A Comparative Analysis of Public Speaking Anxiety Among Three Different Nationalities

Kim Nahk Bohk (김낙복)

A Comparative Analysis of Public Speaking Anxiety Among Three Different Nationalities

Modern English Education
Abbr : MEESO
2017, 18(2), pp.109-130
Publisher : The Modern English Education Society
Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Language Teaching
Published : May 31, 2017

Kim Nahk Bohk ¹

¹나사렛대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper was to comparatively analyze public speaking anxiety (PSA) as observed in a Public Speaking (PS) course at an American university. A PSA survey was conducted, targeting 23 college students enrolled in a speech course. For the utilization of the PSA survey, in-depth interviews were conducted with five students of different nationalities who had excessive public-speaking anxiety. Also, descriptive statistics were done with the collected samples using SPSS 14.0 for PSA analysis. The results were as follows. First, on the PSA pre-test, participants felt more nervous, having a comparatively higher PSA level, reticence to speak in public, and experiencing pre-speech anxiety. As time went by, students felt less nervous. Especially, Chinese and Korean students felt more nervous before giving speeches, whereas American students felt more nervous when delivering the actual speech. Secondly, regardless of gender, Chinese and Korean students were more anxious than American students and focused more on linguistic and verbal communication skills, while American students tended to focus on non-verbal communication skills. Furthermore, in overcoming PSA, Chinese and Korean students memorized the content and looked at the front row, whereas American students utilized the key words and delivery outline, and made eye contact with each person in class. These findings demonstrate an imperative need to develop applicable strategies for PS in the EFL context.

KEYWORDS

public speaking/public speaking anxiety/verbal and non-verbal communication

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

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