Communication apprehension and general anxiety in the prediction of public speaking anxiety

The communication apprehension (CA) construct is based on the assumption that information about a person's tendency to experience anxiety in communication situations provides unique information, beyond that provided by assessing that person's predisposition to experience anxiety in general, in predicting anxiety when forced to communicate. However, the validity of this assumption is uncertain. In the present study, the predictive power of the PRCA‐24 and a general anxiety measure was examined at three separate intervals during a semester long public speaking course. Results indicated that, at the outset, the PRCA‐24 and the general anxiety measure predicted anxiety experienced during public speaking with equal power. By the end of the semester, the PRCA‐24 was clearly superior to the general measure in predicting self‐reported performance anxiety.     

The association of perceived communication apprehension,shyness, and verbal aggression with perceptions of source credibility and affect in organizational and interpersonal contexts

This is a report of two studies that examined the association of receivers' perceptions of sources' levels of several communication traits (shyness, communication apprehension, verbal aggressiveness) with the receivers' reported levels of affect for the source (general affect and/or liking) and the receivers' perceptions of the sources' credibility (competence, trustworthiness, goodwill). Study 1 examined employees’ perceptions of their supervisor's communication trait behaviors in the organizational context, while Study 2 examined the students' perceptions of their roommate's communication trait behaviors in an interpersonal context. As predicted on the basis of previous theory and research, both perceived communication apprehension and perceived verbal aggressiveness of the source were found to be substantially negatively correlated with credibility and affect and/or liking reported by the receiver. Contrary to our hypothesis, perceived behavioral shyness was not meaningfully associated with either credibility or affect. It is concluded that these results provide important information for distinguishing between the theoretical constructs of shyness and communication apprehension and theory in this area in general.     

Sources of differences in communication apprehension between Chinese in Taiwan and Americans

This study investigated whether cross‐cultural differences in communication apprehension (CA) can be explained with regard to cultural orientations, personality traits and component theory. To this end, a total of 618 undergraduates, studying in Taiwan (n = 298) and the United States (n = 320), participated in this study. Participants filled out the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension along with Self‐Construal Scale, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, Fear of Negative Evaluation, and Self‐Perceived Communication Competence scale. The results indicated that Chinese in Taiwan scored significantly higher in communication apprehension than Americans. The influence of culture on CA was mediated by independence self‐construal, neuroticism, extroversion, fear of negative evaluation, and communication competence. The strongest mediating effect was found for self‐perception of communication competence. The implications of these findings were further discussed.     

A comparison of verbal output and receptivity in relation to attraction and communication satisfaction in interpersonal relationships

This study tested relationships among verbal output, behavioral receptivity, attraction, and communication satisfaction in a variety of longer and shorter term relationships of differing levels of liking. Two behaviorally referenced reports on others were developed to measure perceived behavioral output and perceived behavioral receptivity. The study tested hypotheses within the attraction paradigm. Results generally supported the notion of an important reinforcement value of high behavioral receptivity and moderate verbal output. Substantial proportions of highly verbal people appeared to be below average in receptivity.     

The impact of communication apprehension on college student retention and success

Communication apprehension is conceptualized as a causal agent in student success. It is implicated in both academic and interpersonal success, two factors identified by prior resesarch as primary predictors of persistence. A four year longitudinal study of the impact of communication apprehension on grade point average and persistence at the university level was conducted. Results indicated high CA students were significantly more likely to drop out and attain lower grade point averages compared to low CA students. The impact of CA was strongest during the first two years. A replication of the study confirmed the impact of CA on student persistence. It is concluded the impact of CA on the probablity of high CA students’ survival in college is substantial and this impact adds to the case favoring the provision of training programs to assist such students overcome their apprehension about communication.     

Aggressive communication and informational reception apprehension: The influence of listening anxiety and intellectual inflexibility on trait argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness

Recent training efforts designed to strengthen student argumentation skills and decrease verbally aggressive tendencies have yielded mixed results (Rancer et al., 1997, 2000). Inherent in these efforts is the belief that an individual's use of verbal aggression is implicitly related to law argumentative behavior and a weak system for generating arguments (Infante, 1988). As an extension of this research, we examined the relationships among trait‐like argumentativeness (Infante & Rancer, 1982), trait‐like verbal aggressiveness (Infante & Wigley, 1986) (VA), and Wheeless, Preiss, and Gayle's (1997) construct of informational reception apprehension (IRA). Results indicated that two IRA factors, listening anxiety and intellectual inflexibility, were significant predictors of both aggressive communication traits. Further, both IRA factors accounted for greater variance in trait‐like argumentativeness than in trait‐like VA. Implications of these findings as they relate to Infante's (1987) “argumentative skill deficiency model,” as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.     

大学生人际交流恐惧状况的调查分析

采用大学生交流恐惧量表对德州学院252名本科生进行测定,目的是了解大学生的人际交流状况.结果表明,大学生的人际交流状况不存在性别、专业差异,但存在年级差异.并对大学生存在交流恐惧的原因进行了初步探讨.     

Identifying the challenges and opportunities to meet the needs of children with speech,language and communication difficulties

The views of experienced educational practitioners were examined with respect to the terminology used to describe children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), associated problems and the impact of speech and language difficulties in the classroom. Results showed that education staff continue to experience challenges with the range of terminology used to refer to the children's needs. Terms used to refer to difficulties with speech were least familiar to the respondents. Difficulties were noted in distinguishing between children with SLCN and children where English was an additional language. Respondents indicated a variety of additional difficulties experienced by the children. Literacy difficulties were reported to be more prevalent in children with language difficulties, while levels of bullying and anxiety were reported to be higher in children with speech problems. Respondents reported that tools for identifying speech and language difficulties and procedures for accessing effective resources are required.     

大学生社交焦虑、情绪智力与孤独感的关系研究

为探讨情绪智力、社交焦虑对孤独感的影响,对平顶山市3所高校的410名在校大学生进行了问卷调查,对调查结果进行了回归分析,并采用路径分析的方法解释了变量之间的交互作用。研究结果表明：一般社交焦虑和交流焦虑对孤独感有不同影响,与一般社交焦虑相比,交流焦虑和孤独感的相关度更高,即交流焦虑会带来更高的孤独感。情绪智力与社交焦虑高度相关,会减少社交焦虑所引起的孤独感,对一般社交焦虑影响不大。     

The effect of locus of control on communication motivation,anxiety, and satisfaction

Uses and gratifications is a psychological communication perspective focusing on how individual differences mediate attitudes and behavior. Incorporated in the perspective is an implicit emphasis of the interface of personal and mediated communication. As a salient psychological trait, locus of control should affect communication motivation and tendencies. Based on internal vs. external locus of control, we expected differences in communication motivation in interpersonal and mass‐media contexts, and differences in one's communication anxiety and satisfaction. Multivariate analysis of variance supported our expectations. Externals found communication to be less rewarding and less satisfying, tended to avoid communication, and were motivated to communicate more ritualistically than internals. We discussed these findings.     

Professional roles and responsibilities in meeting the needs of children with speech,language and communication needs: joint working between educational psychologists and speech and language therapists

There is a large population of children with speech, language and communication needs who have additional special educational needs (SEN). Whilst professional collaboration between education and health professionals is recommended to ensure an integrated delivery of statutory services for this population of children, formal frameworks should be developed for the exchange of information during identification and assessment of needs and planning of intervention strategies. In this study an audit was carried out to examine practical and conceptual issues which might arise in a piloted communication system between educational psychologists and speech and language therapists. Whilst it was found that 62.8% of newly referred children with SEN had some history of co‐existing communication and education needs, it was shown that duplication of work exists and communication is onerous. It was also shown that schools were not fully informed about children’s needs. Joint commissioning of services is required to facilitate individual practitioners in collaborating to serve the needs of these children.     

Recalled test anxiety in relation to achievement,in the context of general academic self-concept,study habits,parental involvement and socio-economic status among Grade 6 Ethiopian students

The study investigated the predictive nature of test anxiety on achievement in the presence of perceived general academic self-concept, study habits, parental involvement in children's learning and socio-economic status. From a population of 2482 Grade 6 students from seven government primary schools of a sub-city in Addis Ababa, 497 participants were randomly selected, namely 248 boys and 249 girls. The mean age of the participants was 12.98 years. An adapted version of Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale (28 items), plus the General Academic Self-Concept Scale (18 items), and Parental Involvement (10 items), Study Habits (10 items) and Socio-Economic Status (10 items) scales developed by the authors were the instruments of the study. The findings of the study indicated: (a) test anxiety correlated with achievement with a weak correlation of ?0.186; and (b) perceived general academic self-concept and study habits were positively and significantly related to achievement. Stepwise multiple regression on achievement resulted in the selection of general academic self-concept, study habits and parental involvement as significant contributors to achievement in that order. Test anxiety was found to be a non-predictor of achievement in the presence of other variables.     

父亲的婚姻满意度及社会支持对其参与儿童教养的影响

以400名3到7岁城市儿童的父亲为被试,考察父亲的婚姻满意度、社会支持对其参与儿童教养的影响。结果发现,父亲参与教养主要包括五个方面,婚姻满意度和主观社会支持能显著正向预测父亲参与儿童教养的这五个方面,而客观社会支持、支持的利用度均没有显著影响。     

The effects of audience pleasantness,audience familiarity,and speaking contexts on public speaking anxiety and willingness to speak

Two potential sources of anxiety about public speaking cited in previous research are audience pleasantness and audience familiarity. More familiar audiences, as well as more pleasant ones, usually evoke less anxiety, but research has shown some exceptions to this general rule. In addition, it is expected that as audiences become more pleasant and familiar, individuals would be more willing to speak. Ninety‐five university students each evaluated six situations, in which three levels of audience familiarity (strangers, acquaintances, and friends) were crossed with two levels of audience pleasantness (pleasant and unpleasant). Each student made their ratings with reference to one of three speaking contexts (academic, social, or professional). Using split‐plot ANOVA, a significant three way interaction was obtained for both willingness to speak and public speaking anxiety. In general, pleasantness exerted a stronger effect than familiarity. An audience composed of pleasant friends was the most preferred audience type in both the academic and social contexts. It is argued that previous research demonstrating conflicting effects of audience familiarity may have been generating different expectations for the anticipated pleasantness of the audience.     

The mitigating effects of maternal social support and paternal involvement on the intergenerational transmission of violence

Childhood maltreatment is a strong risk factor for subsequent violence, including violent behaviors in young adulthood and offspring maltreatment after becoming a parent. Little is known about the specific circumstances under which supportive relationships may help disrupt this cycle of violence throughout the life course. We conducted two complementary analyses to assess whether maternal social support in early childhood, and also paternal involvement in middle childhood, could prevent the intergenerational transmission of violence, using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 11,384). We found that higher levels of maternal social support in the postpartum period reduced the odds of offspring maltreatment at ages 0–8 years (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.93–0.96). When classifying mothers according to their abuse history, this protective association of social support was observed among mothers with no history of childhood maltreatment and among those with only childhood maltreatment (and not postpartum intimate partner violence [IPV]), but not among mothers who reported IPV since the child’s birth. We then extended our analysis of these offspring forward in time and found that paternal involvement at ages 9–10 years was associated with a reduced risk of offspring self-reported violent perpetration at ages 18–20 years (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.77–0.94). This protective association was generally apparent among all subgroups of children, including those with a history of childhood maltreatment. Together these results highlight the protective influence of supportive relationships against the intergenerational transmission of violence, depending on abuse history, context, and timing, with important implications for the prevention of childhood maltreatment and mitigation of its negative effects.     

The effects of communication medium on argumentation and the development of critical thinking

The aim of this paper is to compare the effects of different communication media on the quality of arguments and the development of argumentative reasoning. The study involved 73 undergraduate students. It consisted of a pre-test, an intervention session consisting of either an asynchronous online discussion or a face-to-face discussion, and a post-test. The pre-test consisted of a mini essay to ascertain participants’ opinion of smacking, and a 21-point smacking scale, where participants indicated how much they agreed or disagreed with smacking. The online group participated in a seminar discussion over a period of 2 weeks. The face-to-face group participated in the seminar discussion for a 1-h period. The seminar discussion was about the detrimental effects of smacking on children's development. One week after the seminar discussion, the post-test was administered. No statistically significant differences were found between the two conditions in terms of improvement in the quality of the students’ arguments. However, the quality of the argumentation used in face-to-face was higher than that used in the online discussions. The implications of these findings for theoretical models of collaborative activity are discussed.     

The effects of school-based parental involvement on academic achievement at the child and elementary school level: A longitudinal study

Policymakers view parental involvement (PI) as a crucial component of school reform efforts, but evidence of its effect on student achievement is equivocal. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort dataset, we examined the long-term impact on student- and school-level achievement of three types of school-based PI: PI to help an individual's own child (private-good PI), PI to improve the school (public-good PI), and PI through peer networking. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated that all three types raised student-level achievement in mathematics but only private-good PI was associated with reading achievement. Public-good PI and parent networking boosted school-level achievement. Public- and private-good PI were more strongly associated with student-level mathematics achievement for high socioeconomic status (SES) students; aggregated private-good PI was more strongly related to school-level achievement in low-SES schools. These results provide empirical evidence about the effectiveness of school-based PI, but also suggest a need for schools to explore more effective ways to leverage the social capital of low-SES families.     

The challenges of evaluation: assessing Early Talk's impact on speech language and communication practice in children's centres

This paper describes the findings of a qualitative evaluation of an early years' intervention, I Can's Early Talk (ET) programme. ET was designed to improve speech, language and communication outcomes for children aged 0–5 by focusing on enhancing practitioners' knowledge and skills. The research focused on children aged 3–4 years and was conducted in 14 Sure Start Children's Centres across England, using a combination of observations and interviews with practitioners, centre managers and local authority staff, along with a questionnaire survey of parents. Findings revealed improvements in practitioners' confidence and practice as a result of participating in the programme. The results also suggest that participating practitioners felt their capacity to understand and reflect on how to support children's speech, language and communication improved, particularly in the children's centres which had been accredited for over six months. ET was also found to offer a balance of support and challenge which consolidated and extended good practice and identified areas for development where practice was less effective. In addition, some of the challenges, which characterised and ultimately enhanced the research process, are described.     

The influence of personality factors,value appraisals,and control appraisals on cognitive test anxiety

Cognitive test anxiety is a considerable barrier to academic success. The control value theory of achievement emotions suggests emotions within academic situations—including test‐anxious responses—follow from control and value appraisals. Furthermore, the control value theory suggests a multitude of individual‐level factors that influence appraisals. However, few investigations have explored the interactive influence of enduring personality traits and control and value appraisals on the experience of cognitive test anxiety. The current study was designed to explore the relationship among openness to experience, neuroticism, conscientiousness, control and value appraisals, and cognitive test anxiety. Participants (N = 481) completed the Big Five Inventory, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale‐Short Form. Using exploratory structural equation modeling, we demonstrated that value and control appraisals were important predictors of cognitive test anxiety. Furthermore, results indicated that openness to experience was a positive predictor of value appraisals. Finally, results indicated that higher levels of control appraisals were associated with higher levels of conscientiousness and openness to experience and lower levels of neuroticism. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the determinants of cognitive test anxiety and have implications for efforts designed to identify test‐anxious students.     

The effects of speech and language therapy intervention on children with pragmatic language impairments in mainstream school

In this article, Catherine Adams, clinical senior lecturer in speech and language therapy at the University of Manchester, and Julian Lloyd, senior lecturer in psychology at Newman College, Birmingham, describe the implementation and effects of an intensive programme of speech and language therapy for children who have pragmatic language impairment (PLI) attending mainstream education in the north west of England. An intervention which focused on aspects of pragmatic language such as conversation, inference and narrative was developed. Six children who have PLI (mean age=7;10 years), all with a Statement of special educational needs, participated in a single case study series in which they each received 20 sessions of the speech and language therapy programme in their own school. Guidance and specific training was provided for learning support assistants and classroom teachers. Despite showing heterogeneity in their initial profiles of impairment, progress in conversation skills was seen in all six children and some significant changes in language test performance were found. These findings suggest that intensive speech and language therapy intervention has the potential to produce generalis-able gains in language and communication skills in children who have PLI and indicate appropriate outcome measures for future effectiveness studies.