Speaking anxiety is a common challenge in English academic debate, where students are required to perform publicly under evaluative and time-pressured conditions. This study aimed to explore the manifestations, causes, and coping strategies of speaking anxiety among students in an English debate class.
Using a descriptive qualitative design, the study involved third-semester students of the English Education Department at Universitas Muhammadiyah Ponorogo. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations conducted during debate activities.
The findings indicate that speaking anxiety is a multidimensional and situational phenomenon, manifested through physiological, cognitive, and behavioral responses across trait-based, context-based, situation-based, and audience-based dimensions of communication apprehension. The debate context itself emerged as the primary trigger of anxiety. Fear of Negative Evaluation was identified as the core cause, particularly related to being assessed by lecturers and peers. This fear was intensified by concerns over linguistic accuracy and argument quality, conceptualized as Performance Quality Concern, as well as by familiarity with classmates, which heightened concern over social image. Observational data supported these findings, revealing hesitation, reliance on scripts, avoidance of eye contact, and visible nervousness during debate sessions.
Students employed both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies; however, these strategies mainly functioned as short-term regulation and did not substantially reduce underlying evaluative fears. Overall, the study concludes that speaking anxiety in English academic debate is shaped primarily by situational and social factors. These findings suggest the need for pedagogical practices that foster supportive evaluation and psychologically safe debate environments to enhance students’ speaking confidence and wellbeing.