A concept that resonated with me in Chapter 14 was communication apprehension on pg. 449.
Last semester I did a paper on bilingual children and communication apprehension was talked about in a few articles that I read when writing my paper. Communication apprehension can be defined as an “individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons.”
As the book focuses more on anxiety of speaking in public and being evaluated on their communication skills, I also want to discuss how communication apprehension (CA) can occur in a person’s native language, or in a second language. CA is a big deal because if CA is high one language, then it is important to make sure CA is not present learning a second language. For example a person may be very fluent in speaking French, but may experience CA in another language(second language learned) such as English. So if ever asked to speak in their second language then the person may feel highly apprehensive to do so.
Overall, I thought this topic was interesting to read about because I have done previous research on CA before.
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6 comments:
I thought this topic was very interesting. I had never heard of communication apprehension before this chapter. CA seems to be a valid fear for people because language and communication are vital to connect and if you cannot communicate in an articulate way then it could be unnerving. Especially those who are trying to speak in a second language, I cannot imagine because they probably experience judgment, criticism, and being stereotyped. Communication apprehensive is probably very isolating to go through.
I can kind of relate to communication apprehension. My stepdad is Puerto Rican (born and raised for most of his life, until he moved to MA), and so my Grandmother is more fluent in her spanish than her English. When she found out I was studying spanish in high school, suddenly she wanted me to talk to her in spanish. Which I im far too intimidated to do. I can understand and read the language, but unless you are my immediate family (those that don't really speak spanish, my stepdad is a little rusty too), I feel inferior and feel like I can't speak my words correctly and that people are going to judge me. Even now, my roommate has some family members staying with us, and one of them can't speak english at all and I want to cuss her out because she is pissing me off, but I can't because I fear that will i am cussing her out she is going to judge me for it. So yes, I exhibit communication apprehension, at least in my opinion.
What I found funny about what you wrote is that you're right, but it can also sometimes be the opposite! I am talking about what you said about how someone can be so comfortable with their first language, and have anxiety about their second because they are not a comfortable with it, especially in front of bigger crowds.
For me though, because I only spoke my first language, Russian, until I was 8, and then moved to the US and learned English, I have become completely comfortable in English, but my Russian, which I still speak, but not so well, I am not so comfortable with. I just thought I'd bring that up because you are completely right! But with people who learned their second language young, it can be still true but in the opposite way.
-Aleks
This concept was really interesting to me too, but I love the spin you put on it. My boyfriend lived in Japan until he was in 4th grade and thne moved here to the States. He is fluent in both languages, but definately feels much more comfertable wih english. He works in a Japanese company where he is expected to perform professional Japanese linguistics and I know that he definitly experiences anxiety when trying to speak Japanese.
This was something that a lot of my family members face everyday, but I did not know that there was a name for it until I read the book. I know from personal expirence I also face this when I have to speak spanish while I am at work. I use to speak it fluent when I was a child, but as I grew up I only spoke English for getting a lot of my native language. Now when I try to speak it to people who speak Spanish fluently they tend to look at me weird becuause I am Mexican, but I don't speak the languge well. On the same hand I could get attitude with them because we are in America and they should be able to speak English and communicate with me better, but I don't becuase I personally know where they are coming from. I agree with Caligirl522 when she says communication apprehensive is isolating becuse it is. This people who do not share the dominate of a specific country have to deal with the struggle of getting their point of cross and with that comes a lot of tention and agression because they don't understand one another. This is fusterating, however there is not much that we can do about it when we live in such a diverse country.
Hi there. I, too, felt a connection to the topic of communication apprehension and talked about in my blog as well. I really like that you pointed out communication apprehension in terms of speaking in a language that is not your own. I find that I experience this apprehension already in my native language, English, but when in a class where I am studying another language and have to speak in that language, my apprehension multiplies by a ton. It is extremely nerve-racking, because there is so much work put into understanding and translating in your head.
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