Developing Communicative Agency amid Speaking Anxiety: Exploring EFL Learners’ Classroom Experiences in Teacher Education

Speaking anxiety remains a persistent challenge in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, particularly in teacher education contexts where learners are expected to develop both linguistic competence and confidence in communicating in English. However, speaking anxiety should not be understood solely as an individual psychological barrier, as learners may actively negotiate, manage, and transform their anxiety through classroom interaction. This study aims to explore how EFL learners experience speaking anxiety and develop communicative agency in English-speaking classrooms within a teacher education context. Employing a qualitative phenomenological approach, the study investigated learners’ lived experiences through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and reflective accounts. The data were analyzed thematically through iterative coding, categorization, and interpretation of recurring patterns across participants’ experiences. The findings indicate that speaking anxiety was primarily manifested through fear of making grammatical and pronunciation errors, concern about negative evaluation, limited confidence in spontaneous speaking, and hesitation to participate in classroom discussions. Nevertheless, these experiences did not consistently result in passive withdrawal. Learners gradually developed communicative agency through peer interaction, repeated speaking practice, supportive teacher feedback, preparation before classroom performance, and the use of personal coping strategies. The findings further reveal that communicative agency emerged through a gradual process in which learners moved from anxiety-driven avoidance toward more deliberate participation, self-monitoring, and willingness to take communicative risks. This study contributes to EFL teacher education by conceptualizing communicative agency as an emergent capacity shaped by the interaction between learners’ emotional experiences and the social conditions of the classroom. The study suggests that EFL speaking instruction should move beyond anxiety reduction toward the creation of supportive pedagogical environments that enable learners to exercise agency, negotiate meaning, and participate confidently in English communication.