Communication Apprehension and its Educational Implications: Some Initial Australian Data:

About 20 per cent of American college students suffer from debilitating communication apprehension (McCroskey, 1977) and, if a sampling of Australian college students typifies the larger population, Australia has a similar incidence. In America, the communication apprehensives are being classed as learning disabled or handicapped and are beginning to receive specialized instruction in order to maximize their learning potential (Hurt and Preiss, 1978). Australian college students may benefit from similar training.The purpose of this article is to describe the nature of communication apprehension (CA) and its academic implications, to present initial data on its prevalence in Australia, and to indicate some methods used to reduce its effects.