Oral Communication Apprehension as a Barrier to Students’ Oral Communication: Teachers’ Perspectives

Abstract

This paper explored oral communication apprehension among Sudanese undergraduate students majoring in English. The researcher employed the descriptive analytic approach. The subjects of the study were 30 Sudanese EFL teachers, drawn from three faculties at Gezira University: Faculty of Arts at AlKamleen, Faculty of Education at AL Hasaheesah and Faculty of Education at Hantoub. A quantitative tool was employed for data collection; a questionnaire to identify the level of students’ oral communication apprehension (CA), to investigate the causes of CA and to view participants’ views of the possible ways to treat CA. Results showed that the students’ level of communication apprehension was average and that the causes of their communication apprehension were found to be: excessive use of L1; lack of communicative activities; lack of teacher training; traditional teaching methods; psychological factors; motivational factors, to mention a few. The results also revealed that students’ CA could be reduced by various techniques such as training teachers, adopting communicative teaching approach, improving classroom environment, motivating students and considering students’ learning style. The study concluded with some recommendations which offered to EFL teachers and educational/language policy makers. Finally, further studies were suggested in relation to the investigation of oral communication apprehension, specifically in lower educational levels and in other universities across the country.