{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/23715"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/23715","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Assessing Undergraduate Business Students' Oral Communication Apprehension: Implications of Stakes and Situations","abstract":"Modern businesses place a premium on employees' oral communication skills. Business schools are meant to develop future employees and leaders with the requisite skills for success. Industry representatives, however, consistently express dissatisfaction with business graduates' oral communication skills. There appears to remain a gap between business students' oral skills and marketplace demands. Research demonstrates that among many possible factors, oral communication apprehension (OCA) appears a significant contributor to ineffective oral communication. OCA may also significantly impede oral skills development by impacting the core aspects of spiral curriculum, an educational theory aimed at the processes of higher education. The PRCA-24, the most utilized OCA measurement tool, assesses individuals' trait-like OCA levels across common oral communication settings (e.g., public speaking, interpersonal, group, and meeting) as well as their context (e.g., state) OCA levels within each setting. This study examines whether OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables and therefore operates as a state. If so, acquiring business students' situational OCA may benefit educators as complimentary data to PRCA-24 assessments. This study also examines business and non-business undergraduates' self-reported OCA levels across general public speaking, interpersonal, and group/meeting oral communication settings as well as those in respective high (and low) stakes situations meant to reflect the stress-inducing scenarios they will likely experience on the job after graduation. Results indicate OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables (e.g., stakes). Results are discussed in the framework of providing more relevant measurements of business students' OCA levels to help educators fill the oral skills gap.","abstract_html":"Modern businesses place a premium on employees' oral communication skills. Business schools are meant to develop future employees and leaders with the requisite skills for success. Industry representatives, however, consistently express dissatisfaction with business graduates' oral communication skills. There appears to remain a gap between business students' oral skills and marketplace demands. Research demonstrates that among many possible factors, oral communication apprehension (OCA) appears a significant contributor to ineffective oral communication. OCA may also significantly impede oral skills development by impacting the core aspects of spiral curriculum, an educational theory aimed at the processes of higher education. The PRCA-24, the most utilized OCA measurement tool, assesses individuals' trait-like OCA levels across common oral communication settings (e.g., public speaking, interpersonal, group, and meeting) as well as their context (e.g., state) OCA levels within each setting. This study examines whether OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables and therefore operates as a state. If so, acquiring business students' situational OCA may benefit educators as complimentary data to PRCA-24 assessments. This study also examines business and non-business undergraduates' self-reported OCA levels across general public speaking, interpersonal, and group/meeting oral communication settings as well as those in respective high (and low) stakes situations meant to reflect the stress-inducing scenarios they will likely experience on the job after graduation. Results indicate OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables (e.g., stakes). Results are discussed in the framework of providing more relevant measurements of business students' OCA levels to help educators fill the oral skills gap.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Matuszak, Steve C."],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Communication","degree_department":"Communication","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Tedesco, John C."],"committee_members":["Preston, Marlene M.","Carlson, Kevin D."],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-08-15","date_published":"2013-08-15","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:29Z","subjects":["oral communication apprehension","oral communication competence","undergraduate business student education","high and low stakes","oral communication"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:1405"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:1405","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/23715","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Tedesco, John C."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Preston, Marlene M.","Carlson, Kevin D."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Communication"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Matuszak, Steve C."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2013-08-16T08:00:18Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-08-16T08:00:18Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-08-15"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["oral communication apprehension","oral communication competence","undergraduate business student education","high and low stakes","oral communication"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:1405"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/23715"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Modern businesses place a premium on employees' oral communication skills. Business schools are meant to develop future employees and leaders with the requisite skills for success. Industry representatives, however, consistently express dissatisfaction with business graduates' oral communication skills. There appears to remain a gap between business students' oral skills and marketplace demands. Research demonstrates that among many possible factors, oral communication apprehension (OCA) appears a significant contributor to ineffective oral communication. OCA may also significantly impede oral skills development by impacting the core aspects of spiral curriculum, an educational theory aimed at the processes of higher education. The PRCA-24, the most utilized OCA measurement tool, assesses individuals' trait-like OCA levels across common oral communication settings (e.g., public speaking, interpersonal, group, and meeting) as well as their context (e.g., state) OCA levels within each setting. This study examines whether OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables and therefore operates as a state. If so, acquiring business students' situational OCA may benefit educators as complimentary data to PRCA-24 assessments. This study also examines business and non-business undergraduates' self-reported OCA levels across general public speaking, interpersonal, and group/meeting oral communication settings as well as those in respective high (and low) stakes situations meant to reflect the stress-inducing scenarios they will likely experience on the job after graduation. Results indicate OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables (e.g., stakes). Results are discussed in the framework of providing more relevant measurements of business students' OCA levels to help educators fill the oral skills gap."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Assessing Undergraduate Business Students' Oral Communication Apprehension: Implications of Stakes and Situations"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Tedesco, John C."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Preston, Marlene M.","Carlson, Kevin D."],"dc:contributor.department":["Communication"],"dc:creator":["Matuszak, Steve C."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2013-08-16T08:00:18Z"],"dc:date.available":["2013-08-16T08:00:18Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013-08-15"],"dc:description.abstract":["Modern businesses place a premium on employees' oral communication skills. Business schools are meant to develop future employees and leaders with the requisite skills for success. Industry representatives, however, consistently express dissatisfaction with business graduates' oral communication skills. There appears to remain a gap between business students' oral skills and marketplace demands. Research demonstrates that among many possible factors, oral communication apprehension (OCA) appears a significant contributor to ineffective oral communication. OCA may also significantly impede oral skills development by impacting the core aspects of spiral curriculum, an educational theory aimed at the processes of higher education. The PRCA-24, the most utilized OCA measurement tool, assesses individuals' trait-like OCA levels across common oral communication settings (e.g., public speaking, interpersonal, group, and meeting) as well as their context (e.g., state) OCA levels within each setting. This study examines whether OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables and therefore operates as a state. If so, acquiring business students' situational OCA may benefit educators as complimentary data to PRCA-24 assessments. This study also examines business and non-business undergraduates' self-reported OCA levels across general public speaking, interpersonal, and group/meeting oral communication settings as well as those in respective high (and low) stakes situations meant to reflect the stress-inducing scenarios they will likely experience on the job after graduation. Results indicate OCA is significantly sensitive to situational variables (e.g., stakes). Results are discussed in the framework of providing more relevant measurements of business students' OCA levels to help educators fill the oral skills gap."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Arts"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:1405"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/23715"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["oral communication apprehension","oral communication competence","undergraduate business student education","high and low stakes","oral communication"],"dc:title":["Assessing Undergraduate Business Students' Oral Communication Apprehension: Implications of Stakes and Situations"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:29Z"}