The correlation between students' anxiety and fluency in the practical storytelling exam

Anxiety has a relationship with aspects of fluency. However, this research is rarely carried out. Apart from that, previous researchers tended to assess the relationship between anxiety and all aspects of speaking performance assessment without focusing on one aspect. To bridge the earlier research gap, this research discusses the relationship between student anxiety and student fluency in the practical storytelling exam. The questions answered in this research such as: 1) What is the level of students' anxiety in the practical storytelling exam at SMPN 1 Krian 2) What is the level of students' fluency in the practical storytelling exam at SMPN 1 Krian 3) Is there any correlation between students’ anxiety and students’ fluency in the practical storytelling exam at SMPN 1 Krian. The research uses correlation methods with a quantitative approach. The subject of the study is ninth grade in the 2023/2024 academic year at SMPN 1 Krian. Samples were taken using a purposive sampling technique. The results of this research answered the following research questions: 1) The level of the students' anxiety is mildly anxious, and 2) The level of the students' fluency is good. 3) The correlation result showed a meaningful and medium correlation between students’ anxiety and fluency, with a p-value of 0.004 and a correlation coefficient of -0.473. The relationship between the two variables is shown as a negative relationship, which means that if the students’ anxiety is higher, the students’ fluency will be lower, and vice versa.