Students ’ Perceptions of Personality Traits, Presentation Skills, and Audience Factors in Their Online Presentations

This study aims to investigate undergraduates ’ perspectives toward personality traits, presentation skills, and audience factors based on their experiences in online oral presentations as assessment tasks during English language classes. It also examines the factors affecting online oral presentations and suggestions to overcome them. To achieve this purpose, an online questionnaire with 5 sections and 28 items was distributed to 90 university undergraduate students. The data were analyzed descriptively using SPSS (version 26). The results revealed that the undergraduates ’ perceptions of online oral presentations depended on three essential factors. Personality traits included fears of failure in the oral presentation assessment resulting in students ’ anxiety even when they were well prepared. Oral presentation skills included their concerns on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and reading from notes during the oral presentation. The audience included feeling frightened to present in front of an audience and worried if their peers were better than them. To


INTRODUCTION
Effective presentation of information is a crucial ability that university graduates are expected to have. However, most ESL learners find it difficult to deliver online oral presentations effectively as assessment tasks. According to Xu et al. (2021), making effective oral presentations without face-to-face communication between the presenters and the audience is challenging due to the rapid change in educational environments, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Krashen's (1985) Affective Filter Hypothesis is one of the hypotheses that linked emotions and second language acquisition (Azizi & Boulmaiz, 2018). Studies on oral presentations have used Affective Filter Hypothesis as a theoretical foundation. According to Affective Filter Hypothesis, with practice, learners with high motivation, self-confidence, a good self-image, and a low level of anxiety will be better equipped for success in second language acquisition (Yang, 2008). Affective factors involved in ESL learners' oral proficiency include learners' self-esteem, anxiety, stress, motivation, and inhibition (Mandokhail et al., 2018). Rugel Jara (2020) conceptualizes three factors relevant to this theory: motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety.
The integration of theoretical and pedagogical aspects of oral presentations has also been observed in relation to learners' perceptions of online oral presentations. Studies on oral presentations have examined learners' personality traits, presentation skills, and audience. This is particularly evident in Al-Nouh et al. (2015) study that indicated lower anxiety among students if they were allowed to choose their own topic for their oral presentations. In addition, a study by Liang and Kelsen (2018) suggests that certain personality types, such as extroversion, can compensate for a lower English language proficiency. Previous research has emphasized the factors that contribute to the challenge for students to deliver oral presentations, particularly in Al-Nouh et al. (2015), and different learners may reveal different outcomes (Liang & Kelsen, 2018). Additionally, it is quite a challenge to deliver online oral presentations for most ESL learners, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic (Xu et al., 2021). Hence, this study attempts to extend the existing research on personality traits, presentation skills, and audience factors, focusing on students' online oral presentations.
This study addresses the following research questions: 1. What are the learners' overall perceptions of personality traits, presentation skills, and audience based on their experiences in online oral presentations during English language classes? 2. Among the factors: 'personality traits', 'oral presentation skills', and 'audience', which is perceived by ESL learners as the most impactful on their oral presentations? 3. What are the students' suggestions to overcome the problems affecting their online oral presentations?

LITERATURE REVIEW
Previous research on oral presentations has been conducted in relation to second language acquisition theory on Affective Filter Hypothesis and learners' perspectives. It is essential to consider this hypothesis and its relation to learners while teaching as a step to help learners overcome many problems concerning their participation in oral tasks (Azizi & Boulmaiz, 2018). Krashen's (1985) This hypothesis mainly explains that if a student is emotionally blocking the learning process, language cannot be learned. This includes learners' self-esteem, anxiety, stress, motivation, inhibition, and self-confidence (Mandokhail et al., 2018;Rugel Jara, 2020). If the student's affective filter is high, the learning will be low, and vice versa (Arshad, 2018). This is further supported by Chen (2022, p. 516) that "the affective filter hypothesis has an impact on learners' psychological and emotional factors, mainly motivation, self-confidence and anxiety". This study provides the theoretical construction based on Affective Filter Hypothesis. Specifically, it focuses on the perspectives of learners on online oral presentations in terms of personality traits, presentation skills, and audience factors.

Personality Traits
Personality traits play an important role in oral presentations. Research has shown that personality traits such as anxiety, lack of confidence, embarrassment, and feeling worried can cause difficulties in students' oral presentations (Al-Nouh et al., 2015;Phuong, 2018;Riadil, 2020;Zakaria & Razak, 2016). Al-Nouh et al. (2015) recommend that students should be allowed to choose their own topics, which produces greater comprehension and lowers their anxiety. In addition, in the ESL context, Zakaria and Razak (2016) recommend that learners be provided with more conversation courses to equip them with the necessary skills in developing their oral competency. The results of a study on the relationship between 257 university students' Big Five Personality Traits (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) and their oral presentation indicated that extraversion was a significant correlate of students' oral presentation scores (Liang & Kelsen, 2018). The study findings indicated that particularly at an elementary proficiency level "extraverts possess superiority in situations where oral language production is central to communication" (Liang & Kelsen, 2018, p. 755). Such results suggest that certain personality types, such as extroversion, can compensate for a lower English language proficiency.

Presentation Skills
Presentation skills are also crucial in helping students in their oral presentations. Studies related to presentation skills have shown students have good technological skills; however, the difficulties have greatly emphasized learners' need to read the notes and adhere to the time limit during oral presentations (Al-Nouh et al., 2015). A study conducted by Zakaria and Razak (2016) revealed that learners' lack of fluency, proficiency, and range of vocabulary poses difficulties in their oral presentations. Such findings reflect a culture of learning that emphasizes rote memorization of grammar rules and vocabulary lists and that lacks opportunities for interaction (Al-Nouh et al., 2015).

Audience
Audience awareness matters when students are preparing for their oral presentations. Different audiences will expect different depths and amounts of information; therefore, the presenter should identify whom the audience is going to be (Živković, 2014). The teachers in Haber and Lingard's (2001) study complained their students commonly failed to recognize the social purpose of a presentation. As they reported, students "forget about communication, whom they're talking to and what that person needs and just present masses of information until you can't see the forest for the trees" (Haber & Lingard, 2001, p. 310). Zakaria and Razak (2016) report that fear of facing the audience is a great obstacle to presenting effectively. Al-Nouh et al. (2015) agree that there is a need for educators and instructors to provide a more suitable environment for learners to conduct oral presentation tasks. According to Lumley and O'Sullivan (2005), research on the role of the audience on test-takers' linguistic performance in speaking tests is under-researched. Buckingham (1997), for example, reported that Japanese female EFL test-takers feel more relaxed when speaking to the female audience. There is also research evidence that when female test-takers have to present a male-oriented topic to a male audience, they find the task harder (Lumley & O'Sullivan, 2005).

METHOD
This study employed a mixed-methods approach using quantitative and qualitative data to address the three research questions presented in the Introduction of the article.

Participants
The participants in the study were 90 diploma and degree undergraduates from Universiti Teknologi MARA. The students enrolled in three different courses with three different assessment methods for their oral presentations. A variety of online group and individual oral presentation tasks were delivered for different goals of each course. Each assessment task was unique in each course. Students, enrolled in the ELC231 Integrated Language Skills course, were assessed by oral commentary presentations on English movies with a weightage of 30% for final scores. Those, who enrolled in the ELC501 English for Critical Academic Reading course, were assessed through forum presentations which contributed a weightage of 30% for final scores. In addition, students, enrolled in the EWC661 English for Report Writing course, were assessed for their proposal presentations with a weightage of 30% for final scores. It is fundamental to acknowledge that this study did not analyze differences between different assessment tasks. Following the procedures used in McBain et al. (2016), the data of students' perceptions from all the different assessment tasks were combined to explore their experiences of undertaking online oral communication tasks in general.
Oral presentations were practiced in English language courses and were part of assessment tasks that took up a weightage for final scores. Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the university's closure at the time, oral presentations were conducted online via several platforms made available in UiTM for Online and Distance Learning purposes. Online live presentations were via Google Meet.

Instruments
The questionnaire was adapted from Al-Nouh et al. (2015) and Soomro et al. (2019). It was divided into five parts and was in English. The first part was the demographic profile of the respondents consisting of three items. To determine learners' perceptions of personality traits (part two-10 items), presentation skills (part three-10 items), and audience (part four-four items) based on their experiences in online oral presentations during English language classes, a five-point Likert-type Scale questionnaire was employed in the second, third, and fourth parts of the questionnaire ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The results were interpreted following the key below: Lastly, one open-ended question was added to the end of the questionnaire to elicit data on their suggestions to minimize the difficulties in online oral presentations. The suggestions proposed by the students were analyzed thematically. Common words were identified from the students' answers. Appropriate themes were then identified for the repeating ideas that were grouped together.

Data Collection and Analysis
To collect the data from the respondents, Google Forms questionnaire links were distributed to students via their respective WhatsApp groups by the course lecturers. The quantitative data were analyzed descriptively using SPSS (Version 26). Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations, were employed to measure students' perceptions of online oral presentations from three perspectives: personality traits, oral presentation skills, and audience. The open-ended data on the participants' suggestions to overcome factors affecting their online oral presentations were analyzed qualitatively using inductive thematic analysis (Guest et al., 2012).

RESULTS
Based on the survey that the researchers conducted, the data collected from 90 respondents are recorded in tables and figures. The results are reported and interpreted in this section. N. Roslim,V. Nimehchisalem,M. H. T. Abdullah & N. M. Razali,Students' perceptions of personality traits,presentation skills,and audience factors in their online presentations | 782

Reliability Analysis
The reliability of the scales for each factor was tested using Cronbach's Alpha.

Demographic Profile of the Respondents
The demographic information of the participants is reported in Table 2. A total of 90 students aged between 20 and 24 took part in the study. Of that 67 (74.4%) were females. Over half of the samples (55.6%) came from the Faculty of Communication and Media. Students from the Faculty of Business and Management and the Faculty of Information Management made up the rest of the samples with 14% and 26%, respectively. Students who enrolled in the ELC231 course were 30%, whereas students who enrolled in the ELC501 course were 41.1% and students who enrolled in the EWC661 were 28.9% of the total participants.

Learners' Perceptions of Personality Traits, Presentation Skills, and Audience on Oral Presentations
The first research question was related to the learners' overall perceptions of personality traits, presentation skills, and audience based on their experiences in online oral presentations during English language classes.

Perceptions of personality traits
The means and standard deviations for the personality traits factor from the students' perspectives are summarized in Table 3. Generally, students had no problems with the idea of presentations (M = 1.97) and they did not dislike the oral presentation even when they had past negative experiences (M = 2.16). However, their fears of not being able to do well (M = 3.78), and hence, failing the oral presentation assessment (M = 3.63) could be one of the elements leading to the difficulties in the oral presentations. Additionally, due to their fear that they had, they brought notes during their oral presentation even if they were well prepared (M = 3.71). The standard deviations for all items in the factor personality traits did not show much difference, indicating not much variability among the students' answers.

Perceptions of presentation skills
Another factor found from the previous studies to have an impact on the students' oral presentation was the presentation skills. The results showed that presentation skills had little impact on students' oral presentations. This was shown by the mean scores presented in Table 4. N. Roslim,V. Nimehchisalem,M. H. T. Abdullah & N. M. Razali,Students' perceptions of personality traits,presentation skills,and audience factors in their online presentations | 784 In Table 4, except for the third item, the students turned out to be unsure about the rest of the items. None of the items obtained a mean score of above 3.5. As it seemed, the students were not sure that their presentation skills were the main factor causing their difficulties in doing oral presentations. However, they perceived themselves as able to use technology in their oral presentations.

Perceptions of the audience
The results pointed out that based on their perceptions, the audience was the main factor influencing students' oral presentations. This could be seen in Table 5. The students agreed that the audience played an important role in their oral presentation. Seeing the reactions of their audience when doing their oral presentation would significantly affect their performance (M = 3.54). The number of audiences watching the students' oral presentations also significantly impacted their performance as they felt frightened when a vast number of people were watching them (M = 3.5). Additionally, the students felt insecure when seeing their peers speak better English than them (M = 3.74). However, the students were not sure that they would find it a real concern if other students laughed at them when it was their turn to speak (M = 3.1).

The Most Impactful Factor on Oral Presentations
The second research question sought to investigate which one of the following factors: 'personality traits', 'oral presentation skills', or 'audience', is most impactful on students' oral presentations from the students' perspectives. Table 6 indicates the students' perceptions of the impact of the audience (M = 3.47), personality traits (M = 3.05), and presentation skills (M = 2.94) on their oral presentations. Overall, as the mean values show, the in Table 6, students were unsure about the impact of audience, personality traits, and presentation skills on their oral presentations. Even though a narrower look at the items related to audience showed that the students considered most of the items important, on average, they were unsure about the importance of this factor. This indicates the need to train these students on what makes an oral presentation successful.

Students' Suggestions to Overcome the Problems Affecting Online Oral Presentations
The third research question addressed the learners' suggestions to overcome the factors affecting their online oral presentations. The students were asked for suggestions to overcome the factors affecting their online oral presentations. The results are presented in Table 7. The table depicts that most students (f = 35; 38.9%) believed that adequate preparation and practice were important to overcome the factors affecting their performance in their oral presentations. The preparation included preparing text speeches, enhancing presentation skills, memorizing and understanding the topics, and improving English language proficiency. A typical preparation technique suggested by the students was practicing in front of a mirror before the actual oral presentation.
A considerable number of students (f = 17; 18.9%) also claimed that they could perform better if the oral presentation was conducted with a small audience or without the presence of an audience. They believed it could boost their level of confidence. Quite a few students also suggested that the assessment should be made through a prerecorded video. Other than that, self-confidence (7.8%), and lecturer support (5.6%) were identified as other ways to overcome the factors affecting the students' oral presentations. Lecturers could show their support to students by preparing some guidelines, sharing some tips, and giving warm words before the oral presentation to reduce the students' nervousness. A total of 14 students (15.6%) did not give any suggestions and 12 of them (12%) provided individual suggestions to overcome the problems affecting their online oral presentations. Peer support and teamwork were among other suggestions made by the students to improve their performance in their oral presentations.

DISCUSSION
This study revealed that from the students' perspectives, the audience was the only factor that students were aware of its importance in their oral presentation. Interestingly they were unsure that their presentation skills or personality traits had much influence on their success in oral presentations. The results showed that the audience factor caused difficulties in online oral presentations. The students reported feeling insecure when seeing their peers speak better English than them. This was similar to the results from Zakaria and Razak's (2016) study. In addition, students in Al-Nouh et al.'s (2015) study also reported that they felt frightened to present in front of an audience and reactions from the audience affected their performance. However, while Al-Nouh et al. (2015) recorded a very low mean value for the item 'worrying that other students would laugh at them when it was their turn to speak', the mean score for the same item was high in Zakaria and Razak's (2016) study.
Students' perceptions of the difficulties in online oral presentation assessment tasks to personality traits showed that they felt worried even when they had prepared well before the assessment. They agreed that they had to bring notes during oral presentations even when they were well-prepared. Based on the results, in addition to feeling anxious before an oral presentation, fear of failure because of low Englishspeaking ability also contributes to difficulties in the oral presentation. These results are consistent with Al-Nouh et al. (2015) who recommend that students should be allowed to choose their own topics, resulting in students' lower anxiety and better performance. However, the findings in this study revealed that difficulties still appeared even when students were given the choice to select their own topics.
The results also indicated that students' perceptions of oral presentation skills were at a medium level for their concerns on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and reading from notes during the oral presentation. These results are similarly evident in Zakaria and Razak's (2016) study. It was found that students' responses to the item "I do not know how to use technology in my oral presentation" showed a low mean value. This finding was similar to that of Zakaria and Razak (2016). Similar to the results of this study, Al-Nouh et al. (2015) also found that most participants strongly believe that they are knowledgeable when it comes to using technology. Stognieva and Popov (2021) argue that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a dramatic increase in the significance of technological skills for university students.
The participants gave suggestions to overcome the factors affecting their online oral presentations. Preparation and practice were recorded as the most frequently suggested factor, as they are essential for learners. Soomro et al. (2019) described that ample practice should be provided for the development of effective oral communication skills. Phuong (2018) emphasized that students need to have thorough preparation and learn from their previous presentations. To build self-confidence, lecturers could provide support to motivate undergraduates for oral presentations. Essentially, Krashen's (1985) Affective Filter Hypothesis contributes to learners' online oral presentations in lowering their fear, anxiety, and low self-confidence through ample opportunities for preparation and practice as well as support from lecturers.
The novelty of this study is that it investigates students' perceptions of oral presentations in an online environment. As our review of the literature showed, most of the previous studies focused on students' oral presentations in physical settings. There is an attempt in this study to discover insights on the potential similarities and differences in the way students perceive certain factors to determine their success in oral presentations. However, the current study in an online environment has shown similar results to previous studies in physical settings in terms of personality traits, presentation skills, and audience factors.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this study revealed that undergraduates' perceptions of online oral presentations depended on three essential factors. Personality traits included fears of failure in the oral presentation assessment resulting in students' anxiety even when they were well prepared. Oral presentation skills included their concerns on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and reading from notes during the oral presentation. The audience included feeling frightened to present in front of an audience and worried if their peers were better than them. The novelty of the findings can contribute to English language teaching in terms of inspiring lecturers to obtain a broader knowledge and understanding of oral presentations from students' perspectives. It is essential to familiarize students with online oral presentations with a strong focus on improving students' presentations which concerns personality traits, oral presentation skills, and audience factors.
Based on the findings, the important factors that students realized were the audience, personality traits, and presentation skills. Hence, suggestions that students provided included having enough preparation and practice as well as receiving good support from lecturers. These valuable findings could provide educators and instructors with input to provide necessary plans and strategies for learners to become effective presenters. This study has limitations in terms of its restrictions towards generalizing the results to a larger university student population. Besides, the participants were primarily female university students studying in the same university in one region. Future studies should investigate students from other universities in different regions.