Analyzing Gender Differences in Speaking Anxiety Among EFL Students

Abstract

Speaking anxiety remains one of the most persistent psychological barriers in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, particularly when students are expected to perform orally in front of peers and teachers. This study aimed to identify the level of speaking anxiety experienced by male and female students at a private senior high school in Padang in the 2025/2026 academic year and to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the two gender groups. The study employed a quantitative approach with a differential design. Sixty students, consisting of 30 male and 30 female students, were selected through simple random sampling from the population of SMA Adabiah 2 Padang. Data were collected using an adapted Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale questionnaire consisting of 33 Likert-scale items covering communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, assumption testing, and the Independent Samples t-Test with SPSS version 31. The results showed that most students experienced a moderate level of speaking anxiety (61.6%), while 21.7% were in the high category and 16.6% were in the low category. The t-test result indicated a significant difference between male and female students (Sig. 2-tailed = 0.003), with female students reporting higher anxiety scores. The findings imply that EFL speaking instruction should employ gender-sensitive, low-risk, and confidence-building activities.