“I DO NOT GET THE WORDS OUT, IT ALL JUST SOUNDS WRONG.” : A qualitative study of the causes of language anxiety among upper secondary EFL students in Sweden, and their teachers’ strategies to decrease it.

Sammanfattning: This study examined the possible causes of language anxiety among three upper secondary school students Sweden. In addition, the study explored the strategies used by said students’ English teachers to decrease language anxiety in their students. The data was collected by using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through content analysis. The analysis showed that the main causes of language anxiety were four significant factors: communication apprehension, test anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and classroom environment. In particular, the study showed that all the students felt more anxious when they were uncomfortable with their surroundings and when they felt under pressure to perform. Negative evaluation from other students affected their confidence level, which was another crucial cause of anxiety. All the students expressed that the teacher's approach had a significant effect on their anxiety level, and all the teachers claimed to adapt their English-speaking activities to each student’s needs. A general conclusion is that the students’ anxiety varies depending on the English-speaking activity and their teacher’s approach, which was acknowledged by the teacher.