Making Presentations in English: Anxiety Experienced by Engineering Students at UET Lahore

Authors

  • Dr. Mehvish Riaz University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore
  • Professor Dr. Yaping Chen Beijing Foreign Studies University, China
  • Dr Muhammad Rizwan Riaz University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

Keywords:

Anxiety, Engineering Education, Presentation Skills, SLA, TESOL, UET

Abstract

The study explores if and to what extent the undergraduate engineering students, who often have to make technical and non-technical presentations during their four-year BS programs, experience anxiety over making presentations in English. To improve their spoken and written English, as well as soft skills, they are offered two subjects, Communication Skills and Technical Writing, and Presentations Skills, during their degree program at UET, Lahore. Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scales (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope (1986) has been used as a research instrument, while 516 randomly selected undergraduate engineering students from different departments of UET Lahore, Pakistan filled the questionnaire. Findings indicate that while making presentations in English, the students experience moderate levels of anxiety, while the order of the severity of the factors is: communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety. Communication apprehension is the main cause of anxiety and the mean score for this factor is also relatively higher. The study has implications for English for specific purposes, teaching English as a second language, second language acquisition, and psychology. 

Author Biographies

Dr. Mehvish Riaz, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

Dr. Mehvish Riaz is an assistant professor at the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. Her research interests include Sociolinguistics, ESP, and Second Language Acquisition. She can be reached at: [email protected] or [email protected]

Professor Dr. Yaping Chen, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China

Dr. Yaping Chen is a professor of English linguistics at the School of English and International Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, China. Her research interests include Psycholinguistics and Second language acquisition. She can be reached at [email protected]

https://seisen.bfsu.edu.cn/info/1059/1169.htm

Dr Muhammad Rizwan Riaz, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

Dr. Muhammad Rizwan Riaz works as an assistant professor at the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore. He has done his PhD in Earthquake Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan. His research interests are Civil Engineering, Disaster Management, Engineering Education, and 21st Century Skills. He can be reached at [email protected]

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Published

2021-06-14

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2021): The Dialogue

Section

Articles