| Summary: | The purposes of this study were to determine 1. the levels of
communication apprehension in mother tongue and English
experienced by black students at Mamokgalake Chuene College of
Education whose native language is not English ; 2. if
communication apprehension of these students changes during the
course of their studies. Other variables were the extent to which
communication apprehension varies within the following
interaction contexts: group discussions, meetings, conversations,
public speaking and in the classroom, exposure to mother tongue
and English, marks in English and mother tongue and sex of the
speaker.
PRCA-24 scores and other data obtained from 278 students
indicated that most of the students had lower levels of
communication apprehension than the United States norm of
65 (out of 120) or 54,2% for the corresponding situations. (Total
group: Mother tongue: 59,3 (49,4%); English: 61,8 (51,5%))
Females were more apprehensive when communicating in mother
tongue and English, probably due to their culturally inferior
position. (Men: Mother tongue: 56,3 (46,9%); English: 57,5
(47,9). Women: Mother tongue: 60,7 (50,6%); English: 63,6
(53, 0%)) There was a slight increase in communication
apprehension during the course of their studies. Neither the
exposure to English or mother tongue nor the marks in English and
mother tongue correlated with communication apprehension.
Possible explanations for high levels of communication
apprehension of certain students may be the fact that the medium
of instruction at school from their fifth year at school for
these students is not their mother tongue but English, that the
school system is based on Western culture which may be too far
removed from the African culture and that these students may
experience language anxiety and culture shock. Another factor
may be that these students feel negative about their own
(African) languages because they are not official languages.
A reason why the communication apprehension level of this group
is lower than surveys of the USA may be due to the fact that this
group was a selected group of students who voluntarily chose an
occupation (teaching) in which communication plays a major role.
Solutions to this problem: that lecturers and teachers be
informed about communication apprehension, that students and
pupils be tested and treated for this problem, that teaching
methodology be adjusted and affective factors be considered to
ensure a relaxed class atmosphere. === Skripsie (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1994
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