Analysis of Chinese EFL Postgraduates' Experiences with Public Speaking Anxiety toward International Conference Presentation

Abstract

Anxiety has a significant effect on oral communication, particularly when it occurs in the form of a public address. The quality of a public speaker's oral presentation may highly be determined by a variety of emotive elements. However, this has received much too little attention in the realm of academic conference presentations, despite the fact that this process may be incredibly nerve-wracking for both novice and experienced postgraduate students. In the current study, 137 Chinese EFL postgraduate students consented to complete a revamped version of the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA). Chinese EFL postgraduates reported a high level of public speaking anxiety during their international conference presentations, as measured by three categorical variables: public speaking apprehension, self-behavior management, and fear of negative evaluation. During the international conference presentations, ten questionnaire items were recognised to be the most anxiety-provoking conditions in terms of public speaking anxiety. In addition, differences in gender and graduate study specialization were not significantly associated with Chinese EFL postgraduates' experiences with public speaking anxiety. Nevertheless, it was discovered that Chinese EFL graduate students reported statistically significant levels of public speaking anxiety, and pedagogical suggestions were offered.