communication skill performance of many Vietnamese learners of English has persisted for many years and still requires effective solutions. The majority of university students still struggle with practical communication in real-life situations despite their completion of the national high-school seven-year English programme. Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been identified as a potential cause of students’ poor English communication skills. Cultural factors, combined with the anxiety of making mistakes, fear of negative evaluation are considered main contributors to the English oral communication anxiety (EOCA), a specific aspect of FLA, experienced by Vietnamese learners. This study aims to investigate the EOCA experienced by Vietnamese university students, factors contributing to EOCA and the effectiveness of an online task-based language teaching (TBLT) English course in reducing the learners’ EOCA. The TBLT approach is chosen as its principal aim is to focus on learners’ language oral fluency, which might diminish learners’ EOCA. In addition, online learning environment is promising in reducing students’ anxiety since it provides learners a safe learning space with less formal channels to interact with their teachers and classmates. Therefore, combining the TBLT and online learning is an effective solution for the aforementioned problem. This study utilised a mixed methods approach for data collection and analyses. Empirical data collected from questionnaires were used to measure the participants’ EOCA levels and investigate the factors contributing to EOCA. Data gathered via interviews were analysed to explore participants' experience and feedback on the online TBLT course as well as their perceptions on EOCA. Data collection conducted over four months, which was split into two studies. Study one is a large-scale study of EOCA, which was conducted with 166 students in a university in Vietnam. Study two is the online TBLT course with a sample of ten students who already participated in study one. The findings suggest that EOCA, experienced by Vietnamese university students, is a widespread and long-term issue in English language classes. Students’ personal and interpersonal anxieties, teacher and classroom-related factors, and linguistic difficulties are fundamental contributors to EOCA, with general trait anxiety playing a role as well. The online TBLT course is indicated to be effective in reducing students’ EOCA at the group level on a long-term basis. Some specific factors of the TBLT approach, including pre-task samples, learner autonomy during task-solving activities, and collaborative learning, were helpful in reducing EOCA, particularly in the online context. The online learning environment offers flexibility and interactive engagement which is beneficial to decreasing EOCA. The contribution of my study lies in the new insights it provides. The study combines quantitative and qualitative research methods to provide a comprehensive understanding into EOCA amongst Vietnamese learners, revealing the impact of trait anxiety and other contextual and personal factors on EOCA. The study presents a novel perspective in educational research by suggesting the effectiveness of the TBLT approach in online learning contexts to reduce students’ EOCA at the group level. It also emphasizes the role of technological tools in lowering student anxiety in virtual learning.