Exploring the Factors for Successful Oral Presentation and The Source of Fear

Abstract

Oral presentation requires some level of performance to a crowd of people, unlike reading, writing, or listening. Hence, fear of speaking in a foreign language is a common concern of students, especially when presenting in front of a large audience. Many people who fear public speaking avoid public speaking situations altogether, or struggle in those situations due to lack of confidence and skills. Therefore, learning a foreign language requires the use of communication strategies so that students face less difficulty and become proficient. This study aimed to identify the success factors of students in oral presentations and examined the causes of fear among Arabic language students in a Malaysian public university. For that purpose, a set of questionnaires was distributed to students studying three different levels of Arabic as a third language from various faculties at Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor Campus. The questionnaire was systematically designed from Endler (1980) for oral communication strategies with the addition source of fear adapted from Yaman and (Kavasoğlu, 2013). The survey has three sections which are demographic profile, communication strategies, and fear of oral presentation. The study involved 321 students that were selected through purposive sampling. The findings of the study show that oral presentation in Arabic is dominant despite being on a moderate scale of use. Also, students' nervousness and the capacity of the audience have an influence on their speaking skills in simulations and role-play activities. The study recommends recognizing the anxiety sources and levels of anxiety when preparing for and delivering an oral presentation. It clearly represents a step closer to a successful presentation among non-native speakers. It also suggests that both lecturers and students be more aware of foreign language speaking anxiety. Overall, as this study investigates effective communication strategies and its associated factors of fear, it is hoped that the study will provide practical suggestions for teachers and meaningful recommendations for future research.