Exploring Hashemite University students’ Oral Communication Apprehension (OCA) of English language and translation: Illuminating the causes, effects and strategies

The aim of this qualitative study is to uncover and understand Jordanian students’ attitude and perception of their own Oral Communication Apprehension (OCA) when using English language within and outside classroom settings. Nine (9) students were purposively recruited from the Hashemite University (HU) in Jordan from different programmes where the medium of instruction is English to share their learning difficulties and issues on OCA encountered, the reasons behind it and the strategies they employ to overcome OCA and five (5) lecturers. Semi-instructed interview was used for data collection. The findings reveal that the HU students experience OCA while communicating in English in or outside their classes. It is found that the most prevalent scenario where CA is experienced is during presentations and Oral Translation. The participants mentioned several causes of OCA when speaking in English, such as: fear of making mistakes while communicating in English due to lack of confidence in speaking, limited vocabulary and pronunciation issues. Three types of effects emerged from the students’ answers: academic, social and personal effects. The academic effects include avoiding participation, avoiding coursework, anxiety and missing opportunity for job. The social effects include fear of negative evaluation, limited social engagement, disorganised thinking patterns and loss of self-confidence. The personal effects include bodily physical and emotional changes. The findings also highlight some strategies the students believe can be used to tackle or mitigate the prevalence of OCA among students in HU, such as improving curriculum, introducing English language preparatory programme and more coping strategies.