Balancing The Use of Oral Communication Strategies and Fear for Oral Presentation: The Case for Language Learning

Communication strategies play a vital role in helping students improve their English proficiency and their ability in oral presentation. However, there are students struggling to communicate in English due to their low ability. This is mainly because they lack the proper communication strategies. Thus, this study is conducted to find the communication strategies that are used in their oral presentation and factors that result in students’ fear of oral presentations. This study employed a quantitative survey comprising three sections in order to get a more in-depth data analysis. A total of 210 students from a public university in Malaysia served as the respondents of this study. The results obtained show that the respondents use message reduction, orientation, and non-verbal strategies the most and they are influenced by several internal and external factors that cause fear in oral presentation. The use of oral communicative strategies has proven to be effective in assisting learners to overcome their fear in oral presentation.


Introduction
Background of Study Communication and oral presentation skills are becoming more important in today's world. The importance of speaking is acknowledged in the daily life of students. Students must have the necessary skills to compete in the global economy and succeed in their professional careers. The skills needed to excel in English are becoming more prevalent globally. The 21st century demands that graduates have the necessary skills to effectively communicate with Hence, this study is done to investigate the oral communications strategies and fear of oral presentation among language learners. Specifically, this study is done to answer the following questions; • How do learners use oral communication strategies in their oral presentation? • What causes learners' fear of oral presentation?

Literature Review Oral Communication Strategies
Oral presentation is one of the student's greatest fears. Ali et al (2021)claimed in their study that 63% of the respondents experienced the feeling of apprehension in giving an oral presentation. Meanwhile another study by Black (2019) found 75% of the population experienced speech anxiety. These problems need to be resolved to ensure learners' learning efficacy. Selinker (1972) pointed out that learners need communication strategies to survive oral presentation. He identified five processes: language transfer, strategies of second language communication, transfer of training, strategies of second language learning, and over-generalisation are the processes which were related with language learners' mistakes during L2 oral presentation. He also claimed that the communication strategies occurred during oral presentations to help learners cope with the difficult situation. It is also proven that oral communication skills and oral communication strategies are interrelated. Bialystok and Frohlich (1980) stated that communication strategies are the mediums to show relations between linguistic ability and communicative ability, in other words, communication strategies show what the learners are able to do as opposed to the knowledge and the skills that the learners have.

Fear of Oral Presentation
According to Rahmat (2019) fear in oral presentation is caused by trait and state apprehension. Figure 1 presents the fear in oral presentation that is caused by apprehension. If the fear comes from trait apprehension, then this fear mainly comes from the person's personal characteristics. Some people become very nervous when it comes to oral presentation. Some people have low self-esteem when it comes to oral presentation. Next, state apprehension is caused by the surrounding environment of the presenter. The presenter may fear the audience, the set up of the room or even negative evaluation by others

External-Evaluation
In addition to trait and state apprehension, learners often fear oral presentation because they are worried that their vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation are not accurate when presenting in English (Kurakan, 2021). From the interview conducted in his study, it was gathered that the respondents expressed their concerns that the accent they have when speaking English causes apprehension in them when conducting oral presentations. Parallel to Kurakan's study, a study by Kakandee and Al-Shaibani (2018) also identified fear of incorrect pronunciation as one of the causes that contributes to their fear of oral presentation. Kakandee and Al-Shaibani's (2018) study which was conducted on tourism students in Thailand also highlighted that the respondents also acknowledged that lack of preparation and training as one of the reasons why they fear oral presentations. Another study that is worth noting was conducted by Chandran, Munohsamy &Rahman, (2015). In their study involving 63 first year students of Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB), it was found that the highest proportion of respondents (23%) noted lack of preparation as the reason why they fear oral presentation. The same percentage of respondents also identified fear of making mistakes as one of the reasons. Other reasons acknowledged by the respondents are lack of confidence (15%), fear of audience (15%), insufficient knowledge (10%), mental block (8%) and lack of confidence in language skill (7%) (Chandran et al, 2015)

Past Studies Past Studies on Oral Communication Strategies
Communicative strategies are important aspects needed by foreign language learners to help them communicate effectively. Many studies have been done to investigate the use of oral communication strategies in foreign language learning. A study done by Ahmed, Sabri (2018) found that there are different types of strategies used by learners, depending on their level of language proficiency. Using classroom observation methods, the study was done with 120 second and third year EFL students from the Rafdan College of Education, India. The findings of the study revealed that students with high linguistic ability tend to use effective strategies such as paraphrasing for meaning, asking speaker for help as well as non-verbal signals while students with low linguistic ability employed strategies such as avoiding the topic, abandon their messages, switching into their mother-tongue or even stop talking whenever they face any barrier in communicating. It was also discovered in the study that the main reason for students not utilizing the communication strategies effectively is because they lacked exposure and training in using such strategies. In another study done by Rohani (2021), it is found that there were varied uses of oral communication strategies with social affective strategies favored by most students especially those with high proficiency level. With mixed method design employed as the methodology of the study, 110 students of the Business Administration Department of the State Polytechnic of Malang, Indonesia who participated were given questionnaires and interview questions. In conclusion, it was agreed that students with higher proficiency used more strategies compared to those students with low level of language proficiency. Therefore, the findings of this study can be useful for teachers in creating more opportunities for students to better utilize the communication strategy, thus having better development in foreign language learning.

Past Studies on Fear of Oral Presentation
Having the confidence to speak in front of an audience is believed to be quite challenging for learners, especially when English is not their first language. There have been many past studies on the fear and anxiety of oral presentation among university students. According to research done by Grieve et.al (2021), there were 46 undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol purposely chosen for the study. The researcher employed questionnaires in obtaining the data and based on the result, it was discovered that there were six themes of anxiety faced by students namely: fear of being judged, physical symptoms, uncertainty about the topic, negative consequences on university experience, practice and preparation, and more practical support required. The students also agreed that the fears have a negative effect on their whole language learning experience. The implication of the study is teachers could acknowledge students' fear and provide more support for students to overcome their fear in oral presentation. As the fear and anxiety exhibited in oral presentations among university students cannot be taken lightly, it is important to investigate the factors contributing to it. Arumugam et. al (2021) investigated anxiety during oral presentations in English Among Malaysian Undergraduates. Using a quantitative method, questionnaires were distributed to 300 undergraduates from three public universities in Malaysia namely UiTM, UKM and UMT. The questionnaire was intended to find out the factors contributing to the fear as well as strategies used by learners to cope with them. The findings further revealed that the factors of oral presentation can be divided into three categories which are Language Ability, Audience Reactions, and Teacher Feedback. It is also agreed that acknowledging learners' fear can help them to improve and overcome their anxiety in foreign language learning. These findings can become references for teachers and educational institutions to help understand about speaking anxiety among language learners in tertiary education.

Conceptual Framework
It is not uncommon for presenters to fear their oral presentation. However, the use of oral communication strategies can help learners overcome their fear for oral presentation. This study (refer to figure 1) is rooted from Endler (1980) for oral communication strategies and Yaman, & Kavasoğlu, (2013) for fear of oral presentation.

Methodology
This quantitative research is done to investigate how learners use cognitive and meta cognitive strategies when they learn French as a foreign language. The instrument used is a survey adapted from Endler (1980) for oral communication strategies and Yaman & Kavasoglu (2013) for fear of oral presentation. 210 respondents were purposively chosen to answer the survey. The survey has 3 main sections and uses 5 likert scale (.1-never, 2-Rarely, 3-Sometimes, 4-Very often, and 5-Always). With reference to Table 1, section A has items on the demographic profile. Section B has 26 items on Oral Communications Strategies (OCS) and section C has 14 items on fear of oral Presentation (FOP).  Table 2 presents the reliability statistics for the instrument. SPSS analysis revealed a Cronbach alpha of .911 thus showing a high internal reliability of the instrument used. Data is collected online via google form. Data is then analysed using SPSS version 26. Analysed data is presented in the form of percentages and mean scores to answer the 2 research questions.   Question 3 in this section seeks to find respondents' highest academic level. The highest number of respondents are Degree holders with 68%, 24% of the respondents are Diploma holders, followed by 7% SPM holders and 1% of the respondents are Masters holders.  The distribution of respondents based on their field of study is shown in Figure 6. Most of the respondents were from Applied Sciences (45.2%). Meanwhile, 32.9% of the respondents were from the Humanities. This is followed by Social Sciences (13.3%) and finally, only 8.6% of the total respondents were from the Business field of study. Meanwhile, 13% of the respondents can speak in Tamil fluently, and only 9% of the respondents can speak fluently in the English Language. This shows that the most fluent language spoken by the respondents is Mandarin, and the least is English Language.

Findings for Oral Communication Strategies
This section presents data to answer research question 1: How do learners use oral communication strategies in their oral presentation? According to Endler (1980), there are several types of communications strategies and they are (a) social affective strategies, (b) fluency oriented, (c) accuracy oriented, (d) negotiation for meaning, and (e) message reduction, orientation, and non-verbal strategies.  Figure 8 shows the mean score for Social-Affective Strategies. Based on the items, the highest mean score is for item SAQ3 where students try to give a good impression to the listener at 4.2, followed by item SAQ1 at a mean score of 4. The third and fourth highest mean score obtained is 3.9 and 3.8 respectively for the item SAQ2 and SAQ4. At a mean score of 3.6, respondents tried to use fillers when they can't think of what to say. The lowest mean score of 3.4 shows that the respondents don't mind taking risks even though they might make mistakes.
(b) fluency oriented For the first statement "I pay attention to my rhythm and intonation" the mean score obtained is 3.7, while mean score 4 is obtained for the statement "I pay attention to my pronunciation". The next statements "I pay attention to the conversational flow", " I take my time to express what I want to say", and " I try to speak clearly and loudly to make myself heard" all obtained mean score of 3.9 respectively. Finally, for the statement "I change my way of saying things according to the context", the mean score obtained is 3.8.
(c) accuracy oriented Figure 10-Mean for Accuracy Oriented Strategies Figure 10 illustrates the mean score for "Accuracy Oriented Strategies". The highest mean score with 4.1 is the respondent corrects himself/herself when he/she notices that he/she has made a mistake. The second highest mean score with 3.7 is the respondent tries to emphasize the subject and verb of the sentence. The third and fourth mean score with 3.6 reflects that the respondent tries to talk like a native speaker and the respondents notices himself/herself using an expression which fits a rule that he/she has learned. The last mean score of 3.5 implies the respondent pays attention to grammar and word order during conversation.
(d) negotiation for meaning Figure 11-Mean for Negotiation for Meaning Strategies As displayed in Figure 11, in terms of negotiation for meaning strategies, item NFMSQ4I has the highest mean score (4.1) which indicated that one of the strategies used is learners give examples if the listener doesn't understand what they are saying. The second highest mean score is 4.0 which shows that learners pay attention to the listener's reaction to their speech while speaking. Finally, item NFMSQ1I 'make comprehension checks to ensure the listener understands what I want to say' and item NFMSQ2I 'I repeat what I want to say until the listener understands' have the lowest mean score which is 3.8.
(e) message reduction, orientation, and non-verbal strategies Figure 12-Mean for Message Reduction, Orientation and Non-Verbal Strategies Figure 12 illustrates the mean score for "Message Reduction, Orientation and Non-Verbal Strategies". The highest mean score with 4.3 is the respondent uses words which are familiar to him or her. The second highest mean score with 4.1 is the respondent uses gestures and facial expressions when he or she cannot communicate how to express himself or herself. The third mean score shows that the respondent tries to make eye contact when he or she is talking. The last mean score of 3.6 is shared by the respondent who reduces the message and uses simple expressions, and the respondent who replaces the original message with another message because of feeling incapable of executing his or her original intent.

Findings for Fear of Oral Presentation
This section presents data to answer research question 2: What causes learners' fear of oral presentation? Yaman, & Kavasoğlu, (2013) reported that there are two causes of fear of oral presentation among learners and they are (a) external factors and (b) internal factors.
(a) external factors Figure 13-Mean for External Factors Figure 13 depicts students' responses towards statements pertaining to external factors that contribute to fear of oral presentations among students. The highest mean (4.2) was obtained for the size and composition of the venue, followed by the marks for the presentation and previous low marks with mean scores of 4.1 and 4 respectively. The next external factor that contributes to fear of oral presentation is the venue of the presentation with 3.9 mean score while the least mean score of 3.8 respectively was obtained for students' personal state of being and previous high marks.  Figure 14 displays the mean score for "Internal Factors that Causes Fear of Oral Presentations". The highest mean score with 4.5 indicates the respondent's nervousness. The second and also third mean score with 4.2 implies the respondent believes that he/she is not as good as others and he/she fears a large audience. The fourth mean score with 4.1 reflects that the respondent claims he/she forgets his/her words. The fifth mean score with 3.9 shows the respondent claims his/her lack of presentation abilities causes his/her fear of Oral Presentation. The sixth mean score with 3.8 implies the respondent believes that he/she has insufficient preparation. The final mean score of 3.7 suggests the respondent believes that his /her physical appearance is one of the internal factors that causes fear of oral presentation.

Summary of Findings and Discussion Communication Strategies
In this study, respondents employed message reduction, orientation and non-verbal strategies the most and Socio-Affective the least. It can be seen that the strategy "I use words which are familiar to me" obtained the highest mean score. In the present study and previous studies by Chen (2009);Kavasoglu (2011), it is found that this strategy is mostly used by lower proficiency learners. A past study by Nakatani (2006) reveals that participants used familiar expressions to avoid communication breakdown. They also indicated that they would use well-known words to communicate, as opposed to giving up when they encounter difficulty in conveying meaning.
The strategy "I don't mind taking risks even though I might make mistakes" stated the lowest mean score. Respondents tend to feel embarrassed when they make grammatical errors or pronounce words incorrectly, thus they avoid taking risks when speaking in English. Additionally, they preferred to use well-known expressions and words when communicating with others. Liu and Jackson (2008) stated that it is important for students to develop a willingness to make risky decisions in order to successfully learn a second language. In addition, Luft (2007) identifies four characteristics and behaviours related to risk-taking: (1) being willing to appear foolish in order to communicate and get the message across; (2) using the language when not required to do so; (3) being comfortable with uncertainty and willing to try out guesses; and (4) being willing to make mistake in order to learn and communicate.

Oral Presentation
The study focused on the internal and external factors that contribute to the fear of oral presentation. It also found that respondents have the fear of speaking in front of a huge audience. The size and the composition of the audience were the most common factors that contributed to the fear of oral presentation, while personal state of emotional wellbeing, and worry about not being able to do better than the prior performance, recorded as the lowest external factors. A study conducted in 2020 by Rajitha and Alamelu suggested that the main factor that contributed to the anxiety of students was their peers and audiences. A study conducted by Ibrahim et al (2021), also stated that the fear of being in front of a large crowd was the main fear faced by undergraduates in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Young (1990, as cited in Horwits, 2001 found that American secondary language students preferred and are more confident participating in oral presentations in small groups rather than in front of a huge crowd. Next, internal factors also evoke fear in oral presentation. It is evident from this study that respondents' nervousness recorded the highest mean score and physical appearance was the least important factor for fear in oral presentation. Students who are nervous tend to have a hard time coming up with ideas for their oral presentations. They also stated that their peers make fun of them and make them nervous before presenting. Therefore, students feel stressed and nervous during presentations (Lucas, 2001;Kakepoto et al., 2012).

Pedagogical Implications and Suggestion for Future Research
In conclusion, the use of oral communicative strategies has proven to be effective in assisting FL learners to overcome their fear in oral presentation. The strategies namely (a) social affective strategies, (b) fluency oriented, (c) accuracy oriented, (d) negotiation for meaning, and (e) message reduction, orientation, and non-verbal strategies can be used to ensure a meaningful communication in language learning. As stated by Siti Rohani (2021), employing such strategies can help in supporting students to have better development of their skills. Thus, it is suggested that teachers acknowledge fear of oral presentation among learners and provide more support for them to employ the oral communication strategies in foreign language learning. Suggested further research include: i) Virtual presentation can overcome fear of oral presentation among students. ii) It is not apparent in this study which factors between external factors or internal factors that give the most impact to fear of oral presentation.