Prediction of oral communication apprehension in community college students.

Date of Award

1985

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Department Not Listed

First Advisor

Summers,Jerry

Abstract

This study attempted to dtermine which information routinely collected during the admission process could be significant predictors of high levels of oral communication apprehension in community college students.The independent variables of 1)scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, 2) scores on the Assessment and Placement Test for Community Colleges prepared by the College Board, 3)student rank in high school graduating class, 5)age of the student, 6)sex of the student, and 7)the student's race were examined as potential predictors of overall communication apprehension and of oral communication apprehension in each of four contexts including group communication,meeting communication,dyadic communication,and public speaking.Students enrolled in three introductory speech courses at Vincennes University-Junior College responded to the twenty-four item Personal Report of Communication Apprehension.After eliminating those cases in which demographic information was missing,a workable sample of N = 135 remained for Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.This technique allowed relative analysis of the ability of each independent variable to predict the criterion in question.Statistical analysis resulted in rejection of all null hypotheses posited in the study.Scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test were found to be the strongest,most consistent predictors of all contexts of oral communication apprehension.Scores on the Assessment and Placement Tests for Community Colleges contributed little to the prediction of oral communication apprehension scores.Although the student's rank in high school graduating class was often influential in predicting apprehension scores,the size of the graduating class was an insignificant predictor.The student's age,sex,and race tended to be inconsistent predictors of oral communication apprehension scores.The author recommended that the scope of oral communication apprehension should be expanded giving special attention to community college students.It was also suggested that future multiples regression analyses should be limited to fewer independent variables to allow a more focused investigation.Also,the influence of race/ethnic origin upon scores in the five oral communication apprehension contexts were found to merit attention in future investigations.

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