Communication Apprehension among Thai University Students in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Classroom
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the level of communication apprehension (CA) of Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna (RMUTL) Phitsanulok students in their English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes, and the factors that contributed to the emergence. It was conducted with the aid of 281 students in three different faculties, the Faculties of Business Administration and Liberal Arts (BALA), Engineering (ENG), and Science and Agricultural Technology (SAT) as respondents. A set of questionnaires was employed to gather data, and they were statistically analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results revealed that students in EFL classrooms experience an average level of CA. Answering a teacher in English seems to be the most provoking CA among students. Speaking in front of the class in English is also a context with a high level of CA among Thai university students. Furthermore, reinforcement and modeling were the highest factors that contribute to the emergence of their CA. Students tend to experience speaking anxiety in an EFL classroom because they think that they are not well-versed in English. They shun speaking situations in an EFL classroom because they think that they may be laughed at or judged by their classmates when they commit mistakes in speaking in the English language. Meanwhile, results showed that the lower the year level of students in university, the more they are apprehensive compared to the higher years. It also shows that students who do not take a lot of English courses or subjects in university tend to be more apprehensive than those students who take English courses or subjects. In addition, the lower the grades in English of Thai university students, the higher their CA would be. Lastly, they tend to be more anxious when speaking or interacting orally with native-speaker teachers compared to Asian teachers.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Materials in THAITESOL JOURNAL may be photocopied for educational purposes. Under no circumstances may any part of this journal be photocopied for commercial purposes.
References
Ahmad, C.V. (2021). Causes of students’ reluctance to participate in classroom discussions. ASEAN Journal of Science and Engineering Education 1(1), 47-62. file:///Users/reubenesteban/Downloads/32407-71520-3-PB.pdf
Akkakoson, S. (2016). Speaking anxiety in English conversation classrooms among Thai students. Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction. 13. 63-82. 10.32890/mjli2016.13.1.4.
Alley-Young, G. (2005). An individual’s experience: a socio-cultural critique of communication apprehension research. Texas Speech Communication Journal, 30 (1). 36-46.
Benjakomwatthana A. (2016). Factors affecting the speaking ability of EIC and engineering majoring students [Unpublished independent study]. Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna Phitsanulok. Phitsanulok, Thailand.
Butler, J., Pryor, B., & Marti, S. (2004). Communication apprehension and honors students. North American Journal of Psychology, 6, 293-296.
Campbell, C. M. (1999). Language anxiety in men and women: Dealing with gender difference in the language classroom. In D.J. Young (ed.). Affect in a foreign language and second language learning (pp. 191-215). New York: McGraw-Hill
Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Duta, N., Panisoara, G. and Panisoara, I. (2015). Effective communication in teaching diagnostic study regarding the academic learning motivation of students. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 186. 1007-1012. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.064.
EF Proficiency Index (2021). Global ranking of countries and regions. https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/
EF English Proficiency Index (2023, April 21). Countries & Region. https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/regions/asia/thailand/
Hasni, B., Ismail, F., and Abdullah, T. (2019) Oral communication apprehension in a small group discussion. International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, 8 (1C2). pp. 481-483. ISSN 2277-3878
Khamprated, N. (2012). The problems with the English listening and speaking of students studying at a vocational school in Bangkok, Thailand [Published Master’s Degree Dissertation]. Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand. http://thesis.swu.ac.th/swuthesis/Tea_Eng_For_Lan(M.A.)/Nualsri_K.pdf
Krishnamoorthy, R. (2019). Apprehension in learning English. SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science (SSRG-IJHSS), 1 (2),https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332604911_Apprehension_in_Learning_English
Kurakan, P. (2021). Anxiety in English oral presentations of Thai EFL engineering students. THAITESOL Journal 34 (2), 67-92. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1332294.pdf
Lahtinen, L. (2013). Communication apprehension in the EFL classroom: a study of Finnish and Finnish-Swedish upper secondary school students and teachers [Published Master’s Degree Thesis]. University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. https://jyx.jyu.fi/bitstream/handle/123456789/42481/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201311192614.pdf?sequence=1
Liu, M. (2007). Anxiety in oral English classrooms: a case study in China. Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching, 3 (1), 119–137.
Marchessault, J. and Larwin, K. (2014). The potential impact of structured read-aloud on middle school reading achievement. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE). 3.
McCroskey, J. C. (2001). Oral communication apprehension. Retrieved from http://www.jamescmccroskey.com/publications/074.pdf
McCroskey, J. C. (1970) Measures of communication-bound anxiety. Speech Monographs, 37, 269–277
McCroskey, J. C. (1984). The communication apprehension perspective. In J. A. Daly, & J. C. McCroskey (Eds.), Avoiding communication: Shyness, reticence, and communication, (pp. 13-38). Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications
McCroskey, J.C. (1982a). Oral communication apprehension: A reconceptualization. in communication yearbook, Edited by: Burgoon, M. Vol. 6, 136–170. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishers
McCroskey, J.C. (1982b). An introduction to rhetorical communication, (4th ed.), Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice‐Hall.
McCroskey, J. C. (1977). Oral communication apprehension: a summary of recent theory and research. Human Communication Research 1977, 4 (1), 78-96.
McCroskey, James C. (1976). The problems of communication apprehension in the classroom. The Florida Speech Communication Journal 1976, 4 (2), 1-13.
McCroskey, J. C. (1978). Validity of the PRCA as an index of oral communication apprehension. Communication Monographs 1978, 45 (3), 192-203.
McCroskey, J. C., Beatty, M. J., Kearney, P., Plax, T. G. (1985). The content validity of the PRCA-24 as a measure of communication apprehension across communication contexts. Communication Quarterly 1985, 33 (3), 165-173
Molnar, D. and Crnjak, G. (2018). Exploring Foreign Language Communication Apprehension among the English Language University Students in the English Language Classroom Setting. European Journal of Social Science Education and Research, (5) 27. 10.26417/easier.v5i2.p27-39.
Monroe, C., Borzi, M., & Burrell, R. (1992). Communication apprehension among high school dropouts. The School Counsellor, 39 (4), 273-280
Panthito, B. (2019). A study of the problems of English-speaking skills of the first-year students at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University. Journal of MCU Humanities Review, 4 (2) 185-96, https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/human/article/view/164535.
Phillips, E. M. (1992). The effects of language anxiety on students' oral test performance and attitudes. Modern Language Journal, 76(1), 14–26. https://doi.org/10.2307/329894
Phillips, G. M., and Butt, D. (1966) Reticence re-visited. Pennsylvania Speech Annual, 23, 40~57
Richards, J. C., & Renandya, W. A. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667190
Rimkeeratikul, S. (2008). Communication apprehension: The construct validity of its measurement (PRCA-24) and factors influencing CA scores among a Thai sample [Unpublished Doctoral dissertation (Ph.D.)]. Bangkok University in full cooperation with Ohio University, Faculty of Communication.
Rimkeeratikul, S. (2016). Communication apprehension in L2 among MA students majoring in English in Bangkok, Thailand. Language Education and Acquisition Research Network Journal, 9(2), 14-21.
Rimkeeratikul, S. (2017). Communication apprehension among Thai monks in Bangkok. Journal of Thonburi University, 11(25), 28-42.
Sasum, S. and Weeks, B. (2018). Why some Thai students cannot speak English fluently? RSU International Research Conference 2018. https://rsucon.rsu.ac.th/files/proceedings/inter2018/G4-IN18-021.pdf
Sato, K. (2003). Improving our students' speaking skills: using selective error correction and group work to reduce anxiety and encourage real communication. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Improving-Our-Students%27-Speaking-Skills%3A-Using-and-Sato/5093306e905150ea00981fb69746bc992ef60fc2
Srisang, T. (2014). The problem for Thai university English major students when speaking English. Thammasat University.
Triandis, H. (1994). Major cultural syndromes and emotion. In S. Kitayam & H.R. Markus (Eds), Emotion and culture (pp. 185-306). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Wanich, W. (2014). The relationship between the CLT approach and Thai EFL students’ attitudes and motivation in learning speaking. Language Education and Acquisition Research Network Journal, 7(1), 106-124.
Wongthodsaporn, S. (2012). Factors discouraging Thai undergraduate students from speaking English with foreigners. A research paper. Bangkok: Thammasat University.
Yiamsawat, T. (2004). High school students’ levels of anxiety in the English language classroom. Master’s Degree Dissertation, Thammasart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Yusica, U. (2014). The problem faced by Thai students is speaking English. https://www.academia.edu/9423968/PROBLEM_FACED_BY_THAI_STUDENT_IN_SPEAKING_ENGLISH
Zhang, Y. (2009). Reading to speak: integrating oral communication skills. English Teaching Forum, 47, 32-34. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ923446.pdf