An Investigation into Presentation Apprehension among Non-English Major Students at a University in Hanoi

Abstract

The study was carried out at Dai Nam University to measure the levels of presentation apprehension among non-English major students. The participants were 137 students of different disciplines. The study employs quantitative research design to obtain the answers for research questions. The first finding of the study shows that levels of presentation apprehension among non-English major students at Dai Nam University was M=3.06 which was at the medium level. In terms of variation of presentation apprehension by years of study, the findings reveal that there were significant differences. Year 1 (M = 3.82, SD = 0.25) was significantly larger than for Year 2 (M = 3.01, SD = 0.41), p < .001. For the main effect of year of study, the mean of presentation apprehension for Year 1 (M = 3.82, SD = 0.25) was significantly larger than for Year 3 (M = 2.29, SD = 0.39), p < .001. For the main effect of years of study, the mean of presentation apprehension for Year 2 (M = 3.01, SD = 0.41) was significantly larger than for Year 3 (M = 2.29, SD = 0.39), p < .001. The second finding of the study revealed that among the factors that lead to presentation apprehension, fear of being judged or criticized (Ft5), and lack of self-confidence (Ft6) were the main causes of anxiety M=3.05 and M=3.04 respectively. The finding also indicated that the factors of presentation apprehension varied by years of study.