Oral Communication Apprehension and Affective Factors: Self-esteem and Introversion/Extroversion

The present study intended to propose a causal model of factors that would predict Oral Communication Apprehension (OCA) of Iranian learners of English as a foreign language. To conduct the study, 135 male and female University students majoring in English were selected. Five variables including: learners’self-esteem and introversion/extroversion(as independent variables), their gender and proficiency level (as moderator variables)and their oral communication apprehension (as the major dependent variable) were selected. To collect the data necessary for the study a language proficiency test and three questionnaires were used. Statistical analyses revealed that all the independent and moderate variables predicted the participants’ OCA. Furthermore, extroversion was found to be the strongest predictor of OCA. Results of the t-test and one-way ANOVA revealed that females and students of the lowest level of proficiency experience a significantly higher level of OCA. The findings are finally discussed and pedagogical implications of the study are provided.