The Influence of Negative Feedback on Students’ Motivation in Speaking English

Speaking is one of the important language skills for the students of the English Education Department because they are expected to be able to communicate well in English to become the future English teachers. However, the reality is that many students still have difficulty and fear when speaking English. It is partly because of the negative feedback they have in the speaking activities in the class. If the feedback is not delivered kindly and constructively, it can cause embarrassment, anxiety and loss of self-confidence which will decrease students’ motivation to speak in English. The purpose of this research is to find out the influence of negative feedback toward students’ motivation in speaking English. This research also investigates how students respond and cope with negative feedback. This research was conducted on the students of semester 8th of English Education Department of UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh by using qualitative descriptive approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 6 participants selected through purposive sampling technique and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results show that students are not comfortable speaking in front of the class because of negative feedback that causes negative emotional responses such as embarrassment, nervousness, disappointment and fear. In addition, negative feedback reduces students’ confidence and motivation, which results in some students staying silent and missing the opportunity to speak. However, some students exhibited positive coping strategies, such as practicing more often, preparing themselves better, seeking support from friends, and using the feedback as motivation to improve. The study concludes that the mode of feedback delivery is important for students’ motivation and confidence in speaking English.