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Abstract
Teaching anxiety refers to the state of apprehension experienced by teachers while teaching in the class due to various factors. Teaching anxiety can have an impact on teachers' professional performance, motivation, and approach to their students. Recognizing and managing teaching anxiety can enhance the success levels of both teachers and students. Similarly, EFL teachers also experience anxiety while teaching the foreign language in the class for some reasons such as students’ proficiency levels and language performance. Reducing foreign language teaching anxiety (FLTA) is crucial for fostering a more efficient and effective language learning process in the class. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the FLTA of in-service EFL teachers as well as to uncover the underlying factors behind their teaching anxiety. This aim also serves to potentially improve the participants’ awareness of their FLTA in the class. This study employed a qualitative phenomenological research design. Ten in-service EFL teachers, actively teaching the language as a profession, participated in the study. They were selected using a combination of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews and reflection papers were utilized in order to elicit the data regarding the FLTA of the participants. The gathered qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis which reveals themes and codes about the in-service EFL teachers’ FLTA. The study yielded that students’ language performance, teaching language skills, and teachers’ lack of experience were the main factors that created anxiety on EFL teachers while teaching in the class. It has also provided some suggestions as how to alleviate teaching anxiety among in-service EFL teachers. Furthermore, the study has contributed to the understanding of teaching anxiety among in-service EFL teachers and to the enhancement of their capabilities as EFL teachers.
