e-Journal of ELTS (English Language Teaching Society)
Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026)

SPEAKING DIFFICULTIES OF INTROVERT AND EXTRAVERT EFL STUDENTS: A PSYCHOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS THROUGH LEVELT'S MODEL

Rezki Mawlani (Institut Agama Islam Negeri Parepare)
Kalsum Kalsum (Institut Agama Islam Negeri Parepare)
Zulfah Fakhruddin (Institut Agama Islam Negeri Parepare)
Mujahidah (Institut Agama Islam Negeri Parepare)



Article Info

Publish Date
25 Jun 2026

Abstract

Speaking is a crucial yet challenging productive skill for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners because it demands the simultaneous processing of several linguistic components in real time. Beyond linguistic limitations, personality traits such as introversion and extraversion shape how learners cope with the cognitive and affective pressure of speaking. However, most existing studies compare speaking achievement scores rather than the internal processes through which speech is produced. This study investigates the speech disfluencies and speaking difficulties of introvert and extravert students from a psycholinguistic perspective by mapping them onto the stages of Levelt's Speech Production Model: conceptualization, formulation, and articulation. Using a qualitative descriptive-exploratory design, we involved 15 second-semester undergraduate students of Class A at IAIN Parepare, selected through purposive sampling based on the extraversion dimension of the Big Five Inventory. Data were gathered through a picture description task, a retrospective think-aloud protocol, and semi-structured interviews, then coded into six disfluency tokens and traced to specific production stages. The findings show that extravert learners lean toward communicative fluency, using filled pauses and spontaneous translanguaging as floor-holding strategies during formulation, whereas introvert learners prioritize accuracy through extended silent pauses, repetitions, and self-correction driven by intensive internal monitoring. The study contributes a stage-specific mapping of how personality modulates the internal mechanisms of L2 speech production at the tertiary level.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

elts

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

e-Journal of ELTS (English Language Teaching Society) is an electronic open-access journal that aims to publish the latest research results in the area of English education from academicians, professionals, and other practitioners at all levels of English education. The journal coverage includes the ...