Kommunikasievrees onder swart onderwysstudente / Henrietta Elizabeth van Staden

• Main Author: Van Staden, Henrietta Elizabeth
• Language: other
• Published: Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education 2013
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10394/8587

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