This study, analyzed the students’ communication performance and competence in the
speaking class. This study also measured the students’ communication apprehension
level and its correlation with communication performance and competence. 30 students
of second year students of SMK Pariwisata Kosgoro Cirebon took part in this study.
The data were gathered through questionnaire, presentation test to get the score of
communication performance and interview test to get the score of communication
competence. The correlation study was used to investigate the relation of each variable.
The result from the students’ performance showed that 66,7% of the students scored
below the school standard score (75) and 70% of the students scored below standard
score in the interview test. The participants showed the highest apprehension to public
speaking and the lowest apprehension to group discussion. Their level of apprehension
showed that 43.3% students were in moderate level and 56,7% students were in high
level of apprehension. It was also found that communication apprehension was
negatively correlated with communication performance. While the result from the
correlation between communication apprehension and competence showed that there
was a very low positive correlation but, there was a high positive correlation between
communication competence and performance.
Key words: communication apprehension, competence, performance