An evaluation of speaking anxiety for learners of Turkish as a foreign language

In this study, the reasons of the anxiety of the learners of Turkish as a foreign language that occurs while gaining of the speaking skills or during putting it into practice after gaining were tried to be researched and evaluated with the help of the developed foreign language speaking anxiety scale and personal information form. The population of the study consists of undergraduate students who learn Turkish as a foreign language in Turkey. Within the scope of the research, the students attending to Gazi University Turkish Education Research and Application Center, (GÜ TÖMER), İnönü University Turkish Education Center (İNÖNÜ TÖMER), Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Turkish Education Center (TGOÜ TÖMER) and Karadeniz Technical University TÖMER (KATÜ TÖMER) were taken as a sample based on easily accessible sampling method. In order to obtain valid data for the study, speaking anxiety scale and personal information form were applied to the students in the B level based on the EU Language Criteria. In the sample, there are 187 students who learn Turkish as a foreign language and are in B level. The questionnaire given to the students consists of two parts. In the first part, a section where students' personal information is filled and in the second part, the Turkish adaptation of the foreign language speaking anxiety scale developed by Huang (2004) is included. As a data collection tool, students' name and surname, country and gender questions are included in the personal information form. While analyzing the data obtained from the scale and personal information form, the SPSS 22 package program, which is mainly used in the analysis of social research, was used. When the findings of the students' foreign language speaking anxiety are examined, it is concluded that there is no significant difference between male and female students regarding the foreign language speaking anxiety. When the findings of the students' foreign language anxiety about their country are examined, it is seen that the students of Tajikistan, Libya and Kyrgyzstan have the lowest level of anxiety and, on the contrary, they have the highest rank average among the students of Lebanon, Thailand and Albania. Therefore, it is concluded that there is a significant difference in language speaking anxiety among students of these countries compared to students of other countries. Keywords: Turkish as a Foreign Language, Language Skills, Speaking Skill, Speaking Anxiety.