ORAL COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AMONG BUSINESS COLLEGE STUDENTS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY (PUERTO RICO)
Abstract
This study examined the occurrence of oral communication apprehension among 180 business college students in a private university in Puerto Rico. The focus was on the relationship between oral communication apprehension and English language proficiency. The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) (McCroskey, 1970) was administered to categorize the subjects into three levels of oral communication apprehension--low, moderate, and high. The Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency (MTELP) was used to assess students' English language proficiency. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data on personal and educational backgrounds. A Pearson product-moment correlation determined whether a relationship exists between oral communication apprehension and English language proficiency. A factor analysis was applied to determine whether the 24 variables on the PRCA scale could be described more effectively by a reduced number of common factors. The varimax rotation was used to redefine the factors in order to make sharper distinctions in the meanings of the factors. A multiple regression analysis to predict the relationship between the identified factors and the dependent variable was the last statistical technique applied to the data. The most relevant findings are: (1) No significant correlations were found between English language proficiency total scores and oral communication apprehension; (2) Significant correlations resulted between the subtests of MTELP and oral communication apprehension; (3) The 24 variables on the PRCA scale were grouped into four common factors and; (5) Factor four--Cognitive and bodily responses to speech--accounted for most of the English language proficiency variance. Given these results, it was concluded that: (1) No matter what level of oral communication apprehension students may be at, their English language proficiency is the same; (2) Further measurement and theoretical studies of the oral communication apprehension construct are needed since this study found a different set of factors; and (3) Factor four--Cognitive and bodily responses to speech--presents the idea of anxiety resulting from cognitive and bodily responses to making a speech.
Subject Area
Language arts
Recommended Citation
DELGADO-MONGE, NEREIDA, "ORAL COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AMONG BUSINESS COLLEGE STUDENTS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY (PUERTO RICO)" (1986). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8624478.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8624478
