Affective Filters’ Extent of Influence on Oral Communication: L2 Learners’ Perceptions

Second language (L2) learners are taught to speak English to be able to communicate effectively like when debating a topic and conversing about everyday topics. However, studies suggest that L2 students feel unmotivated, unconfident, and anxious speaking English in and out of classroom environments, which then creates an impact on the development of their language proficiency and efficiency. This paper primarily aimed to determine the affective filter’s extent of influence on oral communication based on the perception of senior high school ESL students in a southern Philippine private school. Using the descriptive-quantitative design, data were gathered via a survey questionnaire from a total of 258 senior high school students. Results reveal that students’ affective filters generally influence their oral communication to a moderate extent. Among Krashen’s identified affective filters (self-motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety), three indicators of self-motivation garnered the highest mean ratings and standard deviation scores. The results show that students' oral communication is most influenced by their motivation to learn the target language, which in turn makes the learning process fun and gives them real-world opportunities to use the language. The study's pedagogical implications for the future of language education include a call for teachers to maintain high levels of student motivation, assist their students in building self-confidence, and devise strategies to boost their students' linguistic competence in the classroom. In order to strengthen students' capacity for effective oral communication, it is imperative that school officials give more weight to students' affective development.


Introduction
In today's globalized world, students benefit greatly from learning English because of the language's status as the global lingua franca which is utilized in materializing and expanding job opportunities in the global economy. Moreover, English provides access to new forms of media, which in turn stimulates more robust dialogues or exchanges on pressing issues. Due to this, English has emerged as the undisputed international language of choice (Crystal, 2007). Therefore, in order to compete in the global economy, today's students need to succeed in multinational corporations, international trade, diplomacy, and the scientific and technological fields. Yet, in order to achieve these goals, students need to be communicative in English, i.e., students should at least be able to speak the language effectively and purposefully while studying, e.g., in in-depth discussions and even in casual conversations in preparation for their future careers (Lemana, 2022).
Nonetheless, in academic discussions, ESL students in Asia are frequently portrayed as introverted and uninvolved participants (Nadesan & Shah, 2020;Takahashi, 2019;Wan, 2021). They are deemed to be attentive and note-taking students but are otherwise reticent to actively engage in class. Such a concern that Asian learners are unresponsive, question-averse, passive, and overly reliant on their teachers has been highlighted in other research as well (see Kim, 2006;Takahashi, 2019). For instance, Wu's (2019) study at a Chinese university surveyed 144 students to learn what they thought was causing their hesitation. According to the results, students' reticence is linked to factors including limited language competency, fear of speaking a foreign language, introversion, and teacher influence. The study implies that students try to increase their oral English production by motivating themselves, getting ready in advance, and engaging in regular practice and that teachers will facilitate more speaking activities, provide direction, and be friendly to boost student participation.
Meanwhile, Filipinos show a higher degree of emotional disturbances when speaking English for oral communication in academic settings than in casual circumstances (Chureson, 2012). Hamouda (2013) says that these affective factors-fear of public speaking, fear of being judged negatively, shyness, lack of confidence, lack of preparation and fear of making mistakes, reluctance to criticize peers' opinions, fear of lecturers, and the possibility of asking for more information-make it hard for students to speak up in class. According to Krashen (1986), when these factors are present, it becomes more challenging for one to learn a target language, e.g., English. Krashen's affective filter hypothesis purports that as a mental barrier, 90 | International Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies, Volume 4 Issue 1 a negative affective filter rises to prevent information from entering and thereby blocks thinking. In contrast, when the affective filter is weakened, a sense of security is enhanced, and linguistic development takes place. Thus, studies (see Chureson, 2012;Hamouda, 2013;Takahashi, 2019;Wan, 2021;Wu, 2019) on how to combat these filters to strengthen the second language learning environment for students have called the attention of language researchers since then till now.
Language teachers, linguists, and scholars have debated and researched affective concerns in recent years, and variables were discovered to have a substantial impact on oral communication success. In fact, previous related studies (see Chureson, 2012;Hamouda, 2013;Takahashi, 2019;Wan, 2021;Wu, 2019) dwelt on a particular affective filer or an emotive aspect of students' communication while learning English as a foreign or second language, but the present researchers have not stumbled upon a study considering all three affective filters that apparently take part in students' oral communication, more so a study in the locale of this study with the chosen respondents; hence, this study was pursued.
Using Krashen's (1986) affective filter hypothesis, this study determines the extent of influence of the affective factors on oral communication based on the perception of senior high school students in a southern Philippine private school. This study argues that English teachers must be propelled to boost the confidence of their passive students so that they can participate actively in speaking classroom activities. From the findings, this study is expected to benefit school administrators by providing a baseline for planning, monitoring, and evaluating intervention programs in addressing affective filters towards improving students' oral communication skills. This study also hopes to spark greater research on affective filters' functions in strengthening students' writing, reading, and listening skills, which have pedagogical implications for language teaching and learning.

Krashen's Affective Filter Hypothesis
The affective filter hypothesis proposed by Krashen in 1985 suggests that learners of a language may be distracted by emotional factors while they are engaged in the process of language acquisition. For instance, it is possible that students will not be able to comprehend what they are meant to learn at school as a result of the unfriendly temperament of their teacher or the antagonistic and competitive attitudes of their fellow students. Krashen contends, in the affective filter theory he developed, that in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), a ISSN 2719-0633 (Print) 2719-0641 (Online) | 91 number of significant factors that influence the success of language learners should be tied to the learners' emotional state. The degree to which a student is motivated to participate in class and the degree to which their instructors encourage them to believe in themselves are two factors that can influence the effectiveness of the student's second-language acquisition.
The fundamental tenet of the affective filter theory is that students of second languages who possess high levels of motivation, high levels of self-confidence, and low levels of anxiety are better equipped for success. Conversely, a lack of motivation, poor levels of selfconfidence, and chronic anxiety can "increase" the affective filter and create a "mental block" that restricts the utilization of understandable input for the purpose of acquisition.

Self-motivation
In the context of ESL teaching and learning, students' communication readiness is affected by motivation. He (2016) states that motivation is an inner power that allows learners to love speaking English, and regardless of motivation, a strong desire to succeed and excel in oral communication will increase study interest. Studies (see Cho & Heron, 2015;Cho & Shen, 2013;Stark, 2019) have shown that students with a strong desire to succeed are more likely to keep learning and get better grades than those with a weaker desire. This shows that building motivation to learn is important for every teacher to help them improve students' oral English proficiency, which affects their academic performance. On the other hand, Juhana (2012) opines that arguably the failure of teachers to urge learners to use English in class is the primary cause of the learners' unwillingness to speak the language themselves.
In a study by Amoah and Yeboah (2021), non-English majors at a Chinese university were observed to find out what factors affect their speaking skills, how motivated they were, and how they could improve their English as a foreign language (EFL) skills. Seventy-five respondents filled out two surveys and participated in one interview question for the study.
Findings show that the factors that hold respondents back from speaking well are either linguistic or psychological. It was also found that Chinese EFL learners have more trouble speaking because of psychological issues like anxiety, fear of making mistakes, unwillingness, and fear of getting a bad grade than because of linguistic issues like a lack of vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar rules, reading, and oral presentation. The study came to the conclusion that motivation is one of the most important parts of getting good at speaking. It suggested that teachers create an environment that will help students feel less anxious or shy and find ways to boost their speaking confidence.

Self-confidence
Confidence, a key emotional element, is thought to play a big influence on learning, according to Krashen (1985). Self-confidence, sometimes referred to as self-esteem, is that crucial feeling one can achieve what he has set for himself, such as winning the next point or making a selection. In communication, this is manifested through speaking with confidence, avoiding distractions, and expressing thoughts. Accordingly, self-confidence inspires positive learning and thus motivates students to learn the target language, enjoy the process, experience actual dialogue, speak whole phrases, and speak through attempting.
In addition, according to the reasoning behind Krashen's beliefs, learners' lack of English competence can be another factor contributing to their lack of self-confidence.
According to Banjong (2015), a lack of fluency in spoken English has a negative impact on students' self-esteem. This is due to the fact that many students struggle to deal with the peculiarities of the target language that they are learning. Low self-esteem has repercussions not only in the daily life of the learners but also, potentially, in their academic accomplishments. This goes to show that students who struggle with their confidence tend to be reserved, unwilling to speak out in class, and unable to formulate logical statements while they are there. Furthermore, according to Juhana (2012), some of the factors that contribute to a lack of self-confidence are the fear of making errors, the fear of being laughed at, and the fear of receiving poor marks. Learners who struggle with low levels of self-confidence in the speaking classroom will consequently have less opportunity to practice, resulting in difficulty expressing themselves in English (Gabejan, 2021).

Anxiety
Anxiety, or language anxiety, has been deemed a significant obstacle for language learners, which is not surprising given the enormous attention that is being paid to the acquisition of foreign languages. Horwitz et al. (1986) state that language anxiety is "a distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning that arises from the singularity of the language learning process." In a similar vein, another prominent definition was produced by Maclntyre (1999) who defined language anxiety as a sensation of stress, nervousness, emotional reactivity, and worry that is linked to the process of learning a second or foreign language.
Even from a modern point of view, Oteir and Al-Otaibi (2019) maintain that anxiety can make it demanding for someone to learn a new language. Researchers in the field of language learning, such as Alrabai (2014) and Wu (2010), found that anxiety is one of the biggest problems that EFL learners face when trying to learn a language. This denotes that language anxiety is a sort of situational anxiety that stems from the novel circumstances of formal language study, and more specifically from a person's negative perception of their own communicative ability in the target language (Djafri & Wimbarti, 2018;Rodriguez & Abreu, 2003). Thus, anxiety stands out among other affective variables as one of the most significant obstacles to effective language acquisition. As a result, teachers of foreign languages frequently stress the importance of helping their students understand that fear can have a detrimental effect on their progress in the subject. In their study, Tsiplakides and Keramida (2009) elaborate on this idea by showing that anxious students are less likely to take part in speaking activities because they believe they are not good at speaking and fear that their classmates will evaluate them adversely if they do.

Methodology
Using a descriptive-quantitative design, this study was conducted to determine affective filters' extent of influence on oral communication based on the perceptions of senior high school ESL students in a private Catholic school in the southern part of the Philippines.
This school was purposively chosen for the study by virtue of convenience and direct usability of research findings, as this was where the main author worked as an English teacher. By using Slovin's formula, the study figured out how many samples were needed (N=848; n=258).
Through a stratified sampling technique, the study considered 149 Grade 11 (55.60%) and 119 Grade 12 (44.40%) respondents. Meanwhile, senior high school students in the school were chosen as respondents as it was convenient for the researchers to request to participate.
Nonetheless, it was clarified to them that their (non)participation in the study would not impact in any way their marks in English or in any other subjects. Their profile indicates that their age ranged from 16 to 21 years old, 126 of them were males and 142 others were females, and they were from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Ilonggo, Ilocano, Cebuano, Maguindanaon, Maranao, others). As to their strands, 110 pursued Humanities and Social Sciences; 15 were under the General Academic Strand, while under the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), there were 97 of them; lastly, 46 took the Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM) strand.
To collect the needed data, the study used a researcher-made survey questionnaire validated by three language research experts. Written in English, the one-part questionnaire 94 | International Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies, Volume 4 Issue 1 consisted of 30 items, with 10 items for each of Krashen's (1985) affective filters, i.e., selfmotivation, self-confidence, and anxiety. The instrument made use of an adopted 4-point Likert scale (McLeod, 2019) where 4 = strongly agree, 3 = agree, 2 = disagree, and 1 = strongly disagree. In terms of data gathering procedure and data analysis, the researchers addressed a letter to the president of the school and the principal of the senior high school department to perform the study with a systematic execution. After receiving clearance from the president and the principal, the researchers disseminated survey questionnaires to respondents through Google form on a certain date and time and ensured their retrieval one week later. The data were tabulated and processed to provide the relevant figures for analysis. Moreover, the analysis of the data was done using the IBM SPSS Statistics 28.0.1.1 application. Utilizing particular statistical tools like frequency, percentage distribution, mean, and standard deviation, the results were interpreted and discussed accordingly. Specifically, in the discussion of the results, the three highest and the three lowest mean ratings with their standard deviations (SDs) were highlighted.
This study also assured that ethical protocols were adhered to strictly. Prior to data collection, necessary clearances from school authorities were obtained. The comments and suggestions of the school research panel of four specialists were taken into account and incorporated into the manuscript. All respondents were also able to express their voluntary participation by signing the consent form, which explained the objective and nature of the research. These respondents were not coerced into disclosing any information. Writing their names on the form may or may not appear in the survey, and their replies were treated confidentially. Similarly, their safety was addressed, as no rigorous physical work that could impair their overall health was performed.

Findings and Discussion
Based on Table 1 Richards (2008) said, which is that most people who learn a foreign language are most interested in speaking and want to improve their speaking skills more than other skills. This is because success in learning English is often linked to speaking skills that affect academic performance, while mastery of a language is often the same as speaking it well. Self-motivation #5-I want to learn to speak English well for it will be helpful for my future job (M= 3.28, SD= 0.91) ranks second. The respondents could have believed that having a strong command of the English language would result in higher-paying occupations, more opportunities to rise in one's social standing and greater social achievements. They may have also thought that knowing English can boost their chance of obtaining a decent career with a multinational organization in their native country or finding employment overseas. This finding corroborates the claim from the study of Khan and Takkac (2021), which states that one of the reasons why one has to learn English as the international lingua franca is a desire for career and socioeconomic enhancement. According to Chung (2013), students of today are under the impression that acquiring English language skills is necessary for them to acquire a respectable career in the future and that acquiring English language skills may increase their chances of obtaining employment. This kind of instrumental motivation, in their view, plays an important part in the learners' contemporary learning environment.

Self-motivation #9-I want to learn oral English well so I can go abroad in the future
(M= 3.26, SD= 0.73) falls third in rank. Respondents may have been motivated by the fact that in order to work abroad, where the salary is drastically higher than that in the Philippines, they need to learn English first and employ it very competently in school. Hamouda (2013) emphasizes that in international companies, English is the most likely language to be encountered, as it is the most widely used business language in the world. Therefore, applicants are frequently required to speak this language, and their salary grade may depend on their language proficiency. In a similar vein, Tran (2013) adds that English is essential for present students since it will assist them in their academics and, more importantly, their future careers and lives. To them, English is seen as the key to getting them into the kind of jobs they wanted in the fast-growing foreign investment sector, which offers better jobs and higher pay. He continues that those people who speak English well also have an advantage in other parts of the economy. So, Juhanna (2012) emphasizes that the motivation of one person to learn and apply the language, like in speaking, must be enhanced more, so the motivation to succeed in the academe and the work field will follow.
Conversely, the indicators of the affective factors that got the three lowest mean ratings are the following: Self-confidence #5-I can avoid distractions while I speak and Anxiety #5-I always think that other students speak English better than I do which both landed on the first rank having the same mean rating and SD (M= 2.56, SD= 0.86); Self-confidence # 8-I  This could have resulted from the various practices of language learning in their previous and current schools. Consequently, this implies that there be a creation of a school climate that is suitable for English language acquisition, as environmental elements at school are as significant as ESL teachers' pedagogical interventions to address low confidence among students in the use of the target language (Fatmawati et al., 2020;Lodhi et al., 2019;Adeyemo, 2012). Manalastas and Batang (2018) expound that using English as the main language of instruction in Philippine classrooms could help students learn English better and make them more aware of the role and benefits of English as a language of globalization. In their study, it has been found that making English the main language of instruction has a big impact on how comfortable students feel using the language in and out of the classroom.
Particularizing the results, Self-confidence #5-I can avoid distractions while I speak (M= 2.56, SD= 0.86), and Anxiety #5-I always think that other students speak English better than I do (M= 2.56, SD= 0.86) project to be the lowest mean rating earners. This finding suggests that respondents' acknowledgment of the fact that avoiding distractions while they orally communicate is a concern. The result would show that internal and external distractions, which affect the success of the communication process, need to be addressed. Therefore, according to Kubo (2009), in order for students to have the confidence to speak English while avoiding distractions, teachers must provide many opportunities for students to practice correct pronunciation and intonation and freely talk. On the other hand, students in their senior high school year are moderately convinced that their peers speak English better than they do. It is a sign that their level of anxiety in regard to utilizing the language requires attention and intervention. According to Yan and Horwitz (2008), many people aspire to speak the language but are hesitant because they perceive others to be more proficient. As second language anxiety has a detrimental effect on the oral performance of speakers of English as a second language, it is vital to investigate this topic in order to find students' anxiety issues in language learning and application, such as in speaking (Horwitz, 2001;Oteir & Al-Otaibi, 2019;Woodrow, 2016).
Furthermore, the result shows that Self-confidence # 8-I don't feel nervous when speaking English in class (M= 2.69,SD= 0.89), and Anxiety # 8-I am afraid of being looked down upon (M= 2.69,SD= 0.89) are even in the second rank from the bottom. Students appear to be moderately troubled when given the task or chance to speak before a crowd in class because they must have been reluctant as language users. Tridinanti (2018) purported a student's reluctance to communicate in English could be correlated with his language anxiety and self-confidence. Accordingly, students who enter language classes with a high level of anxiety, concern, or dread and a low level of self-confidence may find it challenging to enhance their ability to speak the target language fluently and effectively. It goes to deliver that selfconfidence influences the learner's language performance. Put differently, students who lack confidence are usually found to be extremely fearful, timid, and feel nervous when speaking English in class, reluctant to express their opinions, etc. Whereas, some feel moderate anxiety because they feel afraid of being looked down upon. They must have felt that every time they cannot provide their teacher with an answer, their classmates might laugh at them, or worse humiliate them (Cooper et al., 2018;Russel & Topham, 2012 Speaking and writing in entire sentences is of utmost significance, particularly in more official settings and contexts. Students will acquire knowledge regarding proper grammar and sentence structure if they do so. However, the finding implies that senior high school students seem to be having concerns regarding their skills in composing sentences orally. This implies that there is a significant problem caused by the fact that many students have difficulty speaking in complete sentences, and this is deemed to be a problem since the significance of a learner's ability to effectively communicate verbally cannot be understated. This finding can be attributed to the needed reinforcement of students' communicative competence. In an attempt to define communicative competence, Kiessling and Fabry (2021) call it the ability to fulfill communicative goals in a manner that is socially suitable and described it as organized and goal-oriented, which means that it involves the capacity to choose and use abilities that are beneficial in the corresponding environment, e.g., classroom discourses. Additionally, communicative competence must basically consider the capability and confidence to speak and write complete sentences, that is why, instruction in language classes has traditionally been aimed toward developing students' organizational, pragmatic, systematic, and psychomotor skills with the ultimate goal of producing communicatively competent students (Lasala, 2014).
Meanwhile, tied with self-confidence # 9 on the third from the bottom is Anxiety #9-I am always nervous when my English teacher asks me to answer questions in front of the whole class. Senior high school students may have moderately felt language classroom anxiety, especially when they will be called for a recitation, or asked to demonstrate understanding of the topic. According to the survey by Juhanna (2012), second language learners are noticed to possess a silent fear of English as a subject due to English teachers asking students to answer questions in front of the whole class. Hence, for her, this manifestation of stress, and anxiety that impedes language learning and performance abilities must be given considerate and urgent attention.
In general, the result of the present study shows that the overall mean rating of 2.95 (SD= 0.78) may suggest that affective factors have a moderate extent of influence on the oral communication of senior high school based on their perceptions. By saying respondents are not totally influenced by their affective factors in oral communication, this may be probably due to the lack of knowledge on the significance of these affective factors influencing their overall understanding of how self-confidence, self-motivation, and anxiety play a vital role in their second language learning and usage. Moreover, the result may imply that students need to realize that in order to seek optimization of oral communication and second language learning in general, a low affective filter is necessary (Krashen, 1985;Krashen, 1986;Khabirova, 2022;Yaoqing, 2021). In light of this, Dong et al. (2022) suggest that teachers should significantly boost their students' motivation, significantly boost their students' high levels of self-confidence, and significantly lower their students' level of anxiety in learning the target language.

Conclusion
Based on the results of the study, students' affective filters influence their oral communication to a moderate extent. The study concludes that motivation leads as an affective factor that allows students to continuously develop their oral communication skills. The result implies that students should have to work on the development of their self-confidence and get rid of their anxiety which in numerous ways affects their oral communication skills. The study further demonstrates that students' skills in oral communication are significantly impacted by emotional elements that encompass the fundamental aspects of conduct, such as sentiments, interests, attitudes, feelings, values, and so on. Hence, this study supports the idea that the emotive side of students can influence the success or failure of language learning.
Therefore, implications on the pedagogical practice are put forward from different angles. For example, important ideas and procedures for teaching public speaking should be incorporated into teachers' formal training. Also, it is necessary for educators to have institutional and administrative support in order to be able to offer students a conducive environment in which they may learn the target language and culture using instructional strategies that are effective. Meaning, the school setting should not be the only place where one can acquire English language skills; it is of the utmost importance to encourage learners to utilize English in any and all settings available while they are in school. In the same vein, second language (L2) learners should be encouraged and guided to practice their language abilities outside of the classroom in natural contexts. Here, teachers must help students improve their spoken English by exposing them to authentic contexts in which the language is used, such as through the use of social media and the habitual viewing of English-language content like videos, podcasts, and films. Teachers should then continue to motivate students and help them to develop their self-confidence in order for them to get rid of their speaking anxiety by planning activities that will improve the students' speaking fluency and vocabulary construction; school administrators should give more emphasis and attention to the affective aspects of the students; students should work with their teachers to bring out motivated feelings and a comfortable atmosphere during classroom discourses and should take advantage of all available opportunities to practice speaking English without worrying about being judged by their peers; lastly, an enhancement module could be formulated offering meaningful activities for the students' affective factors.