Social Anxiety Symptoms as Predictors of Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety among Kurdish EFL Students: Mediating Role of Acceptance and Action

Aziz, Sherwan; Ibrahim, Rawezh; Abubaker, Barham

doi:10.24271/garmian.2023.10285

Social Anxiety Symptoms as Predictors of Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety among Kurdish EFL Students: Mediating Role of Acceptance and Action

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Sherwan Aziz ¹

Rawezh Ibrahim ²

Barham Abubaker ³

¹ Education and Psychology Department, University of Raparin

² English Department, University of Raparin

³ Ministry of Education, Directorate of Education _ Pshdar

https://doi.org/10.24271/garmian.2023.10285

Abstract

The current study examines the direct and indirect effects of social anxiety symptoms on Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety (FLSA). In the model, action and acceptance of social anxiety symptoms were entered as meditating variables. A total of 230 Kurdish undergraduate EFL learners were recruited. They responded to the standardized speaking anxiety items according to the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986), the Brief Version of Social Anxiety – Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (BVSA-AAQ; Mac Kenzie et al. 2016), and the Social Anxiety Questionnaire (SAQ; Łakuta, 2018). For the analysis of the data, multiple regression and path analysis was used by Amos. The results suggest that among five social anxiety symptoms, somatic and cognitive symptoms (SCS), safety behaviors (SB), and anticipatory and post-event rumination (APER) explain about 39 percent of the speaking anxiety scores. Acceptance, but not action, has a mediating role between social anxiety symptoms and the foreign language speaking anxiety. According to the findings of this study, reducing anxiety symptoms by using acceptance of them and mindfulness-based techniques can help EFL students to improve their communicative skills.

Keywords

Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety

Social Anxiety

Acceptance and Action