Examines the narrative accounts of the aesthetic performance experience as related by high communication apprehensives (HCA's) and low communication apprehensives (LCA's). Indicates that while both HCA's and LCA's commonly label themselves as apprehensive about performance, their characterizations of the performance experience differ significantly…

A study investigated speech anxiety in the basic speech course by means of pre and post essays. Subjects, 73 students in 3 classes in the basic speech course at a southwestern multiuniversity, wrote a two-page essay on their perceptions of their speech anxiety before the first speaking project. Students discussed speech anxiety in class and were…

Although numerous studies focus upon computer attitudes and computer anxiety, relatively few studies analyze the interaction between a computer laboratory assistant and the individual who is asking the question. This paper begins with a brief overview of the literature that discusses attitudes towards computers, computer anxiety, and computer…

This investigation examines factors influencing United States student perceptions of native and non-native United States teacher effectiveness. A questionnaire employing measures of ethnocentrism, intercultural communication apprehension, willingness to communicate, and motivation was completed by 204 native United States undergraduate students.…

A study investigated the listening experiences of American university students who interviewed people from other cultures as part of a class project. A total of 103 individuals from African, Asian, European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern cultures were interviewed. Each of the American interviewers described his/her perceptions of five…

Noting that communication apprehension (CA) is a pattern of anxiety that can profoundly affect oral communication, social skills, and self-esteem, this digest examines some causes and consequences of CA and ways in which it can be diminished. Following an introduction, the digest defines CA and some of its characteristics. Next, the digest looks…

Finds that graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) experience eight interrelated types of communication concern (self, task, impact, role conflict, teaching, area knowledge, procedural knowledge, and time management). Shows that GTA variables of expected duties, prior teaching experience, newness to area, foreign or domestic birth, and age are likely…

Communication apprehension (CA) has emerged as the dominant paradigm for explaining communication stress and its corollaries. It has achieved this status largely because several key assumptions have not been challenged or assessed empirically. These assumptions are that CA (1) is a pervasive social phenomenon, (2) affects external outcomes of…

Noting that there are a number of methods exist for dealing with people who have trouble communicating readily or well, this workshop document reviews developments in the field of communication apprehension (CA) in recent years and points out resources that provide specific details for those interested in providing instructional answers to CA at…

A study investigated the effects of Interactive Television (ITV--a two-way television system of instruction which is a near replication of face-to-face classroom instruction) on learning. Sixty-seven rural, midwestern high school students who were taking classes via ITV were asked to complete a network analysis survey to identify the frequency of…

A study investigated listening and oral communication apprehension in high school and college students from the United States and Australia. The subjects were 355 students from the United States (133 high school females, 109 high school males, 65 college females, and 46 college males), and 339 students from Australia (73 high school females, 91…

It has been widely acknowledged in language acquisition research that cultural learning is an inseparable part of language learning. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the culture of classroom learning which involves both teachers' and learners' cultural values, beliefs, roles, expectations, and conceptions of teaching and learning.…

The "Oh No! Syndrome" represents the reactions of U.S. undergraduates towards a foreign teaching assistant (TA) when s/he walks into a class on the first day of a term. Since 1982, the Oh No! Syndrome has been studied as a "foreign TA language problem." Researchers have argued recently that U.S. undergraduates play an equally…

Communication courses have a unique role to play in the education of the adult or nontraditional student in a community college. Because these classes are often one of the introductory courses and academic success may, to a large extent depend on the ability to use oral communication skills in the classroom. Communication courses provide an…

Three experiments from the late 1970s concerning second language communication strategies are studied for evidence supporting their classification as either avoidance or achievement strategies. The experiments had as subjects native English-speaking children in a French immersion program, adult second language learners of English who were native…