Reading is an important skill to gain knowledge and academic success, especially for university students at higher levels of education. Reading competence is represented by reading literacy, which is affected by reading amount, intensity, and frequency, which can be hindered by reading anxiety, especially in EFL and academic settings. There are several factors that influence the feeling of anxiety in reading foreign language texts. Therefore, the researcher is interested in studying EFL reading anxiety toward academic texts.
This research used descriptive qualitative research to investigate the reading anxiety of the students in terms of reading academic skills. The study was conducted in 7th the semester of the English department of the University of Islam Malang. The instruments used are Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale, while the interview guide is also used to investigate reading anxiety and its causing factors in the form of structured interview. The data collection in this research was carried out online. The data analysis is done by analyzing the questionnaire using Microsoft Excel and analyzing the interview by qualitative analysis method using data selection, organization, and interpretation.
The result indicated that there are 11 students out of 40 with high anxiety levels. The major factor influencing students' level of anxiety is caused by reading topics that can be solved by finding easier material, social strategies, pre-reading and skimming. As for fear of making mistakes, it only happens when students are observed during reading caused by anxiety to have a different understanding with the others, and read in a classroom environment. This can be solved by cross-checking with friends and trying to understand the text as best as possible before entering the class. The other minor factors include vocabulary which is mostly caused by unfamiliar scientific terms, and the only confirmed solution mentioned was being familiar with academic texts.
Keywords: Correlation, Teaching Method, Reading Comprehension.