Mics on mute: Speaking Anxiety among Prospective Special Education Teachers

Abstract

The pandemic caused schools to close and students to stay at home in different countries around the globe. Due to the above-mentioned information, educational institutions opted to shift from traditional face-to-face classes to virtual classrooms. Thus, this study aims to determine the factors that trigger prospective special education teachers’ speaking anxiety in the virtual classroom and the prospective special education teachers’ coping mechanism with speaking anxiety inside the virtual classroom. Moreover, this study used a qualitative-descriptive design and then utilized a semi-structured interview. The respondents were chosen via purposive sampling. The total number of respondents is twenty (20) and they are all prospective special education teachers. Their ages ranged from 20 to 22 years old. It was revealed in the study that the factors that trigger prospective special education teachers’ speaking anxiety are the following: classmate factor, teacher factor, internal factor, learning environment factor, connectivity issues, low self-esteem, overthinking, pressure, being afraid of disappointments, not being a good speaker, and technological factor. On the other hand, these are the revealed coping mechanisms: talking to yourself, cutting explanations short, preparing a script before the class, staying focused, reading ahead of time, and seeking motivation.