THE FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING AT STUDENTS OF EARLY AGES

(Research paper)

Through this study it is aimed to find the reasons why students of early ages fear doing public speeches and what are the differences between young ages and gender when comparing their answers.

This research was conducted with 115 students from American School of Kosova in Pristina, with students of ages 9 to 14, and students of both genders: female and male from grade 4 to grade 8. The purpose of this research wasn’t only to see the differences between

students but also to see how students feel during their public speeches and what we can do to help them overcome the fear of public speeches.

Most of the students admitted that they have difficulties on presenting in front of other people but mostly female students were open to ask for help and they believe that they can improve, however, male students are more hesitant and they fear more doing public speeches since they believe that people will judge them more. The finidngs of this research bring the attention of the importance of communication between teachers, students and parents as one of the key factors that would help students overcome their fears and improve their skills for public speaking. Based on the findings, it is suggested also that students should do presentations more often since this helps them also build their confidence. This research is not final, since it only includes one private school where usually students do more presentations than in public schools due to the number of students and the environment that makes it more realistic, but it could be used as a start for bigger research to see which students are more successful in the future: the ones who do more public speeches or the other ones. This research paper has real information. (6681 words)

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