Assertiveness and the use of language of assertiveness among undergraduates in a Malaysian public university

Abstract

Research on assertiveness began to gain scholarly interest in the 1940s focusing mainly on the differences in assertiveness based on gender and race. More recent research on assertiveness has pointed to the importance of assertiveness in English language teaching and learning as well as in developing students’ communicative competence. Previous cross-cultural studies have shown that Asians are less assertive than Westerners. Moreover, some research stated that in Western cultures, assertiveness is associated with confidence while in Eastern cultures it is considered to be rude behavior. Hence, this study aims to; i) discover the level of assertiveness among undergraduates in UTM, ii) identify if there is a significant difference in the level of assertiveness between respondents of different ethnic groups, gender, faculties and level of English language proficiency, iii) identify if there is a significant difference in the level of assertiveness between different settings, and iv) discover the language of assertiveness used by UTM undergraduates. A total of 229 UTM undergraduates from different ethnic groups, faculty and gender were chosen through proportionate stratified sampling participated in this study in order to complete the questionnaire and 24 of them were randomly selected to participate in the focus groups discussion. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. From this study, it can be concluded that; i) UTM undergraduates possess high level of assertiveness, ii) there is a significant difference in the level of assertiveness between respondents of different ethnic groups, but not between different gender, faculties and level of English language proficiency iii) there is a significant difference between different settings, and iv) several structures used by the respondents in their assertive messages are apology, explanation, cushioning, request, compromise, and ‘I’ statements.