Language anxiety in a Makati telecommunications company

• Main Author: Javillonar, Mary Kathleen Garcia
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2002
• Subjects: Anxiety; English language; Language acquisition; Mass Communication
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/2945
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study seeks to ascertain if language anxiety exists among employees in the workplace. Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions: (1) What factors, in order of priority, act as filters among employees in the use the English language in the workplace? (2) In what situations in the workplace do they feel embarrassed in using the English language? (3) What measures can be taken to ease language anxiety in the workplace? The study employed the descriptive method which aimed to discover the contributing factors for the phenomenon of language anxiety among IT professionals in the workplace. The instruments used include a survey questionnaire, the English Language Workplace Anxiety Scale, and informal surveys or interviews. The participants of the study are the 31 employees of the Information Technology Group of a well-known telecommunications company. The findings reveal that the number one filter includes the limited vocabulary, fear of making grammatical mistakes, and fear of mispronouncing words, with a mean of 2.92. The second filter includes the fear of being humiliated and embarrassed, negative criticisms, and being a laughingstock, with a mean of 2.83. The third is lack of skill and experience, lack of practice, and lack of motivation, with a mean of 2.81. The fourth is lack of self-confidence, with a mean of 2.76, and the fifth filter is presence of foreigners, with a mean of 2.51. The following are the situations when employees use Taglish in communicating: when talking with a Filipino colleague, when talking with an English-speaking officemate, when talking with their supervisor, when talking with a senior employee and when introducing themselves in a meeting. This fact implies that they are afraid to use English and simply create Taglish to play safe about their grammar. The employees use English in different situations. They do not show any form of anxiety in the following situations: when talking with a foreigner, when attending a seminar, when talking with an executive secretary and when talking with the HRD manager. However, the employees use both English and Filipino when talking with their immediate superior.