Public Speaking Anxiety for ESL Students

Public Speaking Anxiety for ESL Students Findings The purpose of this research is to determine the primary factors of public speaking anxiety and speaking English as a second language amongst students from LG221 and LG241. Besides that, to check upon the gender differences between these students when it comes to public speaking anxiety, whether gender differences have an impact towards the level of public speaking anxiety. Last but not least to find out the relationship between students’ public speaking anxiety as well as fears for negative evaluation by their peers and educators. Upon completion of both the questionnaires, the data was tabulated and analyzed by calculating the mean values in order to obtain needed information. In addition to finding the connection between students’ public speaking anxiety together with their fears for negative evaluation, Karl Pearson’s correlation method is used. Result Figure 4.0 illustrate the demographic data of this research. Samples for this research consist of students of Bachelor of Applied Language Studies (Hons.) Malay Language for Professional Communication, also known as LG221 and LG241 of MARA University of Technology (UiTM), Shah Alam. Participants are at the ranging of 20 to 24 years old. The total numbers of participants are 50 students consisting of 27 male and 23 female. Figure 4.0 Factors of Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) To determine the underlying factors behind both male and female students public speaking anxiety, factor analysis was accomplished on the of the 34 item in the PRPSA questionnaires. All 34 items are then characterized onto six different factors that are related to making public speaking. These six factors are as followed: Positive speaking perceptions. Emotional effects of speech anxiety. Physical effects of speech anxiety. Lack of preparation. Feeling vulnerable. Perfectionist. Out of 34 items in PRPSA, 12 items are put into the first factor which was labelled positive speaking perception (Factor 1). Items loading on this factor pertained to the positive feeling a person has during the preparation and actual speech presentation. Students with this kind of attitude tend to have little or no problem when giving a speech. Besides that, six items are put into the second factor which was labelled emotional effect of speech anxiety (Factor 2). Items loading on this factor pertained to the supposed emotional consequences a person feels during the preparation of the speech, as well as when asked to give a speech. The third factor is labelled physical effects of speech anxiety (Factor 3) with six items loaded into it that pertained to the supposed physical consequences a person feels during the preparation of the speech. The fourth factor is labelled lack of preparation (Factor 4) and is loaded with three items from PRPSA. These three items pertained to the perceived consequences of insufficient speech preparation. Meanwhile, the fifth factor is labelled vulnerability (Factor 5) with four items put into it. Items loading on this factor pertained to the perceived feeling of helplessness during the preparation of the speech. Lastly, the sixth factor is labelled perfectionist (Factor 6) with three items from the PRPSA that pertained to the supposed consequences of being perfectionist. The mean value of each items scored by both male and female students as well as the total mean value were calculated to check upon the real reason to the occurrence of public speaking anxiety amongst students as well as to distinguish the differences in public speaking anxiety between the two gender as shown in Table 4.0. Table 4.0 Within these six factors of the PRPSA that has been characterized, the factor Emotional effects of speech anxiety scored the highest with a mean of 3.52. Although the result is moderate, it still shows that most students tend to have public speaking anxiety because they have a sense of nervousness together with uneasiness when giving a speech and this can negatively affect students’ speech by making them seem unsure about what they are saying. The next factor resulting in students’ public speaking anxiety is Perfectionist with a mean of 3.13. Students who are considered themselves perfectionists tend to have a tendency to set standards that are so high that they either cannot be met, or are only met with great difficulty. Perfectionists tend to believe that anything short of perfection is horrible, and that even minor imperfections will lead to catastrophe. This is followed by the third factor which is Vulnerability. Factor vulnerability scored a mean of 3.13. This factor shows that students think about an upcoming encounter negatively and may intensify feelings of anticipatory anxiety associated with the encounter. Besides that, speakers’ will also have depressive thoughts about their speech and this may contribute to public speaking anxiety before, during, and after a speech performance which lead to them believing they will not succeed when giving a speech. Factor Lack of preparation is found to be factor number four with a mean of 2.93. The level of preparation determines the level of students’ success in giving speeches. Most students hardly prepare enough for their speeches. This is often because they do not start their preparation early as to why they resort to a last minute approach, which then lead to them feeling unprepared and unready for a speech. The final factor that leads to students having public speaking anxiety is Physical effects of speech anxiety with a mean of 2.89. Speech anxiety can overwhelm the senses, the thoughts, as well as the body. Some of the common symptoms of speech anxiety include shaking, sweating, butterflies in the stomach, dry mouth, rapid heartbeat, and squeaky voice. The first factor which is Positive perceptions towards speech anxiety is not an underlying factor to students’ public speaking anxiety. This factor is actually the opposite of it. Positive perceptions towards speech anxiety factor scored a mean of 3.34. This proves that students’ public speaking anxiety is not that serious. However these students need improvement as it is hinted that students are still not that keen towards the importance of English speech proficiencies. More importantly, it is known that the students still felt uncomfortable and unsure of their own potentials and that that they are still not capable of handling themselves during speeches. Gender Differences in Public Speaking Anxiety On the other hand, to determine whether there is a difference in public speaking anxiety between male and female student, the mean value for PRPSA of each gender is distinguished. Results are as shown in Table 4.1. Table 4.1 The above table revealed that although both male and female students fell in the moderate level of PRPSA, female students tend to have a higher public speaking anxiety level as their mean value is bigger as compared to the male students. On Figure 4.1, it can be seen on which aspects students, whether male or female, face their difficulties when giving a speech. This figure is based on the factors that have been deducted from PRPSA. Figure 4.1 Despite the female students monopolizing all factors, there are some items from PRPSA that the male students scored higher mean values as compared to the female students. Examples of these items include; Statement 13: â€Å"I am in constant fear of forgetting what I prepared to say.† From the statement above, 28 out of 50 students agreed to it with 16 of them being male students. It can be concluded that male students experienced more anxiety compared to male respondents in terms of forgetting to say things they know even though the result is quite similar. Statement 30: â€Å"During an important speech I experience a feeling of helplessness building up inside me.† On the hand, 17 out of 50 students agreed to statement above with 10 of them being males students while the other 7 are female students. In this statement, it can be said that the male students can still be nervous and more anxious compared to the female students. For the gender differences in public speaking anxiety, it can be indicated that both male and female students are equally anxious when involve in giving speeches although the male students show less significant anxiety as compared to the female students. Correlation between Public Speaking Anxiety and Fear of Negative Feedback In order to determine the correlation between two variables and they are students’ public speaking anxiety together with their fears of negative feedback, Karl Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient method is being used. Karl Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient In statistics, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r) is a common measure of the correlation between two variables X and Y. When measured in a population the Pearson Product Moment correlation is designated by the Greek letter rho (Ï ). Whilst computed in a sample, it is designated by the letter r and is sometimes called Pearsons r. Pearsons correlation reflects the degree of linear relationship between two variables. It ranges from +1 to -1. A correlation of +1 means that there is a perfect positive linear relationship between variables whereas a correlation of -1 means that there is a perfect negative linear relationship between variables. A correlation of 0 means there is no linear relationship between the two variables. Correlations are rarely if ever 0, 1, or -1. The result of the correlation could indicate whether correlations are negative or positive. Mathematical Formula: The quantity r, called the linear correlation coefficient, measures the strength and the direction of a linear relationship between two variables. The linear correlation coefficient is sometimes referred to as the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient in honour of its developer Karl Pearson. The mathematical formula for computing r is: n = number of pairs of scores ∑xy = sum of the product of paired scores ∑x = sum of the x scores ∑y = sum of the y scores ∑x ² = sum of squared x scores ∑y ² = sum of squared y scores The strength and significance of the coefficient. The following general categories indicate a quick way of interpreting a calculated r value: Results for the relationship between public speaking anxiety and fear of negative feedback were displayed in a graphical representation Figure 4.2. From the table 4.2, it can be seen that the result showed a weak correlation between the students’ public speaking anxiety and their fear of negative evaluation as it only scored 0.256. This proves that the relationship between two variables is weak and not very significant. Table 4.2 Figure 4.2 The mean value for fear of negative evaluation score was 51.5. This demonstrates that the average for fear of negative evaluation level is in moderate level. However, out of 50 students that answered the questionnaire, 9 students fell on the high level for fear of negative evaluation, 27 students are on the moderate level while the remaining 14 students have low level for fear of negative evaluation as illustrated in Figure 4.3. Figure 4.3 The students average anxiety level also fell on the moderate level that is at mean value 106.02. From the 50 students that answered the questionnaire, none of the students fell in highly active category. Meanwhile, 94% of the students are in the moderate category while the remaining 6% are in the low category. This can be illustrated as shown in Figure 4.4. Figure 4.4

Of Mice And Men :: essays research papers

OF MICE AND MEN Should George have shot his friend Lennie? George probably did the right thing by shooting Lennie. How can we condemn George for sparing his friend Lennie the pain and fear of being killed by someone else? He did something society sees as wrong, but he did it for a good reason. Lennie didn’t deserve to die, but there was no other alternative. Curley wanted to kill Lennie, and since George cared for Lennie, he figured the best thing would be for him to put Lennie out of his misery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lennie deserved to be punished for what he did, but not to be killed. Lennie was a handicapped person with below average intelligence. He didn’t really understand what he had done, but he didn’t really fit into society either.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Curley and the others were looking for Lennie and wanted to exterminate him; they were angry and hated Lennie. If Curley would have found Lennie, he would have shot him. But that way, Lennie would have died afraid and sad. His death would have been very violent. George knew this and that’s why he did what he did. George also knew that Lennie had dug a hole for himself and could never get out. He knew they were looking for Lennie and wouldn’t stop until they killed him. He decided to do it himself in the kindest way he could. It’s like when Candy said about his dog, “I should of shot that dog myself.'; meaning it would have been kinder to the dog. Lennie was lying down, facing away from George and didn’t know he was going to be shot. He didn’t know what was going to happen, just like Candy’s dog.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Murder is never the right answer, but George didn’t really commit murder.

Exploratory Research on Pizza Heaven Essay

1. Exploratory research is a form of research conducted for a problem that has not been clearly defined. It helps determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects. Even from the definition of exploratory research we can see, that it is done in order to define the problem and to help understand in which direction the further research should go. Exploratory research is preliminary, and is not conclusive, the quality of information provided is not perfect, and also the focus group chosen(40people) was not really representing the whole of the students at West coast. Therefore they should not yet implement the findings, because the data provided by 40 students might not be applicable to all student at West coast. 2. The problem Pizza Heaven has faced is that their sales have slipped. That could be due to competition from national chains such as Pizza Hut or Domino’s, so questions about competition should be asked. (Because potential clients might like something about the competitors more e. g.pizza itself, delivery, atmosphere in restaurants) â€Å"also, they noted that the selection was often poor† Sales could have slipped, because of the range of products Pizza Heaven offers, so that topic has to be covered as well, including questions about new possible pizzas. (Because it may be that competitors are offering some types of pizza that Pizza Heaven don’t have) A decrease in sales can also be due to poor customer service, so that topic should also be covered. People said that â€Å"pizzas were usually dry and cold† why? maybe delivery took too long, that should be explored in more details. 3. Step One: Establishing the Need for Marketing Research The need is already established, as there is a decrease in sales Step Two: Defining the Problem So the problem is a decrease in sales, due to what ? Step Three: Establishing Research Objectives Hard Competition? Poor range of products? Need better customer service? those are the questions to ask. Step Four: Determining Research Design. Descriptive and Causal Research should be done. Step Five: Identifying Information Types and Sources Primary data should be collected, but also secondary data could be of a little use, for example if the sales dropped overall and not only by Pizza Heaven, due to crisis or some other reason Step Six: Determining Methods of Accessing Data We should have people asking the question, and also questionnaires coming with each pizza could help. Step Seven: Designing Data collection Forms Can be questionnaires(must be worded objectively, clearly, and without bias in order to communicate with respondents), surveys, or both can be done through email (although there is only a 5% response rate) Step Eight: Determining Sample Plan and Size Sample Size should surely be more than 40 people from one location. Also a sample should be representative, e. g. not only student of age 18-20, but also every other age groups. Step Nine: Collecting Data Step Ten: Analyzing Data Step Eleven: Preparing and Presenting the Final Report.

5 More Dangling Modifiers

5 More Dangling Modifiers 5 More Dangling Modifiers 5 More Dangling Modifiers By Mark Nichol Judging from the relative ease with which I accumulate real-world examples of dangling modifiers introductory phrases that provide additional information but do not integrate grammatically with the sentence’s subject I conclude that this error is among the most common of grammatical sentence-construction flubs. Here are five more examples from my overstuffed vault. 1. â€Å"A culmination of eighteen years of work, Jones admits he realized he was ‘basically making the same movie over and over again.’† The writer has hidden the key component of this sentence a reference to a film Jones directed after the revelation that his previous work had been repetitive. Any effective revision of this sentence must explicitly refer to the latest project, but the sentence should also begin by identifying the filmmaker and then parenthetically referring to the newest film: â€Å"Jones, whose film is a culmination of eighteen years of work, admits he realized he was ‘basically making the same movie over and over again.’† 2. â€Å"Delivered in Smith’s soft-spoken, nurturing manner, students can paint along with the master.† As in the previous example, this sentence only implies the context this is a description of an audio recording of an artist teaching people how to paint. For the sentence to make sense, the educational materials must be explicitly mentioned: â€Å"Using these lessons, delivered in Smith’s soft-spoken, nurturing manner, students can paint along with the master.† 3. â€Å"Tall, still lean, and still performing at eighty-three, Taylor’s legacy has not diminished with time.† Taylor, rather than his legacy, is described in the introductory phrase, so the two ideas must be separated, and Taylor must be associated with the descriptions, while the reference to the legacy can be appended at the end: â€Å"Tall and still lean, Taylor is still performing at eighty-three, and his legacy has not diminished with time.† 4. â€Å"For Lukas’s mom, playing in the school band has given her son a chance to stretch himself and see what he is capable of accomplishing.† This sentence reads as if Lukas’s mother is playing in the school band and implies that her participation has had the stated effects on her son. But he, not his mother, is in the school band, and her role in the sentence is merely to provide the information. This sentence can easily convey the writer’s intent with a straightforward attribution: â€Å"Lukas’s mom says her son’s participation in the school band has given him a chance to stretch himself and see what he is capable of accomplishing.† 5. â€Å"A brutal dictator, his regime was unchallenged until the uprising that began in February.† According to this sentence, someone’s regime was a brutal dictator. The revision should simply identify the regime as â€Å"belonging† to the tyrant: â€Å"The brutal dictator’s regime was unchallenged until the uprising that began in February.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Meaning of "To a T"60 Synonyms for â€Å"Trip†Threw and Through

Analytical View Of James Joyces Araby Essays - Araby, James Joyce

Analytical View Of James Joyces' Araby Essays - Araby, James Joyce Analytical View Of James Joyces' Araby # Goldstein ## Sara Goldstein Ernst Narrative Fiction 22 October 2000 An Analytical View of Araby Viewpoints from which stories are written are used to enhance the overall point a story is making. James Joyces Araby is no exception. Narrated by a young boy of about twelve or thirteen, it depicts his personal coming of age. The usage of a first person narration allows the reader to see things the way the boy sees them; be as innocent and wistful as he is, thus feeling the incredible intensity of his eventual realization. In addition to this coming of age theme, intricately woven throughout are hints to Joyces contemptuous view of Roman Catholicism, as well as many biblical allusions. Araby takes place around the turn of the century in Dublin, Ireland. At this time in history the Catholic Church had a great hold on the country. James Joyce held an immense dislike for the Roman Catholic Church and the strains it put forth, however these were not feelings that could be shared openly. Instead Joyce wrote about them in a symbolic fashion, using his writing as a tool to speak out. The opening paragraph of this story sets it up as one that will do just that. He states, ...it was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers School set the boys free, suggesting that their religion had imprisoned them. The former tenant of the boys house, a charitable priest, had died inside and left his money to institutions and his furniture to his sister. This could be a symbolic reference to the fall of Roman Catholicism; his house being the country of Ireland, the priest being the religion. It is also interesting to note that the priest passed on with a lot of money- basically a contradictory situation (though the narrator fails to question this due to his naivet. How would a priest end up with so much money? This is a possible stab at the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the church. Religion, as a whole comes up symbolically many times throughout the story. Joyce makes obvious reference to the Garden of Eden when describing the wild garden behind the house [which] contained a central apple tree. This is a parallel to a well known fall from grace, as the boy will soon experience. In addition, nearly all the boys thoughts of his silent admiration can be identified as religious references. Many of them happen to be sexual desires stifled by religion. The girl is most certainly used as a representation of the Virgin Mary. One night, before the bazaar, the boy watches out the window the brown clad figure cast by my imagination, touched discreetly by the lamplight at the curved neck, at the hand upon the railings and at the border below the dress. More specifically, when the uncle has not yet returned to take the boy to the bazaar, the aunt suggests that he put off the bazaar for this night of our lord. This night being Saturday, the service which is dedicated to veneration of Virgin Mary- sort of what he is doing by going to Araby for the girl. It is also interesting to note that there are multiple times when he refers to his infatuation in religious terms, such as her name coming to him in prayer, or her words playing him as if he were a harp. Due to strong religious obligations, sexuality was greatly repressed during the time of this story. This idea was vividly sketched in the paragraph which states All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring O love! O love! many times. The intense sexual undertones of this passage are unmistakable. It illustrates the boys confusion of religion and sexuality. A more straight forward example of sexual themes occurs when the girl and boy actually speak. Her obligations to her religion (the retreat) override her more sexual desires, while she releases her nervous sexual tension through twirling her silver bracelet around her arm. Furthermore, the boy seems to create a sexual image of the girl

IMC PLAN For Door to Door Transportation Service Essay

IMC PLAN For Door to Door Transportation Service - Essay Example The target customers are concerned with â€Å"get† component and monetary price are not mainly of monetary concern. Thus Double M will adopt the pricing strategy based on the perspective of customer â€Å"Value is everything I want in a service† and adopts the prestige pricing strategy (Zeithaml, 550). Prestige pricing is a form of demand based pricing strategy which offers high quality services; Double M also aims to provide its target customers with high quality service along with a sign of status. The demand increases as price increases because it is believed that the costlier the service is the more value it has. Analyzing the customer base, it can be assumed that they are willing to spend in order to travel comfortably for daily activities, for their families and the senior members along with the institutional. Therefore the price charged will be high by Double M and will aim to provide value for its service to the target customers. If a normal rate of bus service is $10 assuming it to be the minimum fare, Double M would charge $20-$25 as its minimum fare for its door to door service and maximum would amount to $45 to $50 depending upon the distance and service. The primary pricing objective of Double M is to build demand and achieve minimum level of revenue and build a user base which is extremely important for service such as door to door transportation service as its new and it needs to generate revenue so to maintain itself in the industry. Pricing objective are important as pricing strategy depend on pricing objectives of the company. The pricing objective should be in line with the goals and objectives of the organizations (Petzer, 221). 25 cost items which tends to make up the price of the product includes, price of raw materials such as automobile parts, tiers, set covers, paint, design, lights, electricity, labor, fuel, terminals, maintenance, administrative, roadways, construction charges, salaries of lower level which varies, fuel taxes, weight mile taxes, trolls and marketing cost such as advertisements, promotional cost, printing cost for hoardings and pamphlets. Since the company has an option of online business other cost would include, website cost, design, up gradation and maintenance cost of the website. The target customers of Double M are not price sensitive because they want a service that will provide them with comfort and with an accurate satisfaction level. Since the target customers are mainly the daily commuters and their families, the need of safety and comfort will be valued highly by the customers. Similar is with the organizations, who would value the service rather than the price of the service charged. Hence it can be said that the target customers are not price sensitive and demand is inelastic. Irrespective of the prices charged or any changes taken place the customers would prefer to travel through door to door transportation service. Pricing strategy tends to include various promotion al techniques in order to attract the target customers and create a place in the market and in the minds of the customers. Double M would also adopt the promotional techniques as part of its marketing plan. During the launch of the service, Double M would go for promotional pricing and would offer certain percentage of discount for its travelers during the first month of its service along with added facility such as dropping the family members at 20% discount rate. This way the

Quality Management in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Quality Management in Business - Essay Example minimum errors in the operational procedures and improvising production services as per customers’ demand (Arab British Academy for Higher Education, n. d.). Specifically, in terms of hotels such as ‘The Rose and Crown’ that relies on customer service rather than selling products, errors can be of multiple forms. These can be providing the customers with inadequate levels of service or poor customer response time. All these forms of errors are normal in case of hospitality industry but the main concern lies on the management about how they deal with such issues and how fast they rectify them (Arab British Academy for Higher Education, n. d.). Quality, in terms of service in hotel industry is a process where the management team focuses on assessing the expectations of the customers for the services that they are offered with (AbuKhalifeh & Som, 2012). Customers’ expectations can be evaluated in terms of ‘reliability’, ‘assurance’ ‘responsiveness’ and ‘empathy’. In case of ‘The Rose and Crown’ hotel, the degrading quality of service towards customers can be stated as the cause of emerging major problems. Services provided by the hospitality organisations towards its customers can be segregated into multiple categories that together contribute towards the overall development of maintaining greater association with the customers (AbuKhalifeh & Som, 2012). Quality assurance and quality control are duly considered to be the subparts of total quality management (TQM). These two assessment tools provide both qualitative as well as quantitative data and thus play decisive roles in inspecting and assuring an organization’s quality service management. The data accumulated through these two processes eventually helps in developing and initiating strategies for improvising the quality of service and thus providing customer satisfaction (Shahin, n. d.). For bringing about improvement in ‘The Rose and Crown’ in terms of service, which is