Public Speaking State Anxiety as a Function of Anticipatory Trait Anxiety and Gender Difference — A Case Study in a Junior High School in Taiwan
| Autor: | Yan-zhen Lin, 林嬿甄 |
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| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Druh dokumentu: | 學位論文 ; thesis |
| Popis: | 99 This study examined the functions of different levels of trait anxiety and gender difference on the distributions of the state anxiety during different stages of a public speech in a foreign language environment. The subjects were the 66 participants who joined in a public speech contest in a junior high school in the northern Taiwan. Before the contest, they filled out the A-Trait scale adapted from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and then immediately after the contest, they completed the A-State scale adapted from the STAI. The fluctuations of the state anxiety were observed during three different stages of the public speech: (1) the anticipation stage (one minute before the speech), (2) the confrontation stage (the first minute of the speech), and (3) the release stage (one minute after the speech). The following are the summary of the results. First, both high- and low-trait anxious groups showed the sensitization pattern. That is, their anxiety was relatively lower at the anticipation stage, climaxed at the confrontation stage, and then descended at the release stage. Second, both the two gender groups revealed the same sensitization pattern. Furthermore, females were found to have higher levels of state anxiety at all stages than males even though there was no significance between gender difference. Third, the overall means of all the participants' state anxiety narrow-banded for the three stages also exhibited the sensitization pattern. The findings suggest that the preparation process before the English speech contest may help the students lower their anxiety. On the other hand, the English speech contest in this study seems to be a strong stimulus for the speakers. Future researchers are recommended to conduct more studies on the effects of different pedagogical strategies in a foreign language environment to facilitate students’ anxiety reduction. |
| Databáze: | Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations |
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