Assessment of the emotions that block Ecuadorian students from speaking English in class: Case Los Ríos Province

This study aimed to define the emotions that block Ecuadorian students from speaking English in the classroom. The population within the research consisted of 138 participants, 80 from elementary school and 58 from high school, aged between 11 and 18 years. Information was obtained through classroom observations, questionnaires, interviews, and visual narratives. The results revealed that different emotions hinder students from speaking English in class, such as the fear of making a mistake, 30.80%; fear of being judged by others, 21.88%; shyness, 18.30%; lack of confidence, 12.50%; and anxiety, 2.68%. Pearson’s correlation tests revealed that there is an influence of gender with respect to the type of emotion experienced, female students expressed greater susceptibility to negative emotions compared to male students. Findings suggest that Ecuadorian teachers should be more aware of their students’ emotions in order to find the possible approaches that may result in an improvement in their English language. The authors recommend carrying out more studies on the connection between emotions and speaking, or emotions and any other skills.