Test Anxiety in High-Stakes English Language Tests: Beyond the Classroom

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josefina C. Santana ◽  
Arturo Garcca Santillln ◽  
Karen Michelle Ventura Michel ◽  
Teresa Zamora Lobato
Keyword(s):  
Test Anxiety ◽  
English Language ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Language Tests

scholarly journals Chinese Students’ Perceptions of the Value of Test Preparation Courses for the TOEFL iBT: Merit, Worth, and Signi cance

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Ma ◽  
Liying Cheng
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Test Preparation ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Instructional Content ◽  
Toefl Ibt

Test preparation for high-stakes English language tests has received increasing research a ention in the language assessment feild; however, little is known about what aspects of test preparation students attend to and value. In this study, we considered the perspectives of 12 Chinese students who were enrolled in various academic programs in a Canadian university, and we examined their perceptions of the value of the TOEFL iBT test preparation courses they had taken prior to admission to that university. Drawing on Scriven’s (1998, 2007) model, which conceptualizes value as merit, worth, and significance, the thematic findings that emerged from the interviews were triangulated with document analysis and revealed that the value of TOEFL iBT test preparation courses was a ributed to (a) quality (merit), including teachers, instruction, and instructional content; (b) benefit (worth), such as efficiency and reorientation to the TOEFL iBT and English skills development; and (c) engagement and affective attainment (significance), in learning communities and sources of motivation. However, the perceived value varied among these students, and the factors related to such vari-ability included both internal factors (e.g., students’ motivations for taking test preparation courses) and external factors (e.g., limited time to prepare for the TOEFL iBT). Implications of the bene ts are discussed within the context of Chinese students in the Canadian academic milieu. La recherche dans le domaine de l’évaluation linguistique se penche de plus en plus sur la préparation aux examens d’anglais ā enjeux élevés. On connait mal, par contre, quels aspects de la préparation aux examens les étudiants trouvent importants et sur lesquels ils se concentrent. Dans ce e étude, nous avons considéré les perspectives de 12 étudiants chinois inscrits à divers programmes académiques dans une université canadienne et avons examiné leurs perceptions de la valeur des cours de préparation au TOEFL iBT qu’ils avaient passé avant d’être admis à l’université. Le modelé de Scriven (1998, 2007), qui conçoit la valeur comme étant le mérite et la signi cation, a servi d’inspiration. Les thèmes qui sont ressortis des entrevues ont été validés à partir d’une analyse documentaire; les résultats indiquent que la valeur des cours préparatoires au TOEFL iBT était a ribuée à (a) la qualité (le mérite), y compris les enseignants, l’instruction et le contenu instructif; (b) les avantages, tels l’e cacité et la réorientation vers le développement d’habiletés relatives à la langue anglaise et au TOEFL iBT; et (c)l’implication et la réalisation affective (signification) dans les communautés d’apprentissage et les sources de motivation. Toutefois, la valeur perçue variait d’un étudiant à l’autre, et les facteurs liés à ce e variabilité incluaient des facteurs internes (la motivation de suivre des cours préparatoires, par exemple) et des facteurs externes (contraintes de temps quant à la préparation aux examens). Nous en discutons les bienfaits et les répercussions dans le cas d’étudiants chinois dans le milieu académique canadien. 

Engaging Exam-Oriented Students in Communicative Language Teaching by ‘Packaging’ Learning English Through Songs as Exam Practice

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822097854
Author(s):  
Kevin Wai-Ho Yung
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Secondary English ◽  
Language Curriculum ◽  
Teachers And Students

Literature has long been used as a tool for language teaching and learning. In the New Academic Structure in Hong Kong, it has become an important element in the senior secondary English language curriculum to promote communicative language teaching (CLT) with a process-oriented approach. However, as in many other English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts where high-stakes testing prevails, Hong Kong students are highly exam-oriented and expect teachers to teach to the test. Because there is no direct assessment on literature in the English language curriculum, many teachers find it challenging to balance CLT through literature and exam preparation. To address this issue, this article describes an innovation of teaching ESL through songs by ‘packaging’ it as exam practice to engage exam-oriented students in CLT. A series of activities derived from the song Seasons in the Sun was implemented in the ESL classrooms in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Based on the author’s observations and reflections informed by teachers’ and students’ comments, the students were first motivated, at least instrumentally, by the relevance of the activities to the listening paper in the public exam when they saw the similarities between the classroom tasks and past exam questions. Once the students felt motivated, they were more easily engaged in a variety of CLT activities, which encouraged the use of English for authentic and meaningful communication. This article offers pedagogical implications for ESL/EFL teachers to implement CLT through literature in exam-oriented contexts.

scholarly journals Listening Skill Requires a Further Look into Second/Foreign Language Learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Bozorgian
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Listening Skill ◽  
Reading History

Current English-as-a-second and foreign-language (ESL/EFL) research has encouraged to treat each communicative macroskill separately due to space constraint, but the interrelationship among these skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) is not paid due attention. This study attempts to examine first the existing relationship among the four dominant skills, second the potential impact of reading background on the overall language proficiency, and finally the relationship between listening and overall language proficiency as listening is considered an overlooked/passive skill in the pedagogy of the second/foreign language classroom. However, the literature in language learning has revealed that listening skill has salient importance in both first and second language learning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of each of four skills in EFL learning and their existing interrelationships in an EFL setting. The outcome of 701 Iranian applicants undertaking International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in Tehran demonstrates that all communicative macroskills have varied correlations from moderate (reading and writing) to high (listening and reading). The findings also show that the applicants’ reading history assisted them in better performing at high stakes tests, and what is more, listening skill was strongly correlated with the overall language proficiency.

scholarly journals Exploring the washback effects of a high-stakes English test on the teaching of English in Spanish upper secondary schools

2010 ◽  
pp. 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Amengual Pizarro
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
High Stakes Tests ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Teaching Curriculum ◽  
Upper Secondary Schools

In the past decades, there has been a growing interest in the effects of language tests, especially high-stakes tests, on teaching and learning referred to as ‘washback'. In fact, high-stakes tests have started to be exploited to reform instruction and achieve beneficial washback. This paper focuses on the washback effects of a high-stakes English Test (ET) on the teaching of English. The main goal of this study is to examine the washback effects of the ET on the following aspects of teaching: curriculum, materials, teaching methods, and teaching feelings and attitudes. The study also attempts to discover teachers' perceptions towards the introduction of a speaking and a listening component in the design of the new ET due to be implemented in 2012. The overall findings, collected from a questionnaire carried out among 51 secondary teachers, indicate that the ET is clearly affecting curriculum and materials. Results also reveal that the ET appears to influence teachers' methodology. Furthermore, most of the teachers believe that the introduction of a speaking and a listening component in the new ET design will help solve the mismatch between the communicative approach they seem to value and the skills so far evaluated in the ET.

scholarly journals Level of Language Anxiety in Classroom among Students in a Higher Education Institute in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-55
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ali Al-Saggaf ◽  
Fatimatul Amirah Najla binti Mohd Zawawi ◽  
Ali Hadi Al-Aidaros
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Quantitative Method ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communication Apprehension ◽  
Moderate Level ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Education Students ◽  
High Level

The study aims to identify Higher Education students' level of language anxiety in the classroom. Moreover, the study also investigated the Higher Education Institute students' level of anxiety in each of the components in English language. 236 students from a Higher Education Institute participated in this study. The quantitative method has been used in this study and a set of questionnaire was adapted from FLCAS that was developed by Horwitz et al. (1986). For the finding, the study found that Higher Education Institute students have moderate level of language anxiety. Therefore, the study also revealed that the Higher Education Institute students have a moderate level of language anxiety in the test anxiety component and fear of negative evaluation component. On the other hand, Higher Education Institute students' have a high level of language anxiety in the communication apprehension component. The current study could help future educators to acknowledge more on language anxiety and help educators to find a good solution for these students.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document