THE SURVEY ON THE IMPACT OF SELF-CONFIDENCE ON THE SPEAKING SKILLS OF ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS

Abstract

This research examined a survey about the level of impact of self-confidence in English speaking of English-major students. The study adopted a mixed method comprising qualitative and quantitative methods to survey. There were 21 statements in the questionnaire to collect the qualitative data following the Likert scale and a semi-interview was conducted by 10 participants from the 100 participants who completed the questionnaire. The findings revealed that self-confidence had a signif-icant impact on the speaking skills of students, with the overall level assessed as av-erage. However, there still was a difference between some students; some displayed a higher degree of self-confidence in certain comfortable settings while others shared their nervousness a lot, particularly in situations in class or unfamiliar topics. The result highlights some factors that impact self-confidence when speaking English, comprising personal experience, language proficiency, learning environment and teacher’s feedback. Psychological barriers such as fear of being judged, anxiety and uncertainty about vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation were considered as the factors and obstacles to the self-confidence of students.