A Comparative and Correlational Study of Face-to-Face and Face-to-Screen EFL Students' Speaking Anxiety with Reference to Complex Dynamic Systems Theory

The present study sought to examine if there was a difference in students’ speaking skill (sub-skills) in the different learning environments of Face-to-Face versus Face-to-Screen based on foreign language anxiety levels in both environments. To investigate the interactions of the elements influencing students' anxiety, this study used the Complex Dynamic Systems Theory as a lens. The study participants were EFL seniors enrolled in the Faculty of Education at Damietta University. The participants were assigned to one group (N=30) in the academic year 2020/2021. Two scales were administered to the participants: the Online World Languages Anxiety Scale (OWLAS) face-to-screen (F2Screen) during the lockdown of COVID-19 and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) Face-to-Face(F2F) after the lockdown ended. Three hypotheses were formulated. Pearson correlation coefficient and t-Test and a were used for statistical analysis. Results revealed that there is a statistically significant difference in anxiety scores as measured by the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale between two types of learning environments; F2F setting and Face-to-Screen setting, in favour of the F2F setting. Results also indicated that there was no correlation between the participants’ mean scores in the FLCAS and the total scores  of the three sub-skills of speaking.Additionally, results indicates that there was no correlation between the participants’ mean scores in the OWLAS and the total of the three sub-skills of speaking.