2isis Chapter I III

1
Chapter I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction
Language, the principal means used by human beings to communicate with
one another, is defined as a system of voluntarily produced symbols by which
members of a community interact and communicate in terms of their common
experiences and expectations.
Language is a “uniquely human activity” made possible by the structure and
dynamics of the human brainthat gives us a tremendous advantage over all other living
organisms. (Kagan, 1994, as cited in Dizon, 2003) In coping with our radically
changing environment, we need not discover everything all by ourselves. Instead we
can profit from the knowledge that our fellow human beings have acquired. As one
psychologist once said, language “makes life experiences cumulative … and therefore
cultural evolution takes off at a rate that leaves biological evolution behind. (Brown,
1999)
Communication, defined as the process of transmitting and receiving verbal
and nonverbal symbols is said to be inevitable. It operates along such levels as
intrapersonal (within the person), interpersonal (between persons), and public (among
persons or people). It is everywhere, all around us. Whether we are at home –
watching television, reading the newspaper, or conversing with a friend over the
telephone; or in school – reading a book, reflecting on an answer or reciting in class,

2
or doing a class activity alone or with others; or elsewhere, we communicate. Even our
attempt to show another person or refuse to communicate is, in itself, communication.
In other words, communication is the backbone of everything that we can do
today, whether it is signing up for a magazine subscription, or pitching an idea to an
important client. Our everyday routine consists of communication, whether verbal or
non-verbal making things either hard or easy depending on how the message has been
sent and subsequently received.
However, it has been observed that many peopleexperience communication
apprehension which eventually affects their efficacy in performing tasks related to
their functions. Teachers and support staff who work in a school setting are no excuse
to this. Their full potentials in conveying information relevant in their discharge of
service to their stakeholders are hence compromised.
Communication apprehension has been defined as an “individual level of fear
or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with another person or
persons.” (McCroskey) This anxiety is a significant problem at the elementary level,
Research reveals that at the least 11 percent of the elementary students experience
severe communication apprehension (CA) and an additional 20 percent may
experience enough anxiety to warrant some sort of intervention. (Harris, 1980)
According to James McCroskey (2001), communication apprehension is a
broad term that refers to an individual’s “fear or anxiety associated with either real or
anticipated communication with another person or persons.” At its heart,
communication apprehension is a psychological response to evaluation. This

3
psychological response, however, quickly becomes physical as our body responds to
the threat the mind perceives. Our bodies cannot distinguish between psychological
and physical threats se we never react as though we were facing a truck barreling in
our direction. The body’s circulatory and adrenal systems shift into overdrive,
preparing us to function at maximum physical efficiency – the “flight or fight”
response. (Sapolsky, 2004) Yet instead of running away or fighting, all we need to do
is stand and talk.
When it comes to communication apprehension, our physical responses are
often not well adopted to the nature of the threat we face, as the excess energy created
by our body can make it harder for us to be effective public speakers. But because
communication apprehension is rooted in our minds, if we understand more about the
nature of the body’s response to stress, we can better develop mechanisms for
managing the body’s misguided attempts to help us cope with our fear of social
judgment.
Communication apprehension is far more than the first stage fright frequently
found in speech classrooms, school assemblies, and drama productions. It is a pattern
of anxiety, established often in the elementary grades, which can profoundly affect
much or all of a student’s oral communication, social skills, and self-esteem. (Taylor,
1987)
Communication apprehension occurs when the individual attached punishment
to the communication experience and is fearful about communication. There are two
broad categories of communication apprehension. General communication

4
apprehension is when the individual is fearful of all communication attempts. Specific
communication apprehension occurs when the individual is fearful only in isolated
situations such as: 1) The communicator experiences fear because of the topic; 2) The
communicator experiences fear because of the specific audience members; and 3) The
communicator experiences fear because of the situation or environment.
Communication apprehension manifests both physical and psychological
symptoms. The first step is to begin to understand how we uniquely experience the
physical and psychological symptoms of communication apprehension. Some people
tremble or shake and sweat profusely – their hands especially begin to feel moist.
Other people notice that their heart rate begins to quicken and their mouth becomes
parched. Most people find that their mind begins to “race”, their thoughts become
jumbled, and they have great difficulty putting their thoughts into coherent order.
Again, these reactions are the body’s quite natural response to the stressor of standing
exposed in front of an audience. However, if one can identify how he experiences
communication apprehension, he might better control the symptoms and ultimately
become a more competent public speaker.
Communication apprehension means anxiety that is experienced as the
individual anticipates in communication. Communication anxiety can be situational
rather than pervasive in a child’s behavioral. “A tendency to be anxious when
communicating may be specific to only a few settings, (e.g., public speaking) or may
exist in most everyday communication situations, or may even be part of a general
anxiety trait that arises in many facets of an individual’s life” (Friedman, 1980).
5
Much research has dealt with communication anxiety in terms of personality trait, but
more recently, the ideal of communication anxiety has expanded to include both trait
and situation views.
The consequences of communication apprehension are emotional, educational,
and social. Shyness and reticence affect the social skills necessary fora person to make
friends. Shy individuals tend to confine their career aspirations to vocations that
require little oral communication. They seem to have a higher need to avoid failure
and they have less achievement or success motivation than other individuals.
The problem of communication apprehension is attributed to many personal
and professional factors that abound an employee of an educational institution. It is
perceived in this study that a calibration and evaluation of the employees’ interaction
coping mechanism and social literacy may hand in rich information that can be used in
alleviating communication apprehension of the employees of Uddiawan National High
School, a school nestled at the heart of Uddiawan, in the first-class municipality
Solano located in northern Nueva Vizcaya.
Interaction coping mechanism is a network or system of immediate
psychological and physical responses of a person which he/she carries out when
he/she encounters problems, challenges or stress in an interaction. When a person
finds it difficult to express an idea, information, message or attitude, he/she sorts to
some actions or reactions to hide, compensate or camouflage weaknesses.
When helping human deals with specific problems, professional counselors
have found that a focus of attention on coping skill (with or without remedial action)
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often helps individuals. The range of successful coping skills varies widely with the
problems to be overcome. However, the learning and practice of coping skill are
generally regarded as very helpful to most individuals. Even the sharing of learned
coping skills with others is often beneficial.
We also learn coping mechanisms that are helpful, while others choose defense
mechanisms that can actually increase stress. The person who uses stress as a reason to
exercise is learning and expressing a healthy coping mechanism. The person who turns
to alcohol or drugs, eating disorders, or workaholic behavior is using coping
mechanisms that are both dangerous and unhealthy.
Both children and adults can benefit from learning coping mechanisms from
mental health professionals, especially when they are suffering from mental illness, or
have turned to unhealthy forms of dealing with stress. In this sense, coping
mechanisms are a set of practiced and learned behaviors that help us better respond to
stress. We may not always be able to control the amount of adrenaline that pumps
through our bodies in stressful situations, but many therapists believe we can learn to
control our reaction to it.
Coping mechanisms can be described as the sum total of ways in which we
deal with minor to major stress and trauma. Some of these processes are unconscious
ones, others are learned behavior, and still others are skills we consciously master in
order to reduce stress, or other intense emotions like depression. Not all coping
mechanism is equally beneficial, and some can actually be very detrimental.

7
On the other hand, social literacy is a person’s successful performance and
understanding of social skills, organizational skills, and communication skills. It is the
person’s ability to connect effectively with those around him/her. Social literacy spans
across interacting with peers, family, coworkers, teachers, and even people we may
not have met face to face. (Plaggemars,2020)
Social literacy is so crucial in a person’s success. The ability to communicate
and voice opinions and thoughts, as well as listening to opinions and thoughts of
others, is essential in learning. Firmly grasping social cues and norms is extremely
beneficial. Literally, in every single setting of our lives, school, home, work, clubs and
activities, interacting with people(whether face to face or behind technology), we use
our social literacy. We play so many roles everyday and we socially need to
understand how to play those roles appropriately. Without an understanding, one
cannot function with success in society.
In the light of the aforementioned standpoints and concepts, the researcher
embarked into this this study that endeavored to determine the level of communication
apprehension among teaching and non-teaching employees of Uddiawan National
High School in school year 2020-2021 and togauge the relationship of such construct
with interaction coping mechanism and social literacythat management intervention
involving these variables may be developed to address the psychological and social
needs of the target respondents. This hence paved way to the study at hand with the
title: Communication Apprehension in Relation with Interaction Coping Mechanism

8
and Social Literacy of Teaching and Non-teaching Employees of Uddiawan National
High School.
Conceptual Framework
This study is anchored on attribution theory. It dealt with characteristics or
traits innate among individuals who form the workforce for an educational institution
hence it is deemed proper that they embody qualities desirable and most fitting for the
development of school stakeholders. (McLeod, 2012)
Attribution theory is concerned with how ordinary people explain the causes of
behavior and events. For example, is someone angry because they are bad-tempered or
because something bad happened? A formal definition is provided by Fiske and
Taylor (1991):“Attribution theory deals with how the social perceiver uses
information to arrive at causal explanations for events. It examines what information
is gathered and how it is combined to form a causal judgment”.
In this study, attributes investigated were communication apprehension,
interaction coping mechanism and social literacy which characterized the employees
of an educational institution.
Anxiety/apprehension has both a physiological and psychological aspect and it
is the psychological aspect that affects the way we interpret sensations(Clark et. al,
2000). We become apprehensive in situations merely because we perceive a threat
even where there is none. William James, an early psychologist, as cited by Clarke
suggested that all human emotions actually come from our perception of the
9
situation/condition we are in. Hayes, (1999) says, “We do not weep because we feel
sorrow; we feel sorrow because we weep.” Schacter and Singer, according to Hayes
concluded that although it is our awareness of the situation that produces the emotion
we actually feel, it is our physical condition which influences how strongly we
actually feel it. In a performance situation, we do not feel anxious because of
performing; the situation is anxious because of the way we feel.
One way to better understand anxiety is to look at the physical, intellectual,
emotional and spiritual aspects. (http://www.dasma.dlsu.edu.ph/ico/news/2002).
Physical anxiety is when the person faces a threat that causes sweating,
pounding heart, flushed tremors, shortness of breath, intestinal distress and other
symptoms. Anxious people tend to exhibit these and many other symptoms in many
situations and often take a long time to return to normal functioning.
An intellectual person’s thoughts will influence his anxiety level. Distorted
perceptions may cause increased anxiety and may interferewith rational thinking,
“Vicious circles” may occur, when a threatening thought produces anxiety, which can
be linked to the emotions of guilt, shame, grief and anger. These feelings and their
resultant behavior can be barriers to forming interpersonal supports and are related to
emotional anxiety.
A social anxious person becomes disturbed by the scrutinizing remarks of
others, fears, rejection, low self-esteem and apprehension when with groups of people.
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Spiritual anxiety may become severe for anyone undergoing intense spiritual
conflicts such as less faith, fear of death, loss of loved one, guilt over a transgression
of moral standards.
Apprehension in synonymous to anxiety, which Merriam-Website (2003)
defines as an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often
marked by physiological signs as sweating, tension and increased pulse, by doubt
concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one’s capacity
to cope.
Frey (2000) contends that anxiety is often unfocused, vague and hard to pin
down to a specific cause. In this form, it is called free floating anxiety. Sometimes
anxiety being experienced in the present may stem from an event or person that
produced pain and fear in the past, but the anxious individual is not consciously aware
of the original source of the feeling. It is anxiety’s aspect of remoteness that makes
ithard for people to compare their experiences of it. Whereas most people will be
fearful in physically dangerous situations and can agree that fear is an appropriate
response in the presence of danger, anxiety is often triggered by objects or events that
are unique and specific to an individual. An individual might be anxious because of
unique meaning or memory being stimulated by present circumstances, not because of
immediate danger. Another individual looking at the anxious person from the outside
maybe truly puzzled as to the reason for the person’s anxiety.
Frey further stressed that mild stress and anxiety can become a bigger problem
when teens do not have the resources to cope. This may lead to the development of
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any anxiety disorder. As many as one in ten young people may have an anxiety order.
Among adolescents, more girls than boys are affected. Frey enumerated several types
of anxiety disorders, each with its own characteristics such as;
Panic Disorder – This is characterized by a sudden uncontrollable attach of
terror that can manifest itself with heart palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath and
an out of control or terribly frightening feeling. During the panic attack, the person
might feel intense fear or discomfort, a sense of impending doom or sensation of
unreality.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder – Excessive anxiety and worry that last for at
least six months accompanied by other physical and behavioral problems best
described generalized anxiety disorder. Adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder
worry about many things, such as the future, being on time for appointment, health,
school performances, crime, change in routines, and family matters. Typically, a
person with this type of disorder worries when there is no problem or any realistic
circumstance to worry.
Social Phobia – This is an excessive fear of being negatively evaluated,
rejected, humiliated or embarrassed in front of others. An adolescent with social
phobia fears a wide range of situations such as giving oral reports, gym class, speaking
to adults or peers, starting or joining conversations, eating in public, and taking tests.
Another relevant explanation for CA is the Negative Cognitive Appraisal
Model (Glaser, 1981). The model assumes that the quiet child was criticized for
his/her early language performance. As a result, the child learned to expect negative
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reactions and subsequently learned to avoid them by keeping quiet. Even if teachers,
parents, or other children merely appear to be reacting negatively to such a child talk,
the child will perform poorly and avoid oral communication situations. (Bond, 1984)
General personality traits as quietness, shyness, and reticence frequently
precipitate CA. According to Friedman (1980), when the ability and desire to
participate in discussion are present, but the process of verbalizing is inhibited,
shyness or reticence is occurring. The degree of shyness, or range of situations that it
affects, varies greatly from individual to individual.
Many people think that communicating is easy. It is after all something we
have done all our lives. There is some truth in this simplistic view. Communicating is
straightforward. What makes it complex, difficult, and frustrating are the barriers we
put in the way, such as the following. (http://hodu.com/barries.shtoul)
Physical Barriers – Physical barriers in the workplace include marked out
territories, empires, and fiefdoms, into which strangers are not allowed closed office
doors, barrier screens, separate areas for people of different status large working areas
or working in one unit that is physically separate from others. Research shows that one
of the most important factors in building cohesive teams is proximity. As long as
people still have a personal space that they can call their own, nearness to others aids
communication because it helps us get to know one another.
Perceptual Barriers- The problem with communicating with others is that we
all see the world differently. If we did not, we would have no need to communicate,
something like extra-sensory perception would take place.

13
Emotional Barriers – One of the chief barriers to open and free
communications is the emotional barrier. It is comprised mainly of fear, mistrust, and
suspicion. The roots of our emotional mistrust of others lie in our childhood and
infancy when we were taught to be careful of what we said to others; to mind our Ps
and Qs, not to speak until we are spoken to, and that children should be seen and not
heard. As a result many people hold back from communicating their thoughts and
feelings to others. They feel vulnerable, while some caution maybe wise in certain
relationships, excessive fear of what others might think of them may stunt their
development as effective communicators and their ability to form meaningful
relationships.
Cultural Barriers – When we join a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or
later, we need to adopt the behavior patterns of the group accept as signs of belonging.
The group rewards such behavior through acts of recognition, approval, and inclusion.
In groups which are happy to accept us and where we are happy to inform, there is a
mutuality of interest and high level of win-win contact. Where, however, there are
barriers to our membership of a group, high level of game-playing replaces good
communication.
Language Barriers–Language that describes what we want to say in our terms
may present barriers to others who are not familiar with our expressions, buzz-words,
and jargon. When we couch our communication in such language, it is a way of
excluding others. In a global market place, the greatest compliment we pay another
person is to talk in his language.

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Gender Barriers – There are distinct differences between the speech pattern in
a man and those in a woman. A woman speaks between 22,000 to 25,000 words a day
whereas a man speaks between 7,000 and 10,000. In childhood, girls speak earlier than
boys and at that age of three, have a vocabulary twice that of boys.
The reason for this lies in the wirings of a man’s and woman’s brain, when a
man talks, his speech is located in the left side of the brain but in no specific area.
When a woman talks, the speech is located in both hemispheres and in two specific
locations. This means that a man talks in a linear logical and compartmentalized way,
feature of left brain thinking; whereas a woman talks more freely mixing logic and
emotion features of both sides of the brain. It also explains why women talk for much
longer time than men each day.
Interpersonal Barriers – There are six levels at which people can distance
themselves from one another: Withdrawal is an absence of interpersonal contact. It is
both refusal to be in touch and time alone; Rituals are meaningless repetitive routines
devoid of real contact; Pastimes fill up time with others in social but superficial
activities; Working activities are those tasks which follow the rules and procedures of
contact but no more; Games are subtle, manipulative interactive which are about
winning and losing. They include “rackets” and “stamps”; Closeness is the aim of
interpersonal contact where there is a high level of honesty and acceptance of yourself
and others; Working and improving your communication is a broad-brush activity,
you have to change your thoughts, your feelings and your physical conditions. That
15
way you can break down the barriers that get in your way and start building
relationships that really work.
According to the article in the website
(http://www.wekipedia,org.wiki.Copingskill), virtually all living things routinely
utilize coping skills in daily life, we learn coping mechanism as we progress through
life. Some people tend toward coping mechanisms that actually increase stress. A
person who uses stress as a reason to exercise learning expresses a healthy coping
mechanism.
Researchers have looked at different methods that individuals employ to cope
with situations and although there has been some debate about the language used to
define this coping strategies, similar themes are seen throughout the coping research.
Although different researchers use slightly different terminology to define the major
methods people use to cope with adversity, failure, apprehension and stressful
situation, these do appear to be a common thread in the research. Hyggins and Endler
(1995), as cited by Naguit (2012) suggested the following coping strategies: problem-
focused coping – changing environment to reduce the anxiety or stress; emotion-
focused coping – changing response to stress/anxiety, and; avoidance-focused coping
– not exposing ourselves to stressful situations, which could be positive or negative
depending on whetherthe task is simply avoided or the task is performed in such a
method that avoids the possibility of the negative stressor.
Allen adds that a poor self-image affects your outlook in life and causes your
anxiety level to rise. Anxiety could stem from negative self-image; actually they are
16
intertwined. Each time you beat yourself down by talking negative to yourself about
something you did or did not do, your subconscious is processing those thoughts the
best way it knows how, your subconscious is there to protect you from danger, hence
the fight or flight response. So if it perceives danger, whether real or unreal, it will
attempt to divert you from the danger, thus increasing your anxiety about the situation
in the future.
Anent to this, Allen underscored ways on how to overcome anxiety caused by
a negative self-image in a few simple steps: 1) Use the power of your subconscious to
retain your thoughts; 2) Set goals for who you want to be, not the person you think
you are right now and act as if you are already that person; 3) Think positively and
rationally about the situation you find yourself in; and 4) Affirm your thoughts
through visualization. Think a positive thought by yourself or nothing at all.
Allen has emphasized that using these simple steps and working on each step
daily can help repair the damage done to your self-image and alleviate the anxiety that
a poor self-image brings.Then you will be able totackle those dreams that a negative
self-image has hindered you from achieving.
Park and Lee (2004) examined the relationship between second language
learners’ anxiety, self-confidence, and oral performance. The participants were 132
Korean college students enrolled in the English conversation classes in 2004.
Questionnaires related to anxiety and self-confidence were given to the students and
their oral performance were given to the students and their oral performance were
assessed in terms of IATEFL’s criteria. Factor analysis indicated that communication

17
anxiety were the main components of anxiety while situational confidence and
language ability confidence were the component of self-confidence for Korean
learners of English. The result of the analysis showed that there were significant
effects of anxiety and self-confidence on the learner’s oral performance. The higher
anxious the students were about speaking English, the lower scores they gained on
their oral comprehension; the more confident they were, the higher performance they
showed. The correlation analysis of anxiety and confidence and the elements of oral
performance showed that confidence was more closely correlated with the learners’
attitude and interaction including communication strategies and social conversation
skills of oral performance, while anxiety was more negatively correlated with the
learners’ range of oral performance such as vocabulary and grammar.
The foregoing discussion provides the framework of this study, the structure of
which is illustrated in the research paradigm that follows.

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Independent Variables Dependent Variable
Interaction Coping Communication

Mechanism along: Apprehension along:
 Adaptive Mechanism  Group Discussions

 Attack Mechanism  Meetings
 Avoidance  Interpersonal
Mechanism Conversations
 Behavioral  Public Speaking
Mechanism
 Cognitive
Mechanism
 Conversion
Mechanism
 Defense Mechanism
 Self-Harm
Mechanism
Social Literacy
Sub-variables
Respondents’ Profile
 Employment Type
(Teaching/Non-
teaching)
 Highest Educational
Attainment
 Job Position
 Years in Service
 Monthly Income
Figure 1. Research Paradigm Showing the Interplay of the Independent,

DependentandSub-variables
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As shown in the paradigm, the upper left box contains the independent
variables which include the respondents’ interaction coping mechanism underpinned
by adaptive mechanism, attack mechanism, avoidance mechanism, behavioral
mechanism, cognitive mechanism, conversion mechanism, defense mechanism and
self-harm mechanism. Also contained in the independent variable box is the
respondents’ level of social literacy. Both constructs are connected by a vector which
implies a possible correlation. Further, the upper right box contains the dependent
variable which is the respondents’ level of communication apprehension along group
discussions, meetings, interpersonal conversations and public speaking. The
independent and dependent variable boxes are connected with an arrow implying their
possible relationship.
The lower box contains the respondents’ profile variables namely employment
type (as to teaching or non-teaching), highest educational attainment, job position,
years in service, and monthly income. This box is connected to the independent and
dependent variables, suggesting possible differences in the respondents’ interaction
coping mechanism, level of social literacy level of communication apprehension when
grouped according to the profile variables.
Statement of the Problem
This study intended to determine the interaction coping mechanism, level of
social literacy, and level of communication apprehension of the teaching and non-
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teaching employees of Uddiawan National High School, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, in
the school year 2020-2021.
Specifically, this study sought answers to the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the teaching and non-teaching employees of Uddiawan
National High School, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, in terms of:
1.1 employment type (teaching/non-teaching);
1.2 highest educational attainment;

1.3 job position;
1.4 years in service; and
1.5 monthly income?
2. What is the respondents’ level of interaction coping mechanism in terms of:
2.1 adaptive mechanism;
2.2 attack mechanism;
2.3 avoidance mechanism;
2.4 behavioral mechanism;
2.5 cognitive mechanism;
2.6 conversion mechanism;
2.7 defense mechanism; and
2.8 self-harm mechanism?
3. What is the respondents’ level of social literacy?
4. What is the respondents’ level of communication apprehension along:
4.1 group discussion;

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4.2 meetings;
4.3 interpersonal conversations; and
4.4 public speaking?
5. Does the respondents’ level of communication apprehension along group
discussions, meetings, interpersonal conversations, and public speaking differ
significantly when grouped according to profile variables?
6. Do the respondents’ level of interaction coping mechanism and level of
social literacy correlate significantly?
7. Do respondents’level of interaction coping mechanism and level of social
literacy relate significantly with their level of communication apprehension?
8. Based on the significant findings of this study, what management
intervention could be evolved to lessen communication apprehension amongthe
teaching and non-teaching employees of Uddiawan National High School?
Basic Assumptions
This study is anchored on the following basic assumptions:
1. The teaching and non-teaching staff of an educational institution have their
respective uniquely interwoven coping mechanisms for challenges or problems they
face when they interact with other elements of their workplace. Deeper understanding
of these mechanisms will hand in better strategy in managing the employees of an
organization.
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2. Social literacy is one requisite in dealing with people of different ages,
sexes, cultural orientations, work roles, and professional or personal needs, for an
organization to achieve its mission and vision aligned to change and development.
3. Communication apprehension is a social monster that hinders elements of an
organization to work or move in one spirit, and it may be addressed by enhancing their
social literacy and the breadth of understanding the interaction coping mechanisms of
the workforce.
Statement of Null Hypothesis
The following null hypotheses were tested in this study:
1. The respondents’ level of communication apprehension along group
discussions, meetings, interpersonal conversations, and public speaking does not differ
significantly when grouped according to profile variables.
2. The respondents’ level of interaction coping mechanism and level of social
literacy do not correlate significantly.
3. The respondents’ level of interaction coping mechanism and level of social
literacy do not relate significantly with their level of communication apprehension.
Significance of the Study
The results of this study are expected to benefit the following:
Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff. The findings of this study would serve as
basis for them to embrace rich and meaningful learning experiences that would
minimize communication apprehension which redound to a sound social interaction

23
and interrelationship. This will open their minds to the importance of developing
social literacy as well as enhancing their interaction coping mechanisms to lessen the
negative impact of anxiety in sharing their thoughts, information, ideas, and feelings
verbally. This paves the way to more sound interactions and conduct of social
activities which are inevitable in their workplace.
Students. As the primary beneficiaries of the school vision and mission, more
particularly along the teaching-learning process, they would grasp whatever changes
in the personal attributes of professionals who serve them in their educational
institution as offshoot of this study which may lead to better communication and thus
understanding between and among stakeholders.
School Administrators. The results of this study would enable them to tailor
teaching and working experiences to address the problems of communicating or
interacting with stakeholders of the school. Findings of this study would serve as basis
for them to initiate employee development program geared towards the enhancement
social literacy and interaction coping mechanism that may lead to better
communication skills among them.
Future Researchers. This study could be a handy reference for them if ever
they would embark on a similar study considering other variables not dealt with in the
present study. Other researchers may deal with constructs, like professional
development, 21st century skills, adversary quotient and the like, which could possibly
alleviate communication apprehension among institutional employees.

24
Scope and Delimitation of the Study
This study involved41purposively selected teaching and non-teaching
employees of Uddiawan National High School, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, in school year
2020-2021. This figure passed the stipulations made by Cudia& Tallungan (2015) on
correlational studies as well as the requisites of Central Limit Theorem which provides
that at least 30 samples may suffice a descriptive study.
The studywas limited to determining the level of communication apprehension
of above stated respondents along group discussions, meetings, interpersonal
conversations and public speaking. It also aimed to find possible relationship of
communication apprehension with the respondents’ social literacy and interaction
coping mechanism along adaptive mechanism, attack mechanism, avoidance
mechanism, behavioral mechanism, cognitive mechanism, conversion mechanism,
defense mechanism, and self-harm mechanism.
Further, profile variables specifically in terms of employment type
(teaching/non-teaching), highest educational attainment, job position, years in service,
and monthly income, were as grouping factors to find out differences in the
respondents’ social literacy, interaction coping mechanism, and communication
apprehension.
To attain this objective, the Personal Data Sheet, the Social Literacy
Questionnaire, the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PPCA-24), and
the Interaction Coping Mechanism Questionnaire were used to gather pertinent data to
answer the research problems.

25
Definition of Terms
For the purposes of clarity and better understanding of this study, the following
terms are conceptually and/or operationally defined.
Adaptive Mechanism. This is an interaction coping mechanism ascribed by an
approach or strategy which is used by respondents to cope with fear, anxiety, stress, or
problems by offering a positive help to others. (Coping Mechanisms, 2014.
http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/coping/coping.htm). This is
measured through 14 items in the Interaction Coping Mechanism Questionnaire.
Attack Mechanism. This is an interaction coping mechanism ascribed by an
problems by pushing discomfort onto others.(Coping Mechanisms, 2014.
Avoidance Mechanism. This is an interaction coping mechanism ascribed by
an approach or strategy which is used by respondents to cope with fear, anxiety, stress,
or problems by avoiding the issue.(Coping Mechanisms, 2014.

26
Behavioral Mechanism. This is an interaction coping mechanism ascribed by
or problems by changing what they are doing.(Coping Mechanisms, 2014.
Cognitive Mechanism. This is an interaction coping mechanism ascribed by an
problems by changing what they are thinking. (Coping Mechanisms, 2014.
Communication Apprehension. This is defined as the individual level of fear
or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another
person or persons. (McCroskey as cited by Salas, 2014) In this study, it served as the
dependent variable which is determined through the use of the Personal Report of
Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) designed by the same author.
Conversion Mechanism. This is an interaction coping mechanism ascribed by
or problems by changing one thing into another.(Coping Mechanisms, 2014.
Defense Mechanism. This is an interaction coping mechanism ascribed by an
27
problems by using Freud's original set of mechanisms which include denial,
displacement, intellectualization, projection, rationalization, reaction formation,
regression, repression, and sublimation. (Coping Mechanisms, 2014.
Group Discussion. This is a form of verbal activity wherein a group of
individuals exchange ideas, information, knowledge and experiences about a common
topic or agenda. In this study, it is one of the components of communication
apprehension.
Interpersonal Conversation. This is another form of verbal activity wherein
two or more individual engage in more intimate interaction, usually done
spontaneously without a particular topic on hand. In this study, it is another
component of communication apprehension.
Interaction Coping Mechanism. This refers to the approaches or strategies
that are used to cope with fear, anxiety, stress, or problems. (Coping Mechanisms,
2014. http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/coping/ coping.htm). This is
one of the independent variables of this study which is measured through 38 items
included in the Interaction Coping Mechanism Questionnaire.
Meeting. This refers to an assembly for a common purpose. In this study, it is
one of the components of communication apprehension, which is the dependent
variable.
28
Social Literacy.This refers to the development of social skills, knowledge and
positive human values toward desire and ability to act and react responsibly in a wide
range of complex social settings (De Leon, 2020). In this study, it is measured through
the 25-item Social Literacy Questionnaire.
Self-harm Mechanism. This is an interaction coping mechanism ascribed by
or problems by hurting themselves.(Coping Mechanisms, 2014.

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Chapter II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
This section of the paper presents in a thematic structure the literature and
studies taken from online sources, books and journals, which are relevant to the
present study. These concepts evolve around the themes of communication
apprehension, interaction coping mechanism, and social literacy.
Communication Apprehension
According to James McCroskey (2001), communication apprehension is a
broad term that refers to an individual’s “fear or anxiety associated with either real or
anticipated communication with another person or persons.”
Communication apprehension may be attributed to some barriers.There are
many barriers to communication and these may occur at any stage in the
communication process. Barriers may lead to the message becoming distorted and
therefore risk wasting both time and/or money by causing confusion and
misunderstanding. Effective communication involves overcoming these barriers and
conveying a class and concise message.
Among the common barriers to effective communication cited in
(http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/barriers-communication html#ixzz3210exx00
include the use of jargon or over-complicated, unfamiliar and/or technical terms. They
may likewise include emotional barriers and taboos. Some people may find it difficult
to express their emotions and some topics may be completely off-limits or taboo.
30
Barriers may also come in the form of lack of attention, interest, distractions,
or irrelevance to the receiver, differences in perception and viewpoint, physical
disabilities such as hearing problems or speech defects/difficulties, physical barriers to
non-verbal communication, meaning not being able to see the non-verbal cues,
gestures and posture and general body language that can make communication less
effective.
Barriers can take also the forms of language differences and the difficulty in
understanding unfamiliar ascents, expectations and prejudices which may lead to false
assumptions and stereo typing. People often hear what is actually said and jump to
incorrect conclusions.
Cultural differences may also cause barriers in communication. The norms of
social interaction vary in different cultures, as do the way in which emotions are
expressed.
A skilled communicator must be aware of these barriers and try to reduce their
impact by continually checking understanding and by offering appropriate feedback.
The barriers of effective communication can be anything a noisy environment,
a distressed co-worker, or a preoccupied mind; our lives are full of communication
deterrents. How we manage to pass on message intact, without letting it undergo a sort
of corruption, is crucial. Both the sender and receiver are part of this communication
process, leaving either one to blame, or both, what has been verbally instructed or
conveyed through other means. This is the quintessential case of an ineffective

31
communication chain (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/barriers- to - effective –
communication.html).
The same website categorized barriers to communication as follows:
Language Barriers. Language and linguistic ability may act as a barrier to
communication. However, even when communicating in the same language, the
terminology used in a message may act as a barrier if it is not fully understood by the
receiver. For example, a message that includes a lot of specialist jargon and
abbreviation will not be understood by the receiver who is not familiar with the
terminology used. Regional colloquialism and expressions may be misinterpreted are
even considered offensive.
Psychological Barriers. The psychological state of the receiver will influence
how the message is received. For example, if someone has personal worries and is
stressed, they may be preoccupied by personal concerns and not as receptive to the
message, as if they were not stressed. Stress management is an important personal skill
that affects our interpersonal relationships.
Anger is another example of psychological barrier to communication. When
we are angry it is easy to say things that we may later regret and also to misinterpret
what others are saying. More generally, people with low esteem maybe less assertive
and therefore may not feel comfortable communicating. They may feel shy about
saying how they really feel or read negative texts into messages, they hear.
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Physiological Barriers. Physiological barriers may result from the receiver’s
physical state; for example, a receiver with reduced hearing may not grasp to entirety a
spoken conversion especially if there is significant background noise.
Physical Barriers. An example of a physical barrier to communication is
geographic distance between the sender and the receiver. Communication is generally
easier over short distances as more communication channels are available and less
technology is required. Although modern technology often serves to reduce the impact
of physical barriers, the advantages and disadvantages of each communication channel
should be understood so that an appropriate channel can be used to overcome physical
barrier.
Systematic Barriers. Systematic barriers to communication may exist in
structures and organizations where there are inefficient or inappropriate information
systems and communication channels, or where there is lack of understanding of the
roles and responsibilities for communication. In such organizations, individuals may
be unclear of their role in the communication process and therefore not know what is
expected of them.
Attitudinal Barriers. Attitudinal barriers are behavior or perceptions that
prevent people from communicating effectively. Attitudinal barriers to communication
may result from personality conflicts, poor management, and resistance to change or a
lack of motivation. Effective receivers of messages should attempt to overcome their
own attitudinal barriers to facilitate effective communication.

33
According to Berardo (2007), language barriers are a common challenge in
international settings and a two-way process. What native speakers often do not realize
is that frequently, it is not the other person’s accent but their own way of speaking that
creates the greatest barriers to effective communication. The following strategies were
suggested to ensure effective international communication.
Speak slowly and clearly. Focus on clearly enunciating and slowing down your
speech. Even if you are pressured for time, do not rush through your communication.
Doing so often takes more time, as miscommunication and misunderstanding can
ultimately have to invest additional time in clearing up the confusion.
Ask for clarification. If you are not 199% sure you have understood what other
say, politely ask for clarification. Avoid assuming you have understood what has been
said.
Frequently check for understanding. Check both that you have understood
what has been said and that others have fully understood you. Practice reflective
listening to check your own understanding and use open-ended questions to check
other people’s understanding.
Avoid idioms. Business language is often contextual and therefore culture
specific. As a good general rule, if the phrase required knowledge of other
information, be it a game or metaphor, recognize that this may make your
communication more difficult to be understood.
Be careful of your jargon. Watch the use of TLAs (Three Letter Abbreviations)
and other organizational language that may not be understood by others. If you use
34
them, provide in parentheses a description of what these are that others can learn to
use the same language you do.
Define the basics of business. In international business context terms such as
“success”, “meetings”, “punctuality” may mean different things to different people.
Spend time early in your communication defining what these mean to you and others.
Invest in building a shared vocabulary.
Be specific. Spell out your expectations and deadline’s clearly. Instead of,
“Please get back to me shortly,” say, “Please email the completed report by 5pm
Eastern Standard time on Wednesday, February 21.”
Choose your medium of communication effectively. Carefully choose your
form of communication. Be mindful not to overuse email. While useful, these are
times when the medium is likely to be ineffective. When a message is complex and
complicated or there is tension or conflict that needs to be resolved, switch to another
medium.
Provide information via multiple channels. Follow phone calls with emails that
summarize what have been said. When possible, provide presentations, agendas, and
others in advance so those working in their non-native language can get familiar with
materials.
Be patient. Cross-cultural communication takes more time. If not at all times,
initially you cannot expect your communication to occur with the same speed and ease
as when you are communicating with someone from your own culture.
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There are a number of things that hinder the effectiveness of a message, or
barriers of effective communication:
Oncoming Messages/Information Tsunami. We are constantly receiving an
inflow of nonstop messages, whether at the office or in important event. People are
throwing instructions at us from all directions, forcing our brain to grasp only a few at
a time, while forgetting the rest. The problem with such situation is that those who are
sending the messages, are not sympathetic about whether we are able to keep up or
not. Making a list of things that need to be attended to will ensure that the receiver is
not left dumbfounded with his ears buzzing.
When emails, phone calls, or repetitive visits from co-workers crowd our day,
we should filter only the most important information, before going back to the little
details. If too much information is being received, we should use things like voice
recorders or helpful cellphone apps, to verbally save whatever needs to be attended to,
including reminders of what errands need to be completed for the day.
Grammatically Challenged Language Roadblock. Communication has to be
understood with the kind of pellucidity that comes with its basic makeup. Messages
must be conveyed in a concise, clear and grammatically correct manner, for the
receiver to understand what the sender is trying to say or convey, in a typewritten or
verbal message. If one’s language basics are not strong, then withdrawing from such a
situation is ideal.
Instructional Havoc. When someone needs to follow instructions by actually
performing them while he speaks, then it is wise to be present in front of whatever

36
needs to be attended to, instead of taking down notes on how to deal with it later. Too
many instructions given to a person in a verbal format will only baffle the receiver.
Those who can take quick notes using the shorthand technique are at a great
advantage.
Others though, are at a loss and in mostcases need to haveeither a great
memory, or the presence of mind to ask for written and non-verbal instructions,
making it clear that it would be better if important details were conveyed accordingly.
Even when asking someone over the phone how to deal with a problem, we must be
sure we are solving it on the spot as the solution is being offered. We must not depend
on our short-memory bank to do the job for us later in the day or week.
Constant Distraction/Emotional Waterfall. Some people do not like
communicating with others because they simply choose not to care, or are not the
interactive sort. So when we speak to such a person, he tends to ignore what is being
said, making us take the fall for not being the one who communicated well enough.
Even if we were in bad mood, upset, angry, or distracted about something related to
our personal lives, we tend to let our minds slip into a different realm.
Snapping out of it and knowing how to separate one’s professional life from
personal is key. Whatever the situation, whether it is a close friend confiding in us
while our mind wanders, or a person crossing the street while we zone out behind the
steering wheel, our minds needs to stay alert at all times. Such a detachment approach
to everyday situations, will eventually backfire.

37
Lack of Knowledge/Empty Knowledge Bank. It is important to have
knowledge about a subject that requires us to be able to handle interpret, and execute
certain instructions related to it. Without prior or acquired knowledge, the
communication process can be crippled, causing the sender to be frustrated with our
lack of efficiency. Therefore, it is better to stick to subjects and a work environment
that allows us to put our best foot forward, since we have a rich knowledge bank. If we
are weak in a certain are, let us not be afraid to voice these weaknesses with higher up
or those around us.
Chinese Whispers. When a message has about five or more channels to pass
through, it can be altered and then produced in a haphazard fashion upon being
received. Therefore, we must try to limit how many channels the message goes
through by either contacting the source ourselves, or relying on one person to do it for
us. If it means using technology in place of human contact, then so be it. That way, we
know our message has been sent and delivered to the one it is intended for. When
there are too many communication channels, the message can be changed to such
extent, that it is no longer makes any sense or contains actual facts. Brevity is what
works best.
Uncomfortable Atmosphere/Environmental Stress. Sometimes, the message
can be distorted when the environment that the sender or receiver is in, lacks peace
and quiet. If a place is hot, claustrophobic, cold, crowded, or has bad reception, the
message will not survive such extreme conditions. Therefore, we must make sure that
meetings, phone calls, and the like, are attended to in quiet areas, where we have
38
access to good reception. If we happen to be in an inconvenient location or caught
amidst an errand, we should call the person back later or reschedule meetings.
Question Authority. If a team leader or our boss is not clear about what he is
saying, we should not be frightened to raise our hands and question him. Not all of us
have super understanding abilities where we, as humans have the right to stop and ask
questions when in doubt. Especially at important meetings, seminars, and the like,
asking questions should be encouraged and not trampled underfoot. Those on the
sending end of the message should also ask questions about any feedback or
suggestions we may have, since this is the best way to know if everyone is on the
same page. In a situation where we cannot understand what is being said, we do not
hesitate to confirm doubts and other details that will help us understand, or do what is
being instructed.
Jargon Attacks/Jargon Dragon. Some people cannot help themselves they
speak in what we hear as gibberish, by not conveying a message in layman terms, like
doctors and technicians, for example. Using a comprehensible vocabulary is important
so that the one on the receiving end has a good idea of what we are trying to say. If we
know that the receiver will not understand a word we say, we should try using simple
sentences to get the message across.
Time Bound. We are in such a constant state of chaos, that we do not stop to
realize how many mistakes we have made along the way, until it comes back to bite
us. Deadlines are given for a reason, where those who expect miracles in a short span
of time must be reminded of how limited it is. Without enough time to do a certain
39
task, the result is a half-hearted attempt at pleasing the overbearing sender. We must
be reasonable when it comes to those who need more time to do certain tasks, or we
designate the task to someone who is fast enough to have it done, without messing up
the results. Those who lack patience and expect results fast will only be handed work
that is inaccurate and missing important details.
Dialect Switch/ Ethnic Diversity. Some people may not understand the
language we speak in, therefore it is important to be sympathetic and speak in the
dialect that both of us can communicate in. Some of us tend to switch language when
overly excited or distressed, forcing the recipient to listen to the barrage of odd
sounds. For instance, while English is a predominant language not everyone knows
how to speak it fluently.
Even when tourists go to places where they cannot be understood, or when
others cannot understand them, it is taxing to get around. It is better to have someone
close by who knows the language better than we do, in case we need them to translate
a message, being either the sender or receiver of the situation. In other cases where the
leading dialect is say, English, then it would be impolite to speak to someone in a
foreign dialect midway through the conversation, while conveying an important
message.
Similarly, literature at the website,
http://managementstudyguide.com/communicationbarriers.htm, mentioned that
communication is a process beginning with a sender who encodes the message and
passes it through some channel to the receiver who decodes the message.
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Communication is fruitful if the messages sent by the sender are interpreted with same
meaning by the receiver. If any kind of disturbance blocks any step of communication,
the message will be destroyed. Due to such disturbances, people in an organization
face severe problems. Thus, they must locate such barriers and take steps to get rid of
them.
There are several barriers that affect the flow of communication in an
organization. The following are the main communication barriers.
Perceptual and Language Differences. Perception is generally how each
individual interprets the world around him. All generally want to receive messages
which are significant to them. But any message which is against their values is not
accepted. Some events may be taken differently by different individuals. The linguistic
differences also lead to communication breakdown occurs if there is a wrong
perception by the receiver.
Information Overload. Individuals are surrounded with a pool of information.
It is essential to control this information flow, otherwise the information is likely to be
misinterpreted or forgotten or overlooked. As a result communication is less effective.
Verbal Static. “Um”… what perception… “like”… “you know” when you hear
a speaker using “uh”. Is an example of verbal static, knowledgeable, credible and
confident are labels which probably do not come into your mind. To avoid these
barriers: eliminate filler words; think on your feet; get to the point and avoid rambling;
take a relaxing breath; hold your listener’s attention; and gain control over your
message. As such your listeners will hear, understand, respond and act on what to say.
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Lack of Eye Connection. The only way to build a relationship is through trust.
When speaking to more than two individuals, connect with one individual for a
complete sentence or thought. Take a moment to pause as you transition your eyes
from one individual to another.
People withhigh communication apprehension often avoid communication.
They are rarely perceived as leaders; others may have negative perceptions of them
since they seem uneasy. But people with high anxiety can be taught to manage their
anxiety by considering the following tips: preparing ahead; realizing it exists and
planning how to respond to realistic fears; practice breathing and relaxing, most fear
can be reduced by deliberate slow breathing with the diaphragm; not clenching fists or
locking knees; minimizing symptoms-practice; using visual aids- Power Point, posters,
objects, videos may help to move to an area physically and mentally. Using items that
are familiar can make one feel good. A poorly designed and sloppy visual aid may
increase anxiety level.
Moreover, one can manage anxiety level if he may consider audience
participation; believe that movement helps breathing! He may plan and practice
movement. The most logical times to move would be during the transitions of speech.
Further, one can manage anxiety by getting support throughtalking to his/her teacher,
a friend, or another student in class, and also by having realistic goals. Some folks do
not completely eliminate communication apprehension, but instead learn to reduce it
or manage it.
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Thinking positive thoughts may help.One must not engage in self-sabotage.
Some people will get “stuck” during the brainstorming process of finding a topic
because nothing seems interesting enough to talk about. One must try to find a topic
he/she can be good or bad. It is how one can develop and use the topic.
One can handle his apprehension if he knowshis/her topic, audience,
him/herself and his/her speech, focuses on his/her message, not him/herself,
recognizes value and uniqueness, never letsthe audience see sweat, walks calmly,
takes breaks with pauses, uses movement, practices concepts not words, does not
memorize, tries extemporaneous style which means that one reduces script to a key
word outline, constantly reducing the notes and reducing the words to keywords.
Other tips include: exercising or try walking before speech -more strenuous
exercise should take place much earlier in the day; warming up voice;
avoidingchocolate, milk and substances that will cause one to need to use the
bathroom -water is always good; acting as if one is not afraid. “Take it until you make
it.”; dressing for success- wear favorite and appropriate outfit; watching mates and
learning; not comparing oneself to others and putt oneself down; working harder on
the outline, visual aids, etc. to boost sense of what one has accomplished.
At the end of the speech, one must look out to the audience and nod, try the
“Stop and Calm Technique,” and ask for help if needed.
As earlier stated, there are a lot of communication barriers faced these days by
all. The message intended by the sender is not understood by the receiver in the same
terms and sense and thus communication breakdown occurs. It is essential to deal and
43
cope with these communication barriers so as to ensure smooth and effective
communication. The following are ways to overcome these barriers of
communication:eliminating differences in perception, using simple language,
reduction and elimination of noise levels, active listening, managing emotional state,
simple organizational structure, avoiding information overload, giving constructive
feedback, proper media selection, and flexibility in meeting the targets
(http://managementstudyguide.com/overcoming-communicationbarriers.htm).
Hanke (2011) contends that most individuals are unaware of the static they
create when they communicate. Static is created when “what” a person says is
inconsistent with how he says it. For example, a person is having a conversation with
another person and the latter says, in a boring monotone voice, “I am so excited to
have this opportunity to work with you.” His facial expressions are lifeless; never look
at you in the eye while fidgeting with a pen. More likely, the former would question
the latter’s credibility and knowledge and will not take action on what he has to say.
Communication apprehension is described by a number of characteristics. The
speaker may experience a shortness of breath and accelerated heart rate; uncontrolled
nervous movement, sweaty palms; nervous and upset stomach, uncontrolled blushing
or redness of the skin, and may experience internal doubts.
There are several potential causes of communication apprehension, namely:
lack of preparation lack of speaking skills, negative reinforcement from previous
communication efforts, poor role models from which communication was learned;
genetic components such as sociability, physical appearance, body shape, and

44
coordination and motor abilities; and cultural preferences in regards to speaking in
public and being the center of attention.
One in five people has high communication apprehension level. Individuals
consistently rank public speaking among their worst fears more fear provoking than
snakes, spiders, even death. The bottom line is that communication apprehension is
normal.
“Speech is a minor of its soul,” commented PubliluisSyrus, a popular writer in
42 BCE. (Bartleby.comwebsite.http://www.bartleby.com/100). Other people come to
know who are through our words. Many different social situations, ranging from job
interviews to dating, to public speaking can make us feel uncomfortable as we
anticipate that we will be judged by others. How well we communicate is intimately
connected to our self-image, and the process of revealing ourselves to the evaluation
of others can be threatening whether we are meeting acquaintances, participating in
group discussions, or speaking in front of an audience.
Public speaking, or talking in front of others, consistently counts as one of the
foremost fears of individuals, many people place public speaking ahead of death itself
in their ranking of fears. It is no wonder, then, that a significant number of people tend
to avoid situations where they are expected to speak, communicate, or perform in front
of others. An even greater number of people, though not avoiding public speaking
situations, nevertheless experience a degree of anxiety and stress which prevents them
from communicating as effectively as they would have liked. Students, for example,
may struggle through, or seek to avoid altogether, a required public speaking course;
45
job candidates consumed with anxiety may sell themselves short or project an inferior
image of themselves during an interview in front of potential employers; individuals
may choose a job or career of limited potential; business professionals or workers may
be passed up for, or even refuse outright a promotion because of their fears
surrounding speaking in front of others.
Habermas (1995) considered the following rubs important to create the kind of
dialogue that really leads to a just culture in society and in families that can lead to
free and responsible action by all members:Everyone capable of speech and action is
allowed to participate in rational discourse.Everyone in principle is allowed to
question any statement and to introduce any statement.Everyone is allowed to express
relevant attitudes, needs, and intentions.No participant maybe prevented, by external
or internal constraints, from using the rights specified above. Moral decision making
should take place only where participants are allowed to, and do communicate with
one another in an open discourse.
According to Brookfield (1995), conversations can only happen when certain
circumstances are present. They require “a moral and political culture characterized by
an openness to diverse perspective and ideologies, and a respectful acknowledgement
of the importance of each person’s contribution, irrespective of seniority or status.
Creating this culture involves breaking patterns that emphasize competitiveness,
privatization of knowledge, publicly punishing deviation from the accepted norms.
Participants in critical conversations need to spend more time evolving ground rules.
46
Brookfield goes on to say that conversation is truly critical and helps us
become self-aware only when participants approach it with certain inclinations and
predispositions, tolerance, patience, respect for differences, willingness to listen, the
inclination to admit that one may be mistaken the ability to reinterpret or translate
one’s own concerns in a way that makes them comprehensible to others, the self-
imposition of restraint in order that others may have a turn to speak, and the
disposition to express oneself honesty and sincerely.
Some example of ground rules are the following. Every time participants make
factual statement or value claims, they must give supportive evidence from reliable
sources or their experiences. After every twenty minutes of conversation, five minutes
are set aside explicitly for anyone who has not contributed in the previous twenty
minutes to say whatever he wants. And every conversation or group meeting starts
with a reflective stock taking of the group’s process what has worked well, what needs
improvement, who feels shut out and unheard, and so on.
Interaction Coping Mechanism
Virtually all living being routinely utilize coping skills in daily life. These are
perhaps most noticeable in response to physical disabilities, stress, fears, challenges,
and the like.
The body has an interior set of coping mechanisms for encountering stress.
This includes the fight/flight reaction to high stress of trauma. A person perceiving
stress has an automatic boost in adrenaline, prompting either action, or inaction.

47
People have a variable level of physical reaction to different levels of stress. For some,
merely getting interrupted from a task can cause an inappropriate fight/flight reaction.
This can translate to “fight” mechanism, where a person gets very angry with others
for interrupting him. Alternately, flight may include physically leaving, or simply
being unable to regain focus and get back on task.
Many times, people who experience high “fight/flight” reactions actually
amplify their own stress by their coping mechanisms, creating more adrenaline boost
than is needed. Learning to recognize the body’s tendency toward these highly
charged states and altering behavior accordingly can reduce the length of time a
person stays in the charged state, and reduce the body’s continued need to produce
adrenaline to cope with danger that does not really exist. Coping mechanisms in the
therapeutic sense can involve meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and
recognition of the body’s inappropriate response to stress. These are only a few of the
coping mechanisms that can be learned through therapy. They can result in fewer
incidences of panic, inappropriate anger, or turning to unhelpful behaviors like using
alcohol to dull stress.
People who have developed mental illness as a coping strategy benefit by
learning therapeutic coping mechanisms and by taking medication that can help reduce
the symptoms of mental illness. A schizophrenic who hallucinates may be aided by the
coping mechanisms provided by the anti-psychotic drugs. Anti-anxiety medications
can assist the person with frequent panic attacks. The gold standard in treating
inappropriate coping mechanisms is to gradually replace these with therapy and

48
medication that can help reduce inappropriate coping responses
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coping_skill).
One group of coping skills are coping mechanism, defined as the skills used to
reduce stress. In psychological terms, these are consciously used skills and defense
mechanisms are their unconscious counterpart. Overuse of coping mechanisms (such
as coping methods are more like habits than skills, and can be harmful. Overused, they
may actually worsen one’s condition. Alcohol, cocaine and other drugs may provide
temporary escape from one’s problems, but, with excess use, ultimately result in
greater problems (http://wisegeek.com/what-are-coping-mechanisms.htm).
In the same website, (http://wisegeek.com/what-are-coping-mechanisms.htm),
There are two primary styles of coping with problems. Action-based coping involves
dealing with the problem itself-studying to prepare for exams, financial difficulties,
delivering an oral report. Action-based coping is generally seen as superior to
emotion-based coping as it can directly reduce a source of the problem.
Emotion-based coping skills reduce the symptoms of stress or tension without
addressing its source. Consuming alcohol, sleeping or discussing the stress with a
friend are all emotion, based coping strategies. Other examples include denial, wishful
thinking, destruction, relaxation, reappraisal, and humor. These are both positive and
negative coping strategies that can be defined as emotion-based.
Weiten and Lloyd (http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/copingskill) discussed that
coping is the process of managing taxing circumstances, expending effort to solve
personal and interpersonal problems, and seeking to master, minimize, reduce or

49
tolerate stress or anxiety. In coping with stress, people tend to use one of the three
main coping strategies.
Appraisal-focused strategy occurs when the person modifies the way he thinks,
for example, employing denial or distancing oneself from the problem. People may
alter the way they think by altering their goals and values, such as seeing the humor of
the situation. People using problem focused strategies try to deal with the cause of the
problem. They do this by searching for information related to the problem, learning
new skills to manage the problem, and rearranging their lives around the problem.
Emotion-focused strategies involve releasing pent-up emotions destructing oneself,
managing hostile feelings mediating using systematic relaxation, and the like.
Wetin and Lloyd continue to say that people may use a mixture of these
different types of coping mechanisms which usually change overtime. All these
methods can prove useful but they claim that those using problem-focused coping
strategies will help an individual adjust better to life.
Men often prefer problem-focused coping, whereas women tend towards an
emotion-focused response. Problem-focused coping mechanisms may allow an
individual greater perceived control over their problem, while emotion-focused coping
may more often lead to a reduction of perceived control. Certain individuals, therefore,
feel that problem-focused mechanism represents a more effective means of coping.
Another conceptual distinction has been suggested between assimilative and
accumulative coping, the former aiming at an alteration of the environment to oneself,
and the latter aiming at an alteration of oneself to the environment

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(Brandtstodter,1993). This pair has also been coined as mastery versus meaning “or”
primary control versus secondary control. These coping preferences may occur in a
certaintime order when, for example, individuals first try to alter the demands that are
at stake, and after failing, turn inward to reinterpret their plight and find subjective
meaning in it.
The same researcher also mentioned that coping has also a temporal aspect.
One can cope before a stressful event takes place, while it is happening or after
happening. Beehr and McGrath (1996) distinguished five situations that create a
particular temporal context: a) Preventive coping: wherein long before the stressful
event occurs or might occur; for example, a smoker might quit well in time to avoid
the risk of lung cancer; b) Anticipatory coping: when the event is anticipated soon; i.e.
someone might take a tranquillizer while waiting for surgery; c) Dynamic coping:
while it is ongoing; for example, diverting attention to reduce chronic pain; d)
Reactive coping: after it has happened; i.e. changing one’s life after losing a limb; and
e) Residual coping: long afterward, by contending with long-run effects; for example,
controlling one’s intrusive thoughts years after a traumatic accident has happened.
The fears that arise from transferring idea or information to others may
characterize communication apprehension or anxiety. The interweaving or sharing of
ideas may comprise the interaction process to which some fears are attached. The
communicating individual develops habits or actions as responses to communicative
challenges and these ascribe the interaction coping mechanism of the communicator.
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Frey (2000) suggested ways to cope with anxiety or apprehension which
involves communication, and stress: 1) Eat and exercise regularly; 2) Avoid excessive
intake which can increase feelings of anxiety and agitation; 3) Avoid illegal drugs
alcohol and tobacco; 40 Learn relaxation exercises like abdominal breathing and
muscle relaxation techniques; 5) Develop assertiveness training skills such as stating
feelings in polite, firm but not overly aggressive or passive ways; 6) Rehearse and
practice situations which cause anxiety or apprehension like talking a speech class if
talking in front of a class makes you anxious; 7) Learn practical coping skills, i.e.
break a large task into smaller, more attainable tasks; 8) Decrease negative self-talk,
challenge negative thoughts about yourself with alternative neutral or positive
thoughts; 9) Learn to feel good about doing a competent or good enough, job rather
than demanding perfection from yourself and others; 10) Take a break from stressful
situations. Activities like listening to music, talking to a friend, drawing, writing, or
spending time with a pet can reduce anxiety or stress; and 11) Build a network of
friends who can help you cope in a positive way.
Similarly, Flat Ley (2000) offered five tips for coping with anxiety disorder
panic attacks. There are various types of anxiety disorders, but the main underlying
characteristic is the irrational and excessive need to worry or fear. Panic attacks occur
randomly and frequently for those who suffer from anxiety disorder. When they occur,
they cause headaches, nausea, tremors, and irrational fear or nervousness. To cope
with this, hereunder are some tips:

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Learn to relax. Relaxation techniques can help reduce the effects of panic
attack symptoms, such as headaches or sweating. By concentrating on oneself and
blocking out all negative emotions and the environment around him, he can relax his
body and breathing. This will lessen the intensity of the symptoms, but should not be
used as an alternative from proper medical treatment.
Meditation can help a person to relax and it is useful to practice this regularly
in the morning or at night. This will help him learn to calm his body and mind down.
Setting aside some time to relax and unwind everyday will reduce the build-up of
anxiety and tension from life.
Seek the Right Treatment. There is a variety of treatments available for anxiety
disorders, and it is important to pick the right one as different treatments are more
effective for different types. Medication can curb the symptoms, but it is not a quick
cure and has many side effects which are often severe. Cognitive and behavioral
therapy is more suitable as it helps one come to terms with the root of his anxiety
attacks, and will help him overcome his disorder.
Change Lifestyle. Take up exercise at least twice a week to help get your body
fit again. There are many forms of exercise to choose from, and possible suggestions
include brisk walking or swimming. Your diet also plays a big part, and you should try
to keep a well balanced diet. Cut down on processed foods and high sugar snacks.
Substances such as alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine are also highly discouraged as they
act as either stimulants or depressants, and can trigger your panic attacks.
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Seek Support. It is unhealthy to bottle up emotions, and it is encouraged that
you share emotions, and experiences with your friends and family. Share with them
your problem and how you are going about trying to cope and recover. They may have
valuable suggestions, and if nothing else, they can help to support you emotionally.
Support groups and professional counseling are reliable alternatives. Talking about
your anxiety will also help you come to terms with it and understand the causes of
anxiety attacks better.
Self-Monitoring. Take some time out to relax and unwind and make sure your
body and mind is calm. Make a list of the causes of your panic attacks, and try to
identify what triggers them. Once you have done that, you can look for an appropriate
solution, whether it is facing the problem or simply avoiding being in such a situation
given.
According to Lazarus and Folkman (1984) as cited by Naguit (2012), there are
two types of appraisals: a primary appraisal is made when the individual makes a
conscious evaluation of the matter at hand, of whether it is either harm a loss, a threat,
or a challenge. Then secondary appraisal takes place when the individual asks himself
what he can do by evaluating the coping resources around him. These resources
include physical resources (health and energy), social resources (family and friends),
psychological resources (self-esteem/self-efficiency) and material resources (money,
equipment).
Five coping strategies were identified by Klaver and Filipp (1993) as cited by
Salas (2014), that turned up as dimensions in a factor analysis: seeking social

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integration; rumination; threat minimization; turning to religion; and seeking
information. These factors were established as subscales of a psychometric inventory.
The most commonly used treatment for CA in adults has been “systematic
desensitization.” This includes training in deep muscle relaxation, construction of
anxiety creating stimuli, and the graduated pairing, through imaginary of these anxiety
stimuli with the relaxed state (Friedrich and Goss, 1984). Variations of these methods
may also be effective for younger students.
Preventing or alleviating communication apprehension for every student is a
monumental if not an impossible task. But simply recognizing that CA is a frequent
phenomenon can spur toward eliminating many factors that contribute to the quiet
person’s withdrawal from communication.
In the study conducted by Schwarzer (1996), there are different ways of coping
which have been found to be more or less adaptive. He examined the effects of various
coping models on several measures of adjustment to illness. He concluded that
avoidant coping strategies seem to be more adaptive in the short run, whereas
attentive-confrontative coping is more effective in the long run. It remains unclear,
however how the specific coping responses of the patient struggling with a disease can
be classified into broader categories. Some researchers have come up with two basic
dimensions such as instrumental, attentive, vigilant, or confrontative coping on one
hand, in contrast to avoidant, palliative, and emotional coping on the other.
Naughton (1997) stressed in his study that the cognitive approach to coping is
based on a mental process of how the individual appraises the situation, where the
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level of appraisal determines the level of stress (apprehension or anxiety) and the
unique coping strategies that the individual partakes.
Coping with eminent stressors, such as upcoming presentations or meetings
has been termed “proactive coping” (Aspinwall and Taylor,1997). This related
components: the importance of building a reserved of resources that can be used to
prevent or offset future losses; recognizing potential stressors initial appraisal of
potential stressors preliminary coping efforts; and eliciting and using feedback about
the success of one’s efforts.
The potential benefit of proactive coping technique is that they are not
preceded by negative appraisals. In proactive coping, people have a vision, they see
risks, demands and opportunities in the future, but they do not appraise them as
threatening, harmful or negative. Rather they perceive demanding situations as
personal challenges and avenues to succeed,
Strategies of coping become a form of goal management, and attainment,
instead of risk management. The proactive individual at work strives for career
improvement and builds up resources that assure progress and quality performance.
The importance of accumulating resources cannot be overstated; this is the number
one method to proactively cope with difficult situations.
We are complex animals living complex lives in which we are not always able
to cope with the difficulties that we face. As a result, we are subject to feelings of
tension and stress, for example the cognitive dissonance and potential shame of doing
something outside our values. To help people cope, they should let go of the stress that
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they experience, or gain a greater understanding of the situation. It should remembered
that coping actions are usually symptoms of deeper problems and addressing them
directly can be ineffective or even counter-productive. The best approach is to
discover the deeper cause and address this, which will hopefully result in the coping
mechanism to disappear.
The following are coping mechanisms by type
(http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/coping/coping.htm).
Adaptive mechanisms that offer positive help. We cope with difficulties in
various ways, many of them negative and uncomfortable as we try to repel or hide
from uncomfortable feelings. Sometimes we manage to act in more positive and
helpful ways. Others are some of these.
 Adaptation: the human ability to adapt.
 Compartmentalization: Separating conflicting thoughts into separated
compartments.
 Compensation: Over-doing one thing to compensate for another weakness.
 Crying: Tears of release and seeking comfort.
 Displacement: Shifting on intended action to a safer target.
 Idealization: Playing up the good points and ignoring limitations of things
desired.
 Identification: Copying others to take on their characteristics.
 Intellectualization: Avoiding emotion by focusing on facts and logic.

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 Performing Rituals: Getting time to think.
 Post-traumatic growth: Using the energy of trauma for good.
 Sublimation: Channel psychic energy into acceptable activities.
 Substitution: Replacing bad things with good things.
 Undoing: Actions that psychologically ‘undo’ wrongdoings for the
wrongdoer.
These are some of the more positive mechanisms or methods that can be used
positively. In practice, a number of other coping methods work well enough without
doing any harm. Try to use some of these more positive methods rather than falling
into the more destructive mechanisms. If you are helping others adapt, encourage them
to use these other than other defenses. It must be remembered that coping is not
curing. It is an adaption in any form. Eventually, the best approach is to address the
underlying issue.
Attack Mechanisms that push discomfort on to others. We cope with
difficulties in various ways. Some are more positive than others. Perhaps the worst
kind is where we may attack others. Arguably, all attacks on others are forms of
coping with our own internal troubles.
 Acting Out: Not coping-giving in to the pressure to misbehave.
 Displacement: Shifting of intended action to a safer target.
 Fight-or-Fight Reaction: Reacting by attacking.
 Passive Aggression: Avoiding refusal by passive avoidance.

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 Projection: Seeing your own unwanted feelings in other people.
 Reaction Formation: Avoiding something by talking a polar opposite
position.
 Trivializing: Making small what is really something big.
Not all of these lead to harm of other, but they have all the potential to do so.
Guard against negative behavior that can harm others and lead you into trouble. Try
converting these to adaptive mechanisms. When working with others, beware of them
attacking you. Sometimes when you take the cork out of a pressurized bottle, there is a
significant explosion.
 Avoidance Mechanism: That avoid the issue. While avoidance and denial
is a relatively harmless method that can be useful in the short term, it can
still result in significant internal damage and may end up coming out in
other ways.
 Avoidance: Mentally and physically avoiding something that causes
distress.
 Denial: Refusing to acknowledge that an event has occurred.
 Distancing: Moving away.
 Fantasy: Escaping reality into a world of possibility.

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desired.
 Performing Rituals: Patterns that delay.
 Rationalization: Creating logical reasons for bad behavior.
 Reaction Formation: Avoiding something by taking a polar opposite
position.
 Regression: Returning to a child state to avoid problems.
 Repression: Subconsciously hiding uncomfortable thoughts.
 Symbolization; Turning unwanted thoughts into metaphoric symbols.
In some ways, most forms of coping include denial as the person avoids the
real issue. When you are working with others, beware of them avoiding you. Also
beware of trying to force them to confront things.
 Behavioral Mechanisms: That change what we do. Here are various
mechanisms that change how we behave.
 Aim Inhibition: Lowering sights to what seems more achievable.
 Altruism: Helping others to help self.

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 Attack: Trying to beat down that which is threatening you.
 Avoidance: Mentally or physically avoiding something that cause distress.
 Compensation: Making up for a weakness in one area by gain strength in
another.
 Crying: Tears or release and seeking comfort.
 Recation Formation: Avoiding something by taking a polar opposite
position.
 Undoing: Actions that psychologically ‘undo’ wrongdoings for the
wrongdoer.
Behavior is easy to see and hence is a strong signal that you can read in others
and that they can read you. When people act in certain ways that seem strange to you
or seem to be directed against you, pause to think. These are often coping mechanisms
and are not about you.
 Cognitive Mechanisms: That change what we think. Here are various
mental mechanisms that help us.
 Avoidance: Mentally or physically avoiding something that cause distress.

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 Compartmentalization: Separating conflicting thoughts into separated
compartments.
 Conversion: Subconscious conversion of stress into physical symptoms.
 Denial: Refusing to acknowledge that an event has occurred.
 Dissociation: Separating oneself from parts of your life.
 Fantasy: Escaping reality into a world of possibility.
desired.
 Introjection: Bringing things from the outer world into the inner world.
 Rationalization: Creating logical reasons for bad behavior.
 Reaction Formation> Avoiding something by taking a polar opposite
position.
 Repression: Subconsciously hiding uncomfortable thoughts.
 Somatization: Psychological problems turned into physical symptoms.
 Suppression: Consciously holding back unwanted urges.

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 Symbolization: Turning unwanted thoughts into metaphoric symbols.
Mental mechanisms like this are sometimes deliberate and conscious and
sometimes invisible to the person so they do not realize what is really happening. In
the latter case it is difficult for a person to even begin to understand what is happening.
A therapist or counselor may be able to help them understand the inner processes and
hence deliberately change how they think.
 Conversion Mechanism; That change one thing into another. One family of
coping mechanisms acts to transform the difficulty in some way.
desired.
 Post-Traumatic Growth: Using the energy of trauma for good.
 Reaction Formation: Avoiding something by taking a polar opposite
position.
 Sublimation: Channeling psychic energy into acceptable activities.
 Substitution: Replacing one thing with another.

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 Symbolization: Turning unwanted thoughts into metaphoric symbols.
Conversion coping can be confusing as the real problem is hidden behind a
different mask. The reasons and route of conversion is not always clear and some
exploration can be needed to help understand what is going on.
When people are acting strangely, ask whether this is authentic or whether it is
a problem being acted out in some different way.
Defense Mechanisms: Freud’s original set. Sigmund describes how the Ego
uses a range of mechanisms to handle the conflict between the Id, the Ego and Super
ego. His daughter Ann introduced the principle of inner mechanisms that defend the
ego in her 1936 book ‘The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense”.
Anxiety and Tension: Freud noted that a major drive for most people is the
reduction in tension, and that a major cause of tension was anxiety. He identified three
difficult types of anxiety.
Reality Anxiety: Is the most basic form of anxiety and is typically based on
fears of real and possible events, such as being bitten by a dog or falling from ladder.
The most common way of reducing tension from Reality Anxiety is taking
oneself away from the situation, running away from the dog or simply refusing to go
up the ladder.
Neurotic Anxiety: This is a form of anxiety which comes from an unconscious
fear that the basic impulses of the ID (the primitive part of our personality) will take
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control of the person, leading to eventual punishment (this is thus a form of Moral
Anxiety).
Moral Anxiety: This form of anxiety comes from the Superego in the form of a
fear of violating values and moral codes, and appears as feeling of guilt or shame.
When anxiety occurs, the mind first responds by an increase in problem-
solving thinking, seeking rational ways of escaping the situation. If this is not fruitful
(and maybe anyway), a range defense mechanisms mat be triggered. These are tactics
which the Ego develops to help deal with the Id and the Super Ego.
All Defense Mechanisms share two common properties.
 They often appear unconsciously.
 They tend to distort, transform, or otherwise falsify reality.
In distorting reality, there is a change in perception which allows for a
lessening of anxiety, with a corresponding reduction in felt tension.
Anna Freud’s Defense Mechanisms include:
 Denial: Claiming/believing that what is true to be actually false.
 Displacement: Redirecting emotions to a substitute target.
 Intellectualization: Taking an object viewpoint.
 Projection: Attributing uncomfortable feelings to others.
 Rationalization: Creating false but credible justifications.
 Reaction Formation: Overacting in the opposite way to the fear.
 Regression: Going back to acting as a child.

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 Repression: Pushing uncomfortable thoughts into the subconscious.
 Sublimation: Redirecting ‘wrong’ urges into socially acceptable actions.
After the initial list, many other mechanisms for coping with the difficulties
life throws at us have been identified by other analysts and authors.
Psychoanalysis: Often involves a long series of sessions with the client in
which original causes are sought out (often searching through childhood relationships)
and cathartic experiences of realization are used to teach the client how these
mechanisms are no longer appropriate.
For Freud, the purpose of psychoanalysis was to bring repressed memories,
fears and thoughts back to the conscious level of awareness. Two techniques he used
are free association and dream analysis. He considered dreams as the “royal road” to
the unconscious. He also analyzed and interpreted the various defense mechanisms.
In persuasion, you can watch for these dysfunctional mechanisms in people
and either work around them or with them as appropriate.
You should also watch for these mechanisms in yourself, and either learn to
handle them to get professionalism help in doing so.
 Self-harm Mechanisms: That hurt ourselves. One family of coping
mechanism is to attack ourselves in some way, doing actual ar
psychological harm.
 Self-harming: Conscious physical self-harm.

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Conversion coping can be confusing as the real problem is hidden behind a
different mask. The reasons and route of conversion is not always clear and some
exploration can be needed to help understand what is going on.
When people are acting strangely, ask whether this is authentic or whether it is
a problem being acted out in some different way.
Lynn Ponton, MD offered the following tips to cope with stress: Stress hits us
all in life, and while a little stress is good, it keeps us focused and motivated, too much
of it can grind our lives to a complete halt. When you’re feeling overwhelmed and
stressed-out, you may become paralyzed and unable to do much of anything.
Just as bad are unhealthy coping methods to deal with stress. Turning to food,
alcohol or drugs often just turns one set of problems into another that can balloon out
of control. It’s better to avoid those unhealthy coping mechanisms from the start, and
find good ways to keep your stress under control.
Coping occurs in response to psychological stress, usually triggered by
changes in effort to maintain mental health and emotional well-being. Life stressors
are often described as negative events (the death of a loved one, loss of a job, divorce,
etc.); however, positive changes in life (marriage, birth, moving, a new job, etc.) can
also constitute life stressors, but requiring the use of coping skills to adapt. Coping
strategies are the behaviors, thought, and emotions that you use to adjust to the
changes that occur in your life.
There are many coping styles that people use, and some may prove more
effective than others, depending on the nature of the stressful situation and the person
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who is employing them. Ineffective coping mechanisms, also referred to as
maladaptive coping, may also be applied to stressful events or internal conflict, often
unconsciously. Maladaptive coping mechanisms are counterproductive.
Among researchers, coping styles are commonly assigned broad categories that
draw distinctions between methods. For example, instrumental coping (referred to as
problem-solving) focuses on ways to tackle the issue in order to reduce stress around a
given situation., while emotion focused coping gathers tools to nurture one’s
emotional health during the stressful period. Additionally, coping is identified as being
either active or avoidant. Active coping strategies involve in awareness of the stressor,
followed by attempts to reduce the negative outcome. By contrast, avoidant coping is
characterized by ignoring the issue, often resulting in activities that aid in the denial of
the problem (e.g., drinking, sleeping, isolating).
After examining common styles of coping the following are specific strategies:
 Humor: Pointing out the amusing aspects of the problem at hand, or
“positive reframing,” is taught to help deal with small failures.
 Seeking Support: Asking for help, or finding emotional support from
family members or friends, can be effective way of maintaining emotional
health during a stressful period.
 Problem-Solving: As described above, problem solving is an instrumental
coping mechanism that aims to locate the source of the problem and
determine solutions.
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 Relaxation: Engaging in relaxing activities, or practicing calming
techniques, can help to manage stress and improve overall coping.
 Physical Recreation: Regular exercise, such as running, or team sports, is a
good way to handle the stress of given situation. This may involve yoga,
meditating, progressive muscle relaxation, among other techniques of
relaxation.
 Adjusting Expectations: Anticipating various outcomes to scenarios in life
may assist in preparing for the stress associated with any given change or
event.
 Denial: Avoidance of the issue altogether may lead to denying that a
problem even exists. Denial is usually maintained by distractions, such as
excessive alcohol consumption, overworking, or sleeping more than usual.
 Self-Blame: Internalizing the issue, and blaming oneself (beyond just
taking responsibility for one’s actions), leads to low self-esteem and
sometimes depression.
 Venting: An externalizing coping technique, venting is the outward
expression of emotions, usually in the company of friends or family. In
moderation it can be healthy; however, ruminating on the negative can lead
to strained relationships over time. (http:///www.semel.ucla.edu/dual-
diagnosis-program/NewsandResources/HowDoYouCope).
Coping mechanisms are ways to which external or internal stress is managed,
adapted to or acted upon. Susan Folkman and Richard Lazaruz define coping as
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“constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external
and /or internal demands that are appraised as taxing”.
Psychologists Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman scientifically defined
coping as the sum of cognitive and behavioral efforts, which are constantly changing,
that aim to handle particular demands, whether internal or external, that are viewed as
taxing or demanding. Simply put, coping is an activity we do to seek and apply
solutions to stressful situations or problems that emerge because of our stressors.
Actually, the term “coping” is more associated with “reactive coping”, because in
general, we see coping as a response to a stressor. On the other hand, there’s also what
we call “proactive coping”, wherein the coping response is aimed at preventing a
possible encounter with a future stressor.
While coping mechanisms are brought about by a person’s conscious minds, it
doesn’t mean that all of them bring about positive coping; there are some types of
coping mechanisms which are maladaptive. Other psychologists say that maladaptive
coping is also synonymous to “non-coping”, since a person who responds to stressor
using a coping mechanism but isn’t able to positively ward off the stressor or solve the
stressful situation hasn’t coped with the stress at all.
Over the years, psychologists and researchers have identified about 400 to 600
coping strategies, and yet there are so many other potential coping strategies that are
still under research. Because of this, the classifications of coping strategies vary from
textbook to textbook.
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One of the recognized groupings of coping strategies are that which was
written in the psychology textbook by Weitin, which includes the appraised-focused or
adaptive cognitive, the problem-focused or adaptive behavioral, and the emotion-
focused.
1. The appraisal-focused strategies are those coping mechanisms which
involve the change of mindset or a revision of thoughts. Denial is the most common
coping mechanism under this category.
2. The problem-focused strategies are those that modify the behavior of the
person. A good example of this is learning how to cook a family dinner upon knowing
that your spouse’s family would come over your house this weekend.
3. The emotion-focused strategies include the alternation of one’s emotions to
tolerate or eliminate the stress. Examples include distraction, mediation, and relaxation
techniques.
Social Literacy
Social literacy entails the development of social skills, knowledge and positive
human values toward desire and ability in human beings to act and react positively and
responsibly in a wide range of complex social settings. It can be acquired through
social process of inquiry, values exploration and social decision-making that relate to
the acquisition of knowledge and understanding (Arthur, Davison & Stow, 2000).
In school, social literacy can be demonstrated by teachers in dealing with their
superiors, colleagues, parents, students and others, while for students, by way of
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interaction and interrelation with the surroundings around them – their peers, the
media and political influencers, technology agents, religious groups, school staff,
family members, etc.
Social skills are aspects of social literacy. As such, these are an integral part of
functioning in society. It involves good manners, communicating effectively with
others, being considerate of others’ feelings and expressing personal needs. In fact,
children gain social skills through playing while adults obtain it by interrelating with
others, both verbally (spoken language) and non-verbally (gestures, body language,
facial expressions, eye contact and appearance).
Social skills are also important in schools because they help build, maintain
and grow relationships of students with classmates, peers, teachers, students, and
others, while for teachers, with their superiors, colleagues, parents, students, and
others. These can be attained through: gaining ideas, information, techniques and
perspectives from people with different areas of expertise; providing their own
perspective for the benefit of others; accomplishing tasks and working together toward
shared goal; providing mutual support for difficult situations; expanding network to
learn about and pursue new opportunities; gaining feedback and referrals from people
who can personally attest to work, skills and qualities; and making the school truly a
healthy and conducive learning environment.
There are types of social skills that teachers can demonstrate among students to
attain a harmonious relationship with them.

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Effective communication. It is the ability to communicate effectively and share
thoughts and ideas with students through group conversations, discussions, etc.
Conflict resolution. It is the ability to get to the source of the problem and find
a workable solution by weighing both sides from those involved with the goal of
mediating for reconciliation.
Active listening. It is the ability to pay close attention to a student in times of
counseling, introspection and consultation.
Empathy. It is the ability to understand and identify the feelings of students in
times of difficulty and trouble.
Relationship management. It is the ability to maintain relationships and build
key connections with school stakeholders for the student’s development.
Respect. It can be done by knowing when to initiate communication and respond
during interactions or even in times of heated arguments and confrontations.
Problem-solving skills. These involve seeking help, making effective decisions
and accepting consequences to derive better solutions to the problem.
Interpersonal skills. These includes the abilities of sharing, joining activities,
asking for permission and waiting for one’s turn in every facet of school undertakings.
Improving social skills. Social skills can be improved by focusing on sustaining
desirable attitudes and eliminating those undesirable ones through modeling, role-
playing and performance feedback mechanisms.
In addition, one may consider: maintaining eye contact; using proper body
language; knowing the difference between being assertive and being aggressive;
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selecting effective communication channels; being flexible; accepting criticism
without being defensive; remaining positive at all times; and being teachable and a
good student in most instances (https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/social-skills.html).
Likewise, other ways that may help are as follows: behave as a social person;
start small if necessary; ask open-ended questions; encourage others to talk about
themselves; create goals for yourself; offer compliments generously; read books about
social skills; practice good manners; pay attention to your body language; join a social
skills support group; stay up to date on current events; and identify and replace
negative thoughts.
Impact of Social Skills. Possessing social skills results to: better relationships;
better communication; greater efficiency; advanced career prospects; and increased
over-all happiness (https://www.masters-in-special-education.com/lists/5-types-of-
social-skills-deficit/)
Social Behavior and Interaction. A behavior is always to be taken
transactional: ie., never as of the organism alone, any more than the environment alone
but always as of the organic environment situation, with organisms and environmental
objects taken equally its aspect.(Dewey and Bentley, 1949)
As previously discussed, behavior comes in many forms, blinking, eating,
reading, dancing, shooting, rioting, and warring. What then distinguishes social
behavior? Behavior that is peculiarly social is oriented towards other selves. Such
behavior apprehends another as a perceiving, thinking, moral, intentional, and
behaving person; consider the intentional or rational meaning of the other’s field of
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expression; involves expectations about the other’s act and actions; and manifest an
intention to invoke in another self-certain experiences and intentions. What
differentiates social from nonsocial behavior, then, is whether another self is taken
into account in one’s acts, actions, or practices.
For example, dodging and weaving through crowd is not social behavior,
usually. Others are considered as mere physical objects, as human barriers with certain
reflexes. Neither is keeping in step in a parade social behavior. Other marchers are
physical objects with which to coordinate one’s movements. Neither is a surgical
operation social behavior. The patient is only a biophysical object with certain
associated potentialities and dispositions. However, let the actor become involved with
another’s self, as a person pushing through a crowd recognizing a friend, a marcher
believing another is trying to get him out of step, or a surgeon operating on his son,
and the whole meaning of the situation changes.
With this understanding of social, social acts, actions, and practices are
hereunder defined. A social act is any intention, aim, plan, purpose, and so on which
encompasses another self. These may be affecting another’s emotions, intensions, or
beliefs; or anticipating another’s acts, actions, or practices. Examples of social acts
would be courtship, helping another run for a political office, teaching, buying a gift,
or trying to embarrass an enemy.
Social actions then are directed towards accomplishing a social act. So long as
their purpose is a social act, actions are social whether involving other selves or not,
whether anticipating another’s acts, actions, or practices. The actions of an adolescent

75
running away from home and living in a commune for a year to prove his
independence to his parents and those of a physicist working in an isolated laboratory
for years on a secret weapon for U.S. defense are both social. And no less social are
the actions of a girl combing her hair to look attractive for her date.
But there are nonsocial acts, such as aiming for a college degree, trying to
enhance one’s self-esteem, planning to go fishing, intending to do scientific research
on the brain, and so on. No other self is involved in these acts, but may be involved in
the associated actions. Are such actions social if the act is not? Yes. Regardless of the
act, associated actions are still social if oriented to another’s feelings, beliefs, or
intentions, or if they anticipate another’s acts, actions, or practices. For example, in
trying to achieve a college degree, usually a nonsocial act, we may have to consider a
professor’s perspective in answering an exam, or an adviser’s personality before
selecting him.
Finally, there are social practices. These are rules, norms, customs, habits, and
the like that encompass or anticipate another person’s emotions, thoughts, or
intentions. Shaking hands, refusing to lie to others, or passing another on the right are
examples. Not all practice, however, is social. Drinking and smoking habits can be
manifested while alone, and many norms can be practiced without thoughts to others,
such as using the proper utensils when dining alone.
Social interactions are the acts, actions, or practices of two or more people
mutually oriented towards each other’s selves, that is, any behavior that tries to affect
or take account of each other’s subjective experiences or intentions. This means that
76
the parties to the social interaction must be aware of each other have each other’s self
in mind. This does not mean being in sight of or directly behaving towards each other.
Friends writing letters are socially interacting, as are enemy generals preparing
opposing war plans. Social interaction is not defined by type of physical relation or
behavior, or by physical distance. It is a matter of a mutual subjective orientation
towards each other. Thus, even when no physical behavior is involved, as with two
rivals deliberately ignoring each other’s professional work, there is social interaction.
Moreover, social interaction requires a mutual orientation. The spying of one
on another is not social interaction if the other is unaware. Nor do the behaviors of
rapist and victim constitute social interaction if the victim is treated as a physical
object; nor behavior between guard and prisoner, torturer and tortured, machine
gunner and enemy soldier. Indeed, wherever people treat each other as object, things,
or animals, or consider each other as reflex machines or only cause-effect phenomena,
there is not social interaction. Such interaction may comprise a system; it may be
organized, controlled, or regimented. It is not, however, social as I am using the term.
Rummel’s definition of social is close to that of Weber (1947). For him
behavior was social by virtue of the meaning the actor attaches to it. It takes account
of the behavior of others and is therefore oriented in its course. Thus, to use Weber’s
example, two cyclists bumping into each other is not social interaction; the resulting
argument will be. However, what Weber meant by orientation and behavior is left
ambiguous, as noted by Alfred Schutz (1967).

77
As cited in http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/TCH.CHAP9.HTM, coalition-
based prevention work is inherently social, like many of the unhealthy and unsafe
behavior that it attempts to abate. Our social practices the everyday activities we do as
we work, play, learn, and live together are all influenced by our countless interactions
with each other because those interactions establish both values for behavior as well as
the spaces, places, resources, and systems that enable those practices. Though social
interaction, we determine what behavior is normal, what is preferred, what is valued,
and what is expected within our social groups. Social interaction propels and sustains
both our best and worst civic behavior.
Social interaction is also an essential element of social change in both positive
and negative directions. Our conversations shift long before new practices emerge.
New ideas and perspectives enter the conversation, influencing beliefs and values in
new directions. Eventually, these new ideas become the established way of thinking
and acting. Social interactions change our social practices whether we are conscious of
the changes or not. In fact, more often than not, change the way we think or act
manifest without our active awareness or our remembering when “we” all decided that
it was acceptable to do so. This point cannot be emphasized enough.
Although policy, enforcement, and education all play a critical role in changing
behavior, large scale change in social practices only occurs when we collectively
begin to think and talk differently about the practice, whether it is speeding on a busy
street or drinking beyond the point of intoxication. Effective policies, enforcement

78
efforts, and education programs should even change the ways in which we talk and
think about a behavior if they are going to create change.
Many policies, enforcement efforts, and education program fail simply because
they do not become integrated into the broader social discourse so that the new
standard of behavior is normalized as the way “we’ think and act. Social interaction
confirms or denies the idea of a social practice, whether it is aligned with a law or in
opposition to it. But what is social interaction? There are two important aspects of this
concept. The first is communication, and the second is community.
Communication. Our communication with one another helps us form
perceptions of reality and relationships, and these become the foundation of
community. Communication theorists and researchers define human communication
as a dynamic process where meaning is created and exchanged between individuals
and groups. The word meaning is particularly important. Initially, communication was
thought to be based in message transmission and reception; a sender delivers a
message using a set of symbols and some channel to a receiver, who provides
feedback that the message has been received. In this model, one party simple sends a
message to others that either succeeds or fails in delivering a predetermined idea.
Theorists labeled this the “hypodermic needle” model of communication, and while it
offered a simple picture of human interaction, it was far from accurate. We now
understand that communication is a much more dynamic process where meaning is
actually created between individuals and groups through the exchange itself. In other
words, or ideas our perception of reality, our judgments, even our opinions are shaped
79
and formed by our interactions. From this perspective, social interaction is more than a
simple exchange of information; it is the construction of reality.
Interaction. The exchange of our beliefs, values, interest, and perceptions with
one another is also the basis of all human relationships. Our friendships, working
partnerships, casual associations or romantic commitments are all formed through the
interactions we have with one another. But there is an interesting paradox at work
here: Our acceptance or rejection of other’s messages is influenced by the perception
of the relationship that we have with that person.
We have all experienced having different reactions to the same message
depending on our relationship with the source of that message. We tend to accept the
messages of those we trust and find credible, and reject the ideas of those with whom
we have no connection. This does not mean, however, that we only take ideas, beliefs,
and values from our closest relationships. We accept messages often from people we
do not know at all, such as celebrities or newscasters (or Facebook pages). Research
suggest that even in these interactions, there is some form of “connection” that we
have with the source of the idea that enables our acceptance and adoption; we identify
with the messenger in some way.
Community. The second aspect of social interaction is that of community.
Though we may be used to thinking about the formal meaning of community as a
“civic” term, there is a broader, deeper understanding of the concept that is at work in
social interaction. Through the daily collective interactions that occur among the
across established groups of people, we actually create a shared perception of reality;

80
in other words, we start to see things in the same ways, using shared terms that
describe reality “our” own language and symbols. In doing so, we form a shared sense
of identity, a collective sense of “us” that is often contrasted by the collective sense of
a “them.”
We belong to many communities, and the boundaries of those communities are
based in our relationships with those individuals who share our interests, beliefs,
physical spaces, or life experiences. Once we identify ourselves as part of a
community, we tend to align with the prevailing beliefs and values (and practices) of
that community as a way of conforming our identity as part of “us.”
Communities are the home of norms that give us powerful cues for how to
interpret meaning and determine our preferences, traditions, and rituals. All this occurs
through our collective, interesting, ongoing, and overlapping conversations, held
through a variety of mediums, from one-to-one conversations over the backyard fence
or on the telephone to large civic gatherings like church, a school assembly, a
community forum, or even vicariously through our watching television or film. Social
Interaction at every scale lives at the heart of who we are and what we do. It is
impossible to separate our social practices from one social interaction.
http://www.cadca.org/SoMeWiki/social-interactions
Synthesis
The various literature and studies presented along the themes of
communication apprehension, interaction coping mechanism, and social literacy shed

81
light in the discussion of the findings of this study by providing similarities and
differences particularly in terms of the research problems that called for significant
differences and relationships.
The information divulged in these literature and studies may have opposed or
upheld the findings of the study at hand and lent substance that eventually augmented
the theories derived from this venture.

82
Chapter III
RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Research Design
This research undertaking made use of the descriptive-correlational research
utilizing a four-part research instrument to gather empirical data to answer the
problems posted in chapter I.
The most basic form of research involves the description of the forms, actions,
changes overt time of the natural and non-natural phenomena. It also involves the
description of similarities with other phenomena.
Descriptive research in education involves the description of educational
phenomena. Description is viewed in research as understanding what people or things
mean is an important goal in qualitative research. For this reason, it is important to
know the qualitative and quantitative approaches in the planning of descriptive
studies. This allows to make the best choices in undertaking the descriptive research.
Most educational studies tend to discover cause and effect relationships and
testing new educational methods and programs. Researchers have to describe an
educational phenomenon first before attempting to explain or change it.
The researcher administered questionnaires to a sample of research participants
in order to collect data for their descriptive studies. This type of research leads to
knowledge of opinions, attitudes and practices. Such knowledgehas helped in shaping
educational policies and initiatives to change existing conditions.

83
In summary the description of natural and non-natural phenomena involves the
description of their forms, actions, changes over time and similarities with other
phenomena. Descriptive research viewed as understanding what people or thing mean
is used both quantitative and qualitative research. Descriptive research means also
understanding what exists by asking questions. Descriptive educational studies tend to
discover cause and effect relationships and testing new educational methods and
programs. Many educational reforms took place with the results of descriptive
research studies. Some books written by educators are the results of descriptive
studies. Researchers use questionnaires and interviews to collect data about their
descriptive studies.
The findings of such studies lead to the establishment of policies and initiatives
to change conditions. It can be noted that conditions can be worsened if it is poorly
designed and its philosophy doe not lead to results that truly benefit the majority of
people. Such type of research can lead to authoritarian and non-democratic policies
that do not lead to meaningful changes for the majority but reinforce the privileges of
a minority.(http://openphd.blogspot.com/2012/01/purpose-of-descriptive-research.
html)
Correlational procedures determined the relationship between and among the
independent and dependent variables of this study.
According to Mortera (2011), this specific procedure of descriptive research
best describes the real situation based from the survey. In addition, Joppe (2002) as
cited by Bacani (2014) asserts that this approach provides a systematic description that
84
is factual and accurate as possible. It provides data about the population being studied
but could only describe the “who, what, when, where, and how” of a situation and not
what caused it.
Research Environment
This study was conducted in UddiawanUnational High School located in
Uddiawan, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya.
Since the ancient times before and after the discovery, “Uddiawan” has been
known by the name “Bato’tPinki”. According to some old folks that are still alive, the
barangay derived its name as “Bato’tPinki” because of the two big rocks which were
found in the elementary school called “Bato’tPinki” for when a part of this stone was
crushed against it, it sparks and produced fire.
After some years, the barangay was developed through the initiative of the
barangay folks who decided to adopt a new name for the barangay which they got
from an adjacent place on the eastern part which is “Uddiawan A Bassit”.Uddiawan
became the formal name of the barangay until its rediscovery in 1914.
Don Joaquin Velasquez, a Capitan of Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya was
officially considered as the founder of the barangay. During the days of the savage
people, the Christian people of Nueva Vizcaya could not go out beyond their own
town. It was too dangerous to roam around the town because of the head hunters
hiding anywhere around them.However, there was a man who came pioneering in
Nueva Vizcaya whose name was Joaquin Velasquez. He was a tall man with strong
85
well pursued body, good fighting spirit and friendly manners especially in diplomatic
relationship. He became an outstanding leader, president of the neighborhood
association and later the mayor.
Sometime in the year 1914, this said Capitan thought of going out from the
town of Solano to hunt wild deer or pig in the area which was dominated by the wild
people – Ifugaos.
He saddled his horse, took his ration and gun. He directed himself in this place
without fear for he had a great belief in Christ his savior. That was then a summer in
1916, so he travelled from the town westward. While he was passing in a wide
meadow, he was impressed with the creeks where clear water run through the year and
the tranquility, the wild place from hunting and the wide area covered with bountiful
plants and grasses.
Late that afternoon, he shot one wild pig that made the head hunters came out
hiding from the thick grassy land and immediately searched for it while the Capitan
was sitting near the dead pig thinking how he could bring home. A sudden rush of
several unclothed men with shining spears came rushing in front of him.
The Capitan immediately stood with his gun ready to shoot them while the
Ifugaos with their bow and arrow were ready attacking him and looked at him sternly.
The Capitan showed a friendly sign of admittance to the strangers.
He called for them and showed how he killed the pig by his guns. The wild
people wandered how powerful the gun when he shut a tree whose branches were
broken. The Capitan thought of a plan on how he can get their attention best. He put a
86
cartridge or a capsule without bullet with the notice of his new friends. He gave the
gun to the leader and told him to be shut by a member who was the chief of the
company, but they did not agree at first but convinced later. The pioneer went farther
from the end and stood firmly and ready to be shut. The chief shut him and with a sign
of catching, the Capitan showed them the bullet in his hands.
The Ifugaos were amazed, that when Don Joaquin Velasquez requested the
Chief to be shut, he made a sign that he did not like and with a sign language he was
afraid to be shut, he might be killed.
They told the Capitan to come anytime he wished and he can hunt anywhere.
They sat down together and shared them some of the pig’s meat including the
intestines, the heart, stomach etc. From that time on, the Capitan became a friend of
the savage tribe from the west which is now called as Commonal. From that time on,
he used to come then in the place.
On the provincial map, Uddiawan is located on the western part of the
municipality of Solano, barangay San Luis, Lactawan and Tucal, Western of Aggub,
Southern of Bintawan and bounded on the North by barangay Bangaan and Wacal. It
is nestled on the foot of Cordillera Mountain and surrounded on the west with
mountains and small hills.
There are popular and named sitios of Uddiawan like: Mapaina, Salamague,
Tanap, Calamaniogan and Santol. In area, Uddiawan is the biggest barangay of Solano
with a total of 515 registered hectares of arable land which is almost ¾ of the place.
87
Sometime in the year 1916 of June the first immigrants arrived in the place
with their families upon hearing the distribution of the new land. Some came from
Cervantes, Ilocos Sur like the Espiritu, Salunat, Manzano, Line, Cuenta, Gadiano and
Sanchez families. The Apuya clan came also from Badoc, Ilocos Norte and some
people of Solano like the Delos Reyes, Rambac and Vidad families came and shared
with the lands.
The population of the place then was about 200 and more people from the
other nearby places populated the barangay and through intermarriages with other
provinces. At present, there are 3712Uddiawanitesaccording to Census 2015, which
figure takes 6.24% of the entire population of the first-class municipality of Solano,
Nueva Vizcaya.
The barangay has many educated professionals nowadays like medicine,
engineers, accountant, nurses, agriculturists, and teachers. Almost all the young
generations today are high school graduated due to the presence of the Uddiawan
National High School which was established in 1973 by the late kagawad Pablo R.
Salunat who became the barangay Captain for 10 years until he was voted as
municipal kagawad. It became a national high school in 1980 with the leadership of
Ex-Captain Tito Rivera and the recommendation of Congressman Carlos M. Padilla
which made the school bigger and increased in population. UNHS is producing more
professionals which uplift the literacy rate of the barangay and improve the economic
status of the barangay because of the high remittances of the OFWs who are
professional skilled mechanics and electricians who tried their luck abroad which
88
continuously change the life styles of the barangay and proffer a future for more
improvements and development through the concerted efforts of the whole populace.
Triggered by the intrinsic Filipino values of education which is considered to
be the key to national development, the barangay leaders of this barangay felt the need
to bring education closer to their people. Hence, in 1973, through the initiative of the
former Brgy. Capt. and Municipal Councilor Pablo R. Salunat, the Uddiawan
Barangay High School came to existence.
The school started as an annex of the Nueva Vizcaya General Comprehensive
High School (NVGCHS) from 1973 to 1983, when Batas Pambansa Blg. 378 dated
April 8, 1983 authored by the former Assemblyman Hon. Carlos M. Padilla was
finally enacted into law converting Uddiawan Barangay High School to Uddiawan
National High School.
Thereafter, the school operates as an independent high school which has at
present twenty-five (25) permanent teacher item positions,thirteen (14) non-teaching
personnel and two (2) provincial and municipalgovernment funded teachers.
Uddiawan National High School is situated on a hilly topographical location at
the western part of Solano which is nine (9) kilometers away from the town
proper.This barangay is basically an agricultural place whereby most people’s
occupation is farming.
Many of its feeders are in far-flung barangays and sitios where most parents’
means of livelihood is harvesting palay.Some were engaged in part time job in the
field in small scale business enterprises and in work abroad as OFWs.

89
The school has at present a total enrolment of seven hundred twenty-nine (729)
students with twenty (20) sections.
Among the awards that the school reaped were Best Performing Secondary
School (2018); Hall of Fame Award as Best Implementer of the BRIGADA
ESKWELA PROGRAM, Champion - Small Category Secondary Level for 3
consecutive School Years (2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016); 1st Runner-Up
Search for the Most Functional School Libraries (2017); Best Implementer of
GULAYAN SA PAARALAN PROGRAM (GPP)Secondary Category (2015 and
2017)
Respondents and Sampling Procedure
The respondents of this study were the teaching and non-teaching staff of
Uddiawan National High School, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, who serve the educational
institution in school year 2020-2021. The respondents were purposively selected hence
the forty-one teaching and non-teaching employees of the school underwent the
research processes to elicit information needed in data analysis.
Table 1
Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Respondents According to Sex
Sex Teaching Non-teaching Total Percentage
Male 8 8 16 60.98
Female 17 8 25 39.02
Total 25 16 41
Percentage (%) 60.98 39.02 100.00

90
Table 1 shows the frequency and percentage distribution of the respondents
according to course or program.
This figure passed the stipulations made by Cudia& Tallungan (2015) on
correlational studies as well as the requisites of Central Limit Theorem which provides
that at least 30 samples may suffice a descriptive study.
Research Instruments
The following instruments were utilized to gather the needed data to answer
the problems posted in Chapter I:
Personal Data Sheet. This is a research made questionnaire used to elicit
information about the profile variables.
Interaction Coping Mechanism Questionnaire. This is a 38 – item
questionnaire developed by Tallungan and Apostol (2014) based on Coping
Mechanisms by changing Minds, org retrieved from
http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/coping/coping.htm. The respondents
were asked to check the box that best described their experiences in communicating or
interacting with other people.
Social Literacy Questionnaire. This is a 24-item questionnaire used to
describe the respondents’ level of social skills, knowledge and positive human values
toward desire and ability to act and react responsibly in a wide range of complex
social settings. Items in this questionnaire were adapted from the book of De Leon
(2020) by Tallungan, Salas &Bancual (2020).

91
Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA 24).This
instrument is composed 24 statements concerning feelings about communicating with
other people. This questionnaire was adopted from the study of Salas (2015).
Scoring the Questionnaire
The research instruments were scored based on the following guidelines.
The respondents’ profile variables wereclassified and coded as follows:
Variable Classification Code
Employment type Teaching A
Non-teaching B
Highest educational attainment Doctorate degree A
Masters’ degree B
Bachelors’ degree C
Job Position Principal A
Head Teacher B
Master Teacher C
Teacher D
Support Staff E
Years in Service More than 20 A
16-20 B
11-15 C
6-10 D
92
5 or below E
Monthly Income More than 40,000 A
36,000-40,000 B
31,000-35,000 C
26,000-30,000 D
21,000-25,000 E
20,000 or below F
The Interaction Coping Mechanism Questionnaire used the following scale:
Response Range Level
5 – Always 4.20 – 5.00 Very High
4 – Often 3.40 – 4.19 High
3 – Sometimes 2.60 – 3.39 Moderate
2 – Seldom 1.80 – 2.59 Low
1 – Never 1.00 – 1.79 Very Low
The following matrix shows the grouping of items which were observed to
elicit characterization of level of interaction coping mechanism of the respondents in
terms of the different types of mechanisms under study. Means were analyzed to
represent the levels of utilization of specific mechanism type.

93
Type Item/Indicator Number of items
Adaptive mechanism 2, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 19, 20, 14

23, 24, 33, 34, 38
Attack mechanism 1, 5, 12, 22, 25, 26, 28, 37 7
Avoidance mechanism 1, 6, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 15

22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 36, 37
Behavioral mechanism 1, 6, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 16

22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 36, 37
Cognitive mechanism 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 23

18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 27, 28,
29 30,32, 35, 36, 37
Conversion mechanism 3, 4, 9, 12, 17, 18, 24, 28, 32, 13

33, 34, 36, 37
Defense mechanism 11, 12, 20, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 9
33
Self-harm mechanism 9, 32, 31 3
The following scale was used to interpret the respondents’ social literacy.
Response Range Level
5 – Always 4.20 – 5.00 Very High
4 – Often 3.40 – 4.19 High
2 – Seldom 1.80 – 2.59 Low
1 – Never 1.00 – 1.79 Very Low

94
In the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA 24), the
respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which each statement applies to them
by marking:
1 – Strongly Agree
2 – Agree
3 – Moderately agree/disagree
4 – Disagree
5 – Strongly Disagree
The following scale was used to interpret the respondents’ level of
communication apprehension.
5 – Always 4.20 – 5.00 Very Low
4 – Often 3.40 – 4.19 Low
2 – Seldom 1.80 – 2.59 High
1 – Never 1.00 – 1.79 Very High
Data Gathering Procedure
The researcher initially sought the permission of the Department of Education
Division Office through the Schools Division Superintendent, since UNHS is under
the umbrella of DepEd, allowing teaching and non-teaching employees of the school
to be involved in this study.

95
When approval was granted, she prepared the research instruments needed to
gather pertinent data. The Personal Data Sheet was developed by the researcher while
the Social Literacy Questionnaire was adopted but subjected to analysis of validity and
reliability through pilot testing, yielding an acceptable reliability index of 0.885.
The other two variables were measured using adopted instruments. The
Personal Report for Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) which was used in this
study to determine the respondents’ level of communication apprehension along four
components, namely: group discussion, meetings, interpersonal conversation and
public speaking, was borrowed from McCroskey and Richmond who also developed
the instrument as used by Salas (2015). The questionnaire was subjected to analysis of
validity and reliability through pilot testing, yielding an acceptable reliability index of
0.915.
To determine the coping mechanism of the respondents, the Interaction Coping
Mechanism Questionnaire developed by Tallungan&Apostol (2014) was used. This
questionnaire was based on Coping Mechanisms by Changing Mind. Org. The
questionnaire was subjected to analysis of validity and reliability through pilot testing,
yielding an acceptable reliability index of 0.855.
When these instruments have been prepared, the researcher submitted the same
to her adviser, critic and panel of examiners for further scrutiny and suggestions. After
incorporating their suggestions, she reproduced the questionnaires and subsequently
administered them to the respondents personally to ensure that the items were
completely and properly answered. Following the retrieval of the questionnaires, the
96
data were tallied, computed, scored, and presented in tabular form for analysis and
interpretation.
Statistical Treatment of Data
Data that were collected using the stated research instruments were treated
statistically using the following statistical tools:
Frequency and Percentage Distribution.These wereused to describe the
profile of the respondents in terms of employment type, highest educational
attainment, job position, years in service, and monthly income.
Weighted Mean.This was computed to determine the respondents’ level of
interaction coping mechanism.
Weighted Mean. This was computed to determine the respondents’ level of
social literacy.
Weighted Mean. This was computed to determine the respondents’ level of
communication apprehension.
t-test.This was run to determine whether significant differences exist in the
respondents’ level of interaction coping mechanism, social literacy and
communication apprehension when grouped according to variables with two
classifications, while F-test or Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)was utilized to
establish significant differences in the respondents’ level of interaction coping
mechanism, social literacy and communication apprehension when grouped according
to profile variables with three or more classifications.

97
Pearson r.This was utilized to determine if respondents’ interaction coping
mechanism correlate significantly with their social literacy.
Pearson r.This was used to determine if respondents’ interaction coping
mechanism and social literacy relate significantly with their communication
apprehension.
All inferences were made using the 0.05 level of significance.

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1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Language, the principal means used by human beings to communicate with

one another, is defined as a system of voluntarily produced symbols by which

members of a community interact and communicate in terms of their common

experiences and expectations.

Language is a “uniquely human activity” made possible by the structure and

changing environment, we need not discover everything all by ourselves. Instead we

Communication, defined as the process of transmitting and receiving verbal

and nonverbal symbols is said to be inevitable. It operates along such levels as

persons or people). It is everywhere, all around us. Whether we are at home –

telephone; or in school – reading a book, reflecting on an answer or reciting in class,

attempt to show another person or refuse to communicate is, in itself, communication.

In other words, communication is the backbone of everything that we can do

today, whether it is signing up for a magazine subscription, or pitching an idea to an

important client. Our everyday routine consists of communication, whether verbal or

sent and subsequently received.

However, it has been observed that many peopleexperience communication

apprehension which eventually affects their efficacy in performing tasks related to

to this. Their full potentials in conveying information relevant in their discharge of

service to their stakeholders are hence compromised.

Communication apprehension has been defined as an “individual level of fear

or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with another person or

persons.” (McCroskey) This anxiety is a significant problem at the elementary level,

severe communication apprehension (CA) and an additional 20 percent may

experience enough anxiety to warrant some sort of intervention. (Harris, 1980)

According to James McCroskey (2001), communication apprehension is a

anticipated communication with another person or persons.” At its heart,

communication apprehension is a psychological response to evaluation. This

psychological response, however, quickly becomes physical as our body responds to

preparing us to function at maximum physical efficiency – the “flight or fight”

is stand and talk.

When it comes to communication apprehension, our physical responses are

communication apprehension is rooted in our minds, if we understand more about the

found in speech classrooms, school assemblies, and drama productions. It is a pattern

Communication apprehension occurs when the individual attached punishment

broad categories of communication apprehension. General communication

apprehension is when the individual is fearful of all communication attempts. Specific

communication apprehension occurs when the individual is fearful only in isolated

communicator experiences fear because of the situation or environment.

Communication apprehension manifests both physical and psychological

physical and psychological symptoms of communication apprehension. Some people

exposed in front of an audience. However, if one can identify how he experiences

communication apprehension, he might better control the symptoms and ultimately

become a more competent public speaker.

Communication apprehension means anxiety that is experienced as the

individual anticipates in communication. Communication anxiety can be situational

rather than pervasive in a child’s behavioral. “A tendency to be anxious when

exist in most everyday communication situations, or may even be part of a general

and situation views.

The consequences of communication apprehension are emotional, educational,

The problem of communication apprehension is attributed to many personal

and professional factors that abound an employee of an educational institution. It is

alleviating communication apprehension of the employees of Uddiawan National High

School, a school nestled at the heart of Uddiawan, in the first-class municipality

Solano located in northern Nueva Vizcaya.

Interaction coping mechanism is a network or system of immediate

he/she encounters problems, challenges or stress in an interaction. When a person

finds it difficult to express an idea, information, message or attitude, he/she sorts to

some actions or reactions to hide, compensate or camouflage weaknesses.

When helping human deals with specific problems, professional counselors

coping skills with others is often beneficial.