The relationship between perceived face threats and class participation with respect to communication apprehension in Iranian EFL contexts

Abstract

Classroom participation is the key to an effective communication and successful learning. There are some barriers to achieving classroom participation which may obstruct students’ effective communication. In particular, Oral Communication Apprehension and Perceived Face Threats have been found to be important factors affecting classroom participation. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between perceived face threats and classroom participation with regard to communication apprehension in Iranian EFL Contexts. To achieve this purpose, 140 undergraduate students including 70 males and 70 females majoring in English literature, translation and teaching from Sheik-Bahai University were selected. This sample was chosen by means of simple random sampling procedure. A questionnaire was utilized as the instrument to examine the relationships among oral communication apprehension (OCA), perceived face threats (PFT) and class participation (CP). It consisted of 4 sections. The data accumulated by means of the questionnaire were analyzed to ascertain the answers to the research questions. In general, the findings indicated that students with high levels of OCA and PFT tend to experience lower frequency of CP. Moreover, the results revealed that high level of PFT was associated with high- level OCA.