Employing Teacher Feedback as a Strategy to Mitigate Learners’ Speaking Anxiety: A Case Study

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of teacher feedback on speaking anxiety among secondary school ESL students. Speaking anxiety is one of the major challenges faced by students when required to speak English in class, often hindering their oral communication development. The study involved 120 participants, consisting of 100 students and 20 English teachers. Employing a qualitative case study design, data were collected using three main instruments: semi-structured interview guidelines, a structured classroom observation checklist, and students’ reflective journal prompts. The interview protocol explored participants’ perceptions of feedback and its influence on their confidence and anxiety. The observation checklist documented the type, timing, tone, and delivery mode of teacher feedback, as well as students’ immediate behavioral reactions. Reflective journals captured students’ personal emotional responses to feedback during speaking activities. The findings reveal that supportive, empathetic, and constructive feedback significantly reduced students’ speaking anxiety, increased self-confidence, and encouraged active participation in oral tasks. A positive classroom atmosphere characterized by respectful teacher–student interaction further enabled learners to engage in speaking without fear of negative judgment. In contrast, harsh or overly critical feedback, particularly when delivered publicly, tended to trigger embarrassment and heightened anxiety. The study also highlights the importance of balancing corrective and supportive feedback while remaining sensitive to individual and gender differences, as students’ perceptions of feedback mediated its emotional impact and willingness to communicate. Teacher feedback functions not only as a pedagogical tool for improving linguistic accuracy but also as an affective support mechanism that shapes students’ emotional readiness to speak in a second language. Emotionally responsive feedback practices are therefore essential in ESL classrooms.