Factor Affecting Public Speaking Anxiety
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Commonly, students refuse to do the task of speaking in public due to discomfort of being viewed upon by the classmates or the audience and does create inferiority in delivering a certain speech. Public speaking is a common source of stress for everyone especially to students who are not used to speak in front of public because of fear to be criticized by others. Many would like to avoid this situation completely, but that is difficult to accomplish. Oral communication anxiety or commonly known as public speaking anxiety is one of the most studied phenomena among western communication researchers. So much attention has been given to this phenomenon that almost every aspect of it has been explored and written about. Yet, despite it being extensively studied the case is quite different in the Philippine setting. There is still a dearth of research data on Filipinos considering oral communication anxiety’s overwhelming impact on speakers (Del Villar, 2006a). Filipino teachers have been using western materials in designing their courses. Would it not be better if they used data gathered from their own setting to design their syllabus? As a way of addressing this scarcity, the present study probed into the attributions beginning speech communication students believed to explain their speaking anxieties. Although there are a number of western theories that explain the nature, causes, effects and manifestations of public speaking anxiety and numerous empirical findings that confirm those same theories, it would be interesting to find out Filipino students instinctive and spontaneous attributions of their own experiences. A list of attributions generated from the Filipinos themselves would supplement the teacher’s understanding of his/her students and consequently aid him/her in customizing learning activities to suit specific needs. The present study determined the reasons beginning speech communication students ascribed to for their oral
INTRODUCTION
Commonly, students refuse to do the task of speaking in public due to discomfort of being viewed upon by the classmates or the audience and does create inferiority in delivering a certain speech. Public speaking is a common source of stress for everyone especially to students who are not used to speak in front of public because of fear to be criticized by others. Many would like to avoid this situation completely, but that is difficult to accomplish. Oral communication anxiety or commonly known as public speaking anxiety is one of the most studied phenomena among western communication researchers. So much attention has been given to this phenomenon that almost every aspect of it has been explored and written about. Yet, despite it being extensively studied the case is quite different in the Philippine setting. There is still a dearth of research data on Filipinos considering oral communication anxiety’s overwhelming impact on speakers (Del Villar, 2006a). Filipino teachers have been using western materials in designing their courses. Would it not be better if they used data gathered from their own setting to design their syllabus? As a way of addressing this scarcity, the present study probed into the attributions beginning speech communication students believed to explain their speaking anxieties. Although there are a number of western theories that explain the nature, causes, effects and manifestations of public speaking anxiety and numerous empirical findings that confirm those same theories, it would be interesting to find out Filipino students instinctive and spontaneous attributions of their own experiences. A list of attributions generated from the Filipinos themselves would supplement the teacher’s understanding of his/her students and consequently aid him/her in customizing learning activities to suit specific needs. The present study determined the reasons beginning speech communication students ascribed to for their oral