Abstract:
Effective communication skills are undeniably regarded as the most important characteristic in
English language learning. However, becoming communicatively competent is difficult for
foreign language learners .As the literature indicates, the speaking is extremely anxiety
provoking in many languages. The present study aims at finding out the level of
xenoglossophobia experienced by third year EFL students of Djilali Bounaama University,as
well as its effect on their oral academic achievement and the factors contributing to their
speaking anxiety.This research is carried out by employing both quantitative and qualitative
method. Data have been gathered from 80 third year EFL students of Djilali Bounaama
Univesity through a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview with 13 students who belong
to the high anxiety level category. The findings indicate that the students generally had low level
of anxiety .A statistically significant relation between the level of xenoglossophobia and
students’ oral achievement has been determined. The interview data indicate that the anxiety has
been caused because of several factors: social, linguistic,pedagogical and personal factors.
Finally, this research offers recommendations for future research.
