Having good English proficiency is crucial in today's borderless world for developing individuals with communicative competence. The ability of students to interact with others and share information in a common language is essential, particularly as Malaysia upholds English as a second language. However, despite receiving formal exposure to the English language since primary school, there are still cases where students, especially university students in Malaysia, still frequently encounter public speaking anxiety, which affects their academic participation and performance. While most students are seen to be scoring well in language proficiency tests conducted in universities, many students are reported to have high levels of anxiety during presentations, oral exams, and group discussions. This study aimed to explore English proficiency of second language learners and its relationship with public speaking anxiety. A questionnaire comprising 35 questions was administered to 121 English language learners at a public university in Malaysia. Findings depicted that there is no significant relationship between students’ overall English language proficiency and their public speaking anxiety (r = .025, p = .784). Future recommendations for studies to be conducted on giving emphasis on students’ communicative competence to match their English proficiency performances and achievement.
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