English Oral Communication Apprehension in Students of Indonesian Maritime

Abstract

Oral communication is essential for people's workplace performance as well as for university students learning English. Speaking fluently is also crucial for maritime academy students prepared to work in industries abroad. Students need to believe in their ability to speak English. For this reason, sound communication skills are necessary for maritime students so they can compete with seafarer or sailor from other countries. The purpose of this research was to identify the level of oral communication apprehension of nautical students of Akademi Maritim Indonesia (Indonesian Maritime Academy) AIPI Makassar. The sample consisted of 10 first year students at nautical of AMI AIPI Makassar. Data was gathered through questionnaires adapted from Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Class Scale (FLCAS). The findings indicated that students were generally apprehensive in EFL oral communication. The students showed the highest apprehension for public speaking. The level of nautical students' apprehension based on observation and supported by the modified FLCAS were 20% in the low category, 60% in the moderate category, and 20% in the high category. Students in the high apprehension category showed more symptoms than students in the moderate and low apprehension categories.

Investigating Hospitality Students’ Level of Anxiety in English Class and Oral Exam Performance

“…Some studies investigating students' anxiety have been conducted in ESP field. One example from Indonesia is Aeni, Jabu, Rahman, & Strid, (2017), who investigated foreign language anxiety (FLA) level of Indonesian Maritime Students and found that most students felt anxious because they feared of negative evaluations. Another study is by Amengual-Pizarro 2018), which investigated of two groups of philology and biology classes and found strong and significant negative correlation between self-perceived English proficiency, especially listening and speaking, with their FLA level.…”

“It’s Pre-Service Teacher’s Time”: Shifting the Focus of Communication Apprehension (CA) Research

“…In relations to the causes of CA, scholars suggested several strategies to manage student's CA. Among others were increasing the frequency of public speaking practice and perceiving negative assessment as motivation for students to be able to lower their CA [11]. Teachers however offered distinct coping method such as conducting three key teacher confirmation activities that would support student's CA management.…”

“…The trend of CA research extended to language discipline in such a way that linguistic and broad cultural aspects were thoroughly investigated. Within the language dimension, CA was associated with inadequate speaking skills due to limited vocabulary [11], thus CA and language learning were interrelated and had become overarching discussion. In fact, CA was indicated as a major constraint in language learning [8].…”

“…Much of CA literature in the field of instructional communication and education focused on students and inservice teachers. The former examined student anxiety in communicating in front of public including experiences, causes, and resolutions [1], [4], [9], [11], [12]. The latter discussed the importance of developing a teacher measurement scale to better assess student's CA [2].…”

“…A large and ever growing body of literature demonstrates that Communication Apprehension (CA) is fundamental to instructional communication [1]- [5] including in the discipline of language teaching [6]- [9] and those of business [10], maritime [11], and nursing education [12]. There is also a clear evidence indicating that CA is strongly associated with how people cope with anxiety to communicate in front of public.…”