Collaborative Learning for Managing Speaking Anxiety during Classroom Presentations: A Qualitative Descriptive Study at Private Higher Education Institutions in Baubau

Abstract

Speaking anxiety remains a persistent challenge among university students and often hinders their participation, confidence, and oral performance in academic settings, particularly during classroom presentations. This study explores the role of collaborative learning as a pedagogical strategy for managing speaking anxiety in higher education. Using a qualitative descriptive design, the study involved 24 undergraduate students from three private higher education institutions in Baubau City, Indonesia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews based on seven speaking anxiety indicators and analyzed using the interactive model of Miles and Huberman. The findings indicate that collaborative learning effectively reduced social-evaluative aspects of speaking anxiety, particularly fear of audience criticism and fear of ridicule, through peer support and shared responsibility. However, anxiety related to cognitive dimensions, such as uncertainty about audience expectations and difficulty initiating speech, persisted among several participants. These results suggest that while collaborative learning creates a supportive speaking environment, it does not fully address all dimensions of speaking anxiety. Therefore, collaborative learning should be complemented with explicit speaking instruction and affective support to achieve more comprehensive anxiety management. This study contributes to a contextual understanding of speaking anxiety management in Indonesian higher education.