Proceedings of the 36th International Academic Conference, London

PREVALENCE AND IMPLICATION OF PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY ON EMPLOYABILITY OF STUDENTS IN OMAN.

SONAL DEVESH

Abstract:

The paper aims to examine the prevalence of public speaking anxiety among students in Oman and discuss its implication on their employability. The study relied on mixed research, where a structured questionnaire was used with a sample of 200 students. collected from a public college in Muscat, in addition to an interview with 12 respondents from the industry. The paper adopted Exploratory Factor Analysis(EFA), T-test and ANOVA. The study found that public speaking anxiety is widespread among students in higher education institutions in Oman. Its prevalence rate amounted to 55 percent much higher compared to the rates reported internationally. The main causes are attributed to Symptoms of anxiety, Self-confidence/self-esteem, Foreign language anxiety, Readiness/Preparedness for language speech, Fear of Foreign language speech, Experience, Forgetfulness/Loss of Memory. The implication of public speaking anxiety on student employability has been identified and some suggestions made on the basis of the findings.

Keywords: Speaking Anxiety, Employability skills, Non -Parametric tests, prevalence rate, Oman

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2018.036.008

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