Fear of making mistakes is the most significant cause of foreign language speaking anxiety among Iranian EFL learners (81%)¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr1·q2
Currency · newest study 2017 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2022: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Among Iranian EFL institute learners, fear of making mistakes ranked first among 23 possible sources of speaking anxiety, endorsed by 81% of respondents. → Sadighi 2017
Evidence¶
Sadighi 2017¶
Sadighi, F., & Dastpak, M. (2017). The Sources of Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety of Iranian English Language Learners. International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.5n.4p.111
q2 · i? · associational · r1
Questionnaire survey of 154 EFL learners in English language institutes in Shiraz, using a 23-item revised FLCAS scored on a Likert scale; response frequencies were counted to rank causes. Fear of making mistakes was the most significant cause of anxiety (81%).
"Table 1 indicates that among the possible sources of foreign language speaking anxiety, "fear of making mistakes" was the most significant cause of anxiety (81%)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Fear of negative evaluation and limited vocabulary knowledge rank second and third as sources of speaking anxiety (78% and 72%) — related
- Lack of practice ranks fourth among speaking anxiety sources, which the authors suggest may be due to teacher-centered Iranian classrooms — related
- Anxiety in foreign language classroom learning experiences is linked with oral performance among Japanese EFL learners — related
- Speaking practice opportunities and teacher support reduced classroom anxiety and increased self-efficacy for one learner — related
- EFL students report that games reduce speaking stress and improve speaking skills — related
- AI reduces foreign language anxiety and strengthens self-efficacy and self-confidence, supporting the Affective Foundation Pathway — related
- A unique form of anxiety experienced in response to learning or using an L2 was identified in the mid-1980s — related
- The authors claim that making teachers' own mistakes, struggles, and fears central to the curriculum lessens students' fear of making mistakes in a new endeavor — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
fear-of-mistakes-top-speaking-anxiety-iranian-efl |
title |
Fear of making mistakes is the most significant cause of foreign language speaking anxiety among Iranian EFL learners (81%) |
description |
Fear of making mistakes is the most significant cause of foreign language speaking anxiety among Iranian EFL learners (81%) |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2017 |
source_checked |
2026-10-20 |
recheck_by |
2022 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-09-27 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — sadighi-2017 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.