Exploring Foreign Language Communication Apprehension among the English Language University Students in the English Language Classroom Setting

Abstract

Over the past few decades the interest in communication apprehension has increased among researchers and teachers in the field of second/foreign language acquisition (SLA/FLA).The present paper is set between the macro perspective of the social-psychological period -by giving a general view of communication apprehension (CA) -and the situation-specific period -by taking into consideration the immediate educational context.The paper focuses on the phenomenon of communication apprehension among the Croatian university level students in a foreign language classroom setting.In particular, it investigates if there is a difference in the total level of communication apprehension between undergraduate and graduate students of English Language and Literature.Furthermore, it explores whether there is a relationship between different aspects of communication apprehension and the total level of communication apprehension and which background factor is the best predictor of communication apprehension among the students.The first part of the paper brings a theoretical background of the main concepts in this research, whereas the second part of the paper reports on the research itself.Two sets of instruments, questionnaires completed by the students and in-depth interviews conducted among the teachers, were used for the purpose of this study.The results show that the year of study is not a significant predictor of the communication apprehension level which students experience.Among all variables included in the analysis, the only significant predictors of communication apprehension are evaluations.

Oral Communication Apprehension among Japanese EFL International Students in a Language Immersion Program in Malaysia

“…Recent researchers, such as Rimkeeratikul (2016), support the claim that communication apprehension can be explained through genetic and environmental factors. Molnar and Crnjak (2018) explained that while the genetic predisposition refers to the inherited characteristics that may be behind communication apprehension, environmental aspects (such as reinforcement, modelling, and learned helplessness) are factors that an individual has no control over. Yet, McCroskey (1977b) was against this conceptualization of genetic predisposition because he believed that communication apprehension is a learned trait.…”

First-year students’ communication apprehension in learning French as foreign language

“…Bragg, 2017;Mahdi, 2015;Matsuoka, 2008;Orbeta & San Jose, 2013;Pribyl et al, 1998;Rosenfeld et al, 1995;Sham & Azmi, 2018). In a foreign language classroom, the level of communication apprehension has more correlated to the students' level of proficiency of the target language or the students' linguistic background (Liu & Jackson, 2008;Mahdi, 2015), rather than to the students' study duration (Molnar & Crnjak, 2018).…”

On the Relationship Between English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Positive Affectivity, Academic Disengagement, and Communication Apprehension

“…They can provide foreign language input by boosting student-student interactions. In a foreign language context, learners’ CA is related to their language proficiency level and their linguistic background ( Molnar and Crnjak, 2018 ), therefore homogenizing the classroom can be an appropriate approach to deal with this problem. Furthermore, instructive supervisors who monitor instructors and assess their academic efficiency can exploit the related studies through consideration of the instructors’ interpersonal behaviors and their rapport with the learners.…”

“…CA, defined as the avoidance of communications with others ( Bourhis and Allen, 1992 ), has been still widely studied in recent years in communication research ( Sham and Azmi, 2018 ). CA, as a focal point of this review, has a significant correlation with language learners’ linguistic background and their proficiency levels ( Molnar and Crnjak, 2018 ). Spetz (2018) investigated Swedish foreign language learners’ CA and he attributed it to the level of proficiency in language learners as beginners have a higher level of CA.…”