Debate is often lauded as an excellent tool to encourage critical thinking skills and enhance speaking skills. However, some students claim that they feel apprehensive when taking part in this activity. Anxiety can be a motivating factor but for some it can be debilitating. This paper aims to measure the anxiety level of English as a Second Language (ESL) students at various points along the stages of undergoing a debate competition. It also aims to find out the anxiety level between male and female students and the anxiety level among students of three different critical thinking groups: low, moderate and high critical thinking ability. The findings show that students with low critical thinking ability experienced higher anxiety than those from the moderate or high critical thinking group. Findings also show that at the beginning of the competition, the female students were more anxious than the male students, but at the end of the competition the anxiety level tapered to almost the same level.
Abdul Rahman, N.A., & Ahmad Mahir, N. (2008). Communication Apprehension in a Language
Classroom. In Haliza Harun (Eds.). Issues on English as a Second Language Pedagogy: A Research Based Perspective. Penerbit USIM.
Abdullah, A.N., Chan S.W., & Yusof, N. (2012). Investigating the construct of anxiety in relation
to speaking skills among ESL tertiary learners. The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 18(3), 155-166.
Arnaiz, P., & Guillen F. (2012). Foreign Language Anxiety in a Spanish University Setting:
Interpersonal Differences: Revista dePsicodidactica, 17(1), 5-26.
Basic, L. (2011). Speaking anxiety: An obstacle to second language learning? Retrieved from
https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:453921/fulltext01.pd
Bellon, J. (2000) A research based justification for debate across the curriculum. Argumentation
and Advocacy, 36(3), 161-173.
Bronwell, C.C., & and Eison, J.A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom
(ASHE–ERIC Higher Education Rep.No. 1). Washington, D.C.: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.
Gervey, R., Drout M.O., & Wang C.C. (2009). Debate in the classroom: An evaluation of a critical
thinking teaching technique within a rehabilitation counseling course. Rehabilitation Education, 23(1), 61-73.
Gonca, S. (2010). What are the main sources of Turkish EFL students’ anxiety in oral practice.
Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, 1(2), 29-49.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B. and Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern
Language Journal, 70(2), 125-132.
Horwitz, M. B., Horwitz, E. K., & Cope, J. (1991). Foreign language classroom anxiety. In E. K.
Horwitz & D. J. Young (Eds.), Language anxiety: From theory and research to classroom implications (pp. 27-39). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Jerome, L., & Algarra, B. (2006). English-speaking union London debate challenge: 2005-06 final
evaluation report. Cambridge and Chelmsford: Anglia Ruskin University.
Kennedy, R. (2007). In-class debates: fertile ground for active learning and the cultivation of
critical thinking and oral communication skills. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 19(2), 183-190.
Kennedy, R. R. (2009). The power of in-class debates. Active Learning in Higher Education, 10(3),
225-236
Khan, S. A., Omar, H., Babar, M. G., & Toh, C. G. (2012). Utilization of debate as an educational
tool to learn health economics for dental students in Malaysia. Journal of Dental Education, 76(12), 1675-1683.
Kitano, K. (2001). Anxiety in the college Japanese language classroom. The Modern Language
Journal, 85, 549-566.
Littlefield, R. (2001). High school student perceptions of the efficacy of debate participation.
Argumentation and Advocacy, 38(2), 83-97.
Littlewood, W. T. (1996) Foreign and second language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Machida, S. (2001). Anxiety in Japanese-language class oral examinations. Sekai Nihongo
Kyoiku, 11, 115-138.
MacIntyre, P. D. (1998). Language anxiety: A review of the research for language teachers. In
Young, D. J. (Ed.), Affect In Foreign Language and Second Language Learning (pp. 24-45). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Mak, B. (2011). An exploration of speaking-in-class anxiety with Chinese ESL
learners. System, 39(2), 202-214.
McCroskey, J. C. (1970). Measures of communication-bound anxiety. Speech Monographs, 37,
269-277.
Mohamad, A. R. B., & Ab Wahid, N. D. B. (2009). Anxiety and speaking English as a second
language among male and female business students in Universiti Industri Selangor. Segi Review, 2(2), 65-84.
Moon, J. (2005). Critical thinking. Bristol: Bristol ESCalte Publication.
Occhipinti, A. (2009). Foreign Language Anxiety in in-Class Speaking Activities-Two Learning
Context in Comparison. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, the University of Oslo, Norway.
Omelicheva, M., & Avdeyeva, O. (2008). Teaching with lecture or debate: Testing the
effectiveness of traditional versus active learning methods of instruction. PS: Political Science and Politics, 41, 603-607.
Othman M, Mohamad F., & Amiri F. (2013) English Debate League Competition among Lower
Form Students: An experiential Learning Activity. US-China Foreign Language, 11(11), 840-853.
Othman. M., Zulkefli, M.H., Hashim, R., & Mohamad, F (2015).The Effects of Debate
Competition on Critical Thinking among Malaysian Second Language Learners. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 23 (4), 656-664.
Radzuan, N. R. M., & Kaur, S. (2010). A Survey of oral communication apprehension in English
among ESP learners in an engineering course. English for Specific Purposes World, 10(31), 168-182.
Scovel, T. (1978). The effect of affect on foreign language learning: A review of the anxiety
research. Language Learning, 28(1), 129-142.
Nazara, S. (2011). Students’ perception on EFL speaking skills development. Journal of English
Teaching, 1(1), 1-16.
Virginia Shipman (1983). New Jersey test of Reasoning Skills (NJTRS). Upper Montclair, NJ:
Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (IAPC).
Vo, H.X., & Morris R.L. (2006). Debate as a tool in teaching economics: Rationale, technique,
and some evidence. Journal of Education for Business, 81(6), 315-320.
Wan Mustapha, W.Z., Ismail, N., Deepak, S.R.S., & Elias, S. (2010). ESL students’ communication
apprehension and their choice of communicative activities. Asean Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2(1), 22-29.
Williams, D., McGee, B., & Worth, D. (2001). University student perceptions of the efficacy of
debate participation: An empirical investigation. Argumentation and Advocacy, 37, 198-209.
Young, D. J. (1990). An investigation of learners’ perspectives on anxiety and speaking. Foreign
Language Annals, 23(6), 539–553.
Zheng. Ying (2008). Anxiety and Second/Foreign language learning revisited. Canadian Journal
for New Scholars in Education, 1(1), 1-12.
Anthony, N. N. Z., Othman, M., & Ismail, L. (2017). Anxiety and Critical Thinking in Debate. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(14), 398-408.
Copyright: © 2017 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
