melindacampportfolio.files.wordpress.com · Web view01-05-2019 · This paper looks at anxiety...

Running head: ESL Test Taking Anxiety 1

Identifying and Addressing ESL Learners' Test Taking Anxiety

Melinda Camp

Theories of Foreign/Second Language

Colorado State University

ESL Test Taking Anxiety 2

Abstract

This paper looks at anxiety in the ESL classroom, specifically surrounding assessments. It

provides a background of previous research that has been done in the realm of classroom anxiety

and assessment anxiety and looks at assessment anxiety through the filter of Krashen's affective

filter hypothesis. This paper seeks to provide useful strategies and a lesson plan that could be

implemented in a TOEFL ELD course, in order to reduce assessment anxiety and concludes with

important limitations and considerations for future research in this field.

Keywords: anxiety, assessment, affective filter, strategies, TOEFL, speaking, ESL


Identifying and Addressing ESL Learners' Test Taking Anxiety

Assessments are almost inevitable in the American school system. Students are required

to take specific summative assessments, such as unit tests, quizzes, and final examinations. In

addition, according to the Colorado Department of Education, Colorado public school students

take part in the PARCC, Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.

Colorado students are required to take assessments in mathematics and English Language Arts in

grades three through eight, and again in grade nine and are also tested in science in grades five,

eight, and once in high school, while social studies testing occurs in grades four, seven, and once

in high school (Woods, 2015). The PARCC states that there is a focus on accessibility, including

accessibility for English language learners (ELLs), and a core goal is to provide "equitable

opportunities for students to show what they know and are able to do," (PARCC, 2013). ELLs

are not exempt from PARCC testing, but there are accommodations that can be made such as

being afforded extra time, having administrative directions read aloud in the native language, or

using English/native language dictionaries. Also, mathematics assessments can be read aloud to

students, however this is only available for native Spanish speakers.

In PARCC specifically, and most other assessments, all students, including ELLs are

expected to meet the Common Core State Standards for their grade. This puts a tremendous

amount of pressure on both the instructor and the student. Students often experience anxiety

when they are asked to take an assessment, and this anxiety is often increased for ELLs who

must perform in a language that is not their native language. In addition to these standardized

tests that are mandated by the state, school district, and classroom, ELLs must also take an

English Language Proficiency Assessment in the state of Colorado (Colorado Department of

Education, 2016) and many students are also preparing to take other English Language


Proficiency exams such as TOEFL (Educational Testing Service, 2016) or IELTS (IELTS,

2016), exams that may grant access into college programs. Colorado State University, for

example, requires non-native English speaking undergraduate applicants to provide their score

from one of three English proficiency assessments - TOEFL, PTE, or IELTS (colostate.edu) -

displaying that their English proficiency is up to CSU's standard. Most of these English

proficiency exams are high-stakes assessments, meaning the results will have a serious

consequence, such as acceptance or rejection to a college or whether or not they might be hired

for a job.

The TOEFL is one of the most popular and widely accepted English proficiency exams.

The TOEFL tests the student's ability to "use and understand English at the university level" and

evaluate how the student "combine[s] [his/her] listening, reading, speaking and writing skills to

perform academic tasks" (Educational Testing Service, 2016). It includes listening, speaking,

reading, and writing portions and takes at least three hours to complete. The fees for this exam

can be costly, around $200, and the exam may not be accessible to everyone wishing to take it.

This proficiency test, specifically, is taken by students applying for college, scholarship

applicants, and workers applying for visas.

This paper will address anxiety as an individual non-linguistic factor affecting second

language acquisition and how ELLs are affected by anxiety in assessment situations. This paper

will look at anxiety through Stephen Krashen's theory of second language acquisition,

specifically his ideas on the affective filter hypothesis (Krashen, 1982). I will look at how

anxiety is presented in the classroom, specifically American English as a Second Language

classrooms. The second half of this paper will focus on the implementation of strategies in

classroom instruction that can be used to combat ELLs' assessment anxiety. The paper will end


with general conclusions about the subject and limitations and considerations of using these

strategies in the classroom.

Theory Overview

Stephen Krashen's theory of second language acquisition consists of five hypotheses, one

being the affective filter hypothesis. This hypothesis states that there are affective variables

contributing to second language acquisition, most of which can be categorized into motivation,

self-confidence, and anxiety. Krashen states that "low anxiety appears to be conducive to second

language acquisition, whether measured as personal or classroom anxiety," (Krashen, 1982).

Therefore, high anxiety is not conducive to second language acquisition. If there is a high

affective filter, such as high anxiety, the input given to the student will not be taken in and

acquired. Krashen states that this hypothesis explains why a learner can have a high amount of

comprehensible input, but not progress in their language acquisition. He suggests that language

teaching is effective if comprehensible input is provided in a low anxiety environment.

Following the idea of this theory, it is related to test taking anxiety because a student may

have a high affective filter that is prohibiting the student from displaying the knowledge that they

have. If the affective filter of anxiety is lowered, students will have a better chance of accurately

displaying their knowledge in an exam. The basis of this paper is based on the idea that students

will progress is second language acquisition and in other academic aspects if their anxiety

affective filter is lowered. This paper will go on to address how the anxiety affective filter can

be lowered and will conclude with considerations for further research.

Literature Review

According to the American Psychological Association (2016), anxiety is "an emotion

characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes." To educators,


anxiety in the classroom can be both easy and difficult to identify (Ehmke, 2016). For children,

there can be obvious signs, such as fidgeting before a test, and there can be not so obvious signs,

such as disruptive behavior, which could be a sign of separation anxiety or feeling that they are

not in control. Some students may experience anxiety specific to test taking, or other classroom

activities, while other students may experience general anxiety, affecting more areas of their

lives. The construct of anxiety in this paper is operationalized as tension, nervousness, and

worry about a specific part of classroom instruction. The constructs of assessments and tests, in

this paper, are operationalized as summative evaluations in the ESL/EFL classroom.

Assessments and tests include, but are not limited to, standardized testing mandated by the state,

unit tests within the class, or final exams. Most assessments and tests will have grade and a

pass/fail threshold.

To address anxiety in the classroom, specifically anxiety in test taking situations, the

anxiety must first be identified and the instructor should look at what is causing the anxiety.

Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) have done research on the effects of anxiety on language

acquisition. They specifically state that "foreign language anxiety frequently shows up in testing

situations," with students stating that they know a grammar point or spelling of certain words,

and then forget what they claim they know during the test. The student may also realize that

they made a mistake after the test or when they receive their test back. The fact that the students

realize they are making mistakes on things they thought they knew may also increase their

anxiety. Anxiety also affects studying habits. Some students may try to overcompensate by

studying a lot, which other students may be too overwhelmed and study very little or not at all.

Tests in foreign language classes are often some sort of "performance evaluation" in which they

are graded on how well they produce the language. Foreign language students usually take some


sort of oral assessment, which can create anxiety relating to being tested and having to

communicate. One major type of anxiety related to test taking is a fear of failure. Failure may

be defined differently by students. For example, one student might define "failure" as not

scoring 90% or above, while another student might define "failure" as scoring below 65%, the

typical "failing" score.

Students may have anxiety about negative evaluation, meaning they are afraid of

receiving criticism and may think of any criticism as imperfection and failure. Negative

evaluation can be a separate factor, but negative evaluation can also be related to testing. Di

Loreto and McDonough (2014) looked at student's anxiety in relation to instructor feedback on

writing assignments. Writing is often another important part of testing and students are usually

asked for produce a written paragraph or short answer sentences. Interestingly, Di Loreto and

McDonough concluded that "feedback for content, organization, and language" may reduce

students' anxiety, contrary to Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope's idea that critical feedback may cause

anxiety for the learners. These two opposing studies suggest that it is important to consider

individual differences in how students perceive feedback.

In order to identify where the anxiety is coming from, Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope

(1986) developed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. This scale would be used by

having students self-report on how they are feeling in the classroom. When completing the self-

report, using the Likert Scale (McLeod, 2008). The Likert Scale consists of "strongly agree,"

"agree," "neutral," "disagree," or "strongly disagree" from which the student will choose which

best relates to them. Using this scale allows the instructor or researcher to measure attitudes or

opinions by allowing students to choose from varying degrees of agreement or disagreement.

Some examples of questions asked on the FLCAS are as follows: "I never feel quite sure of


myself when I am speaking in my foreign language class," "I start to panic when I have to speak

without preparation in language class," "Even if I am well prepared for language class, I feel

anxious about it," and “I feel confident when I speak in foreign language class." There is always

subjectivity in self-reports, however there is no other way to know the exact thoughts of a

foreign language learner.

Chakrabarti and Sengupta (2012) conducted a study looking at second language learning

anxiety for Indian ESL learners. In their study, they used the FLCAS to measure their students

anxiety level. Their study concluded that L2 anxiety increases the difficult in using the language

or in test taking for this particular group of students. They suggest that some of the anxiety may

come from India's system of ESL teaching, in which not all four language skills, listening,

speaking, reading and writing, are taught equally, and more emphasis is given to reading and

writing. Students may feel more unprepared and more anxious when performing speaking tasks

in this context. It may appear that a student is simply not succeeding due to their aptitude or

motivation, however L2 anxiety may be contributing to their low success rate on tests.

Chakrabarti and Sengupta suggest that anxiety be reduced by including "fun" activities, such as

films, in the classroom. This idea of making learning fun follows the desuggestopedia

methodology, in which the main goal is to help students overcome a feeling of being

unsuccessful and help them "overcome barriers to learning” (Larsen-Freeman & Anderson,

2011). Desuggestopedia also incorporates the arts, such as films and music, into instruction.

Some of these principles of desuggestopedia and making instruction "fun" could be implemented

in a classroom as a way to reduce anxiety.

Another study that used the FLCAS to measure foreign language anxiety was a study by

Ghorbandorinejad and Ahmadabad (2015). This study looked at autonomy using an Autonomy


Questionnaire and classroom anxiety, using the FLCAS, in an Iranian EFL class. In regards to

anxiety, the researchers looked at how anxiety affected English language achievement. The

study found that English achievement was significantly lower and affected by anxiety. The

researchers suggest that instructors identify the source of anxiety in the classroom and created a

"stress-free and friendly environment" for students to learn. This study, like the previous study

discussed, also relates to the desuggestopedia method that can be used to reduce anxiety. This

study also suggests using other methods to gather information about students' assessment

anxiety, since the FLCAS is dated. They suggest the use of interviews, diaries, portfolios, and

classroom observation. This recent study suggests that there are ways other than a survey to

report student classroom anxiety.

A study by Mari (2016) looked at anxiety in oral assessments in an EFL class at a

university in Pakistan. This study also used the Likert Scale and adopted the FLCAS to collect

data on the students' anxiety level. The study showed that students had a "moderate level of

anxiety" and worry about achieving good grades on exams. They concluded that many students

felt that they were able to control their anxiety level by being well prepared for the assessment.

Therefore, more preparation for the exam lead to less anxiety. This increased their self-

confidence and lowered their anxiety.

Kazu Kitano (2001) conducted a study looking at Japanese learners perception of their

own speaking as a cause of anxiety in the classroom. This study concluded that "self perceived

ability" does in fact have a strong relationship to anxiety level. It is important to notice that

students have different perceptions of their own ability. What an instructor may consider "near

native," a student may considered "flawed with an accent from L1." It is important for students


to have an accurate view of their own ability, and not a skewed perception based on what they

see as flaws.

Pedagogical Development

For students to be and feel successful while taking assessments, their anxiety around

assessments must be identified and addressed. In a classroom, an instructor can adapt Horwitz,

Horwitz, and Cope's FLCAS to first assess if there is in fact anxiety in the classroom, specific to

test taking. To address anxiety, I propose the implementation of test taking strategy development

modules into each unit of the curriculum. According to Wenden (1985), strategy training may be

equally as important as language training. It is suggested that students that are trained to use

learner strategies can "improve their learning effectiveness" (Larsen-Freeman, & Anderson,

2011). Chamot and O'Malley (1994) described three times of strategies: metacognitive,

cognitive, and social or affective. Metacognitive strategies include creating conditions to help

the student learn best, setting goals, and checking comprehension. Cognitive strategies are

strategies in which students interact with the subject matter, including outlining, summarizing,

and using word associations. Social and affective strategies involve students working with peers,

such as cooperative group work, receiving feedback, and completing tasks. Using strategies such

as these can help students feel more confident in what they know and decrease test taking

anxiety.

Course

11 th Grade ESL – ELD Class

Location. American High School; 11th grade English language development class. There

is access to a library, computers, a whiteboard, headphones. There is also a private room within


the classroom with access to an iPad, which can be used for individual work, voice recording, or

"selfie" video recording.

Duration. 55 minute classes, 5 days a week; two weeks before TOEFL.

Description. There are 7-10 students in the class. The students are preparing to take the

TOEFL and are in the process of applying for college. The students are high intermediate

learners who have studied English as a foreign language previously. They do not share the same

native language. All students are planning to use English in college. The methodology of the

course pulls from the ideas of desuggestopedia (Larsen-Freeman, D., & Anderson, M., 2011) and

there is an aim to make a comfortable and nonthreatening learning environment.

Course Goals. Students will feel prepared to take the TOEFL at the end of the semester

and work towards obtaining acceptance into college programs. Students will be prepared with

strategies to manage assessment anxiety and perform to the best of their ability on the

assessment. Lesson objectives include self reflection of students own work and self reflection of

students feelings and anxiety level. The course concludes with the distribution of a post-TOEFL

self-report survey (Appendix E).

Scope and Sequence. The following table (Table 1) gives the scope and sequence of the

proposed TOEFL preparation course. It includes the class day, the lesson objectives and topics

that will be discussed, and the activities that could be used.

Table 1

Scope and SequenceClass Day Lesson Objectives Activities

Monday How do you feel about assessments?Students will reflect on their feelings about assessments.

Students will be administered a self-report survey asking questions about their anxieties. Time for class discussion.


Tuesday Metacognitive strategies: How do you study best?Students will reflect on their studying habits and what makes them feel comfortable when studying.

Students will receive handouts about different studying tips.

Wednesday Cognitive strategies: Creating a study guide.Students will practice working in a small group to accomplish the task of creating a study guide. Students will practice speaking skills while working with their group, reading skills while reading possible topics, and writing skills while creating the study guide of possible responses.

Students will work in small groups to create a study guide for possible TOEFL speaking topics.

Thursday Social/affective strategies: Self review.Students practice speaking and fluency skills as they record themselves. They will reflect on their own work as homework.

Students will individually record a "selfie" video of themselves speaking about a possible TOEFL speaking topic. While waiting for their turn to use the recording room, other students will continue with study guide from previous day. As homework, students will critique their own video using the TOEFL speaking rubric.

Friday Social/affective strategies: Instructor feedback.Students will continue the self reflection of their videos and receive feedback.

Students will meet with the instructor individually and discuss their critiques of their video and instructor will provide feedback.

Lesson Plans

Monday.

Overview of lesson goals: Students will reflect on their feelings about assessments.

Materials to take to class: Assessment anxiety self-report survey.

Equipment needed for class: None.

Assignments to collect from students: None.

Special room arrangements: None.


Activity: Self-Report Survey

Purpose: Instructor will collect information on individual students' testing anxiety and testing

anxiety related to the TOEFL.

Procedure: Students will be administered the assessment anxiety self-report survey (Appendix

A). They will complete the survey individually and silently. They will choose if they "strongly

agree," "agree," are "neutral," "disagree," or "strongly disagree." The instructor will assure the

students that the survey is not for a grade and that they should be as honest as possible. If

students choose to, they may include their name on the survey. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for this

activity.

Transition: Once all students have completed the survey, the instructor will collect them. The

instructor will then open the class discussion and ask them to talk about what causes them

anxiety in school and when taking tests. Students will discuss the definition of anxiety. If

students are not responsive to a group discussion, the discussion can transition to a small group

discussion with about three students in each group. This will give the students an opportunity to

practice their speaking skills and for the instructor to listen to their anxieties.

Homework: Instructor will ask students to keep a daily journal of what is causing their

assessment anxiety and what they would like to change to lower that anxiety. Instructor may

prompt: “Anxiety in speaking English?”, “Trying to remember everything?”, “Speaking with a

native speaker?” This journal will not be collected by the instructor, but the instructor is open to

hearing from students if they so choose.

Tuesday.

Overview of lesson goals: Students will reflect on their studying habits and what makes them

feel comfortable when studying.


Materials to take to class: Study tips handout.




Warm up: Study Tips

Purpose: Students will reflect on different ways of studying and different studying

environments.

Procedure: Instructor will distribute handout (Appendix B) and give students 10 minutes to

individually read and then discuss with their classmates.

Activity: Discussion of Study Tips

Purpose: This will give the students an opportunity to speak in a comfortable environment about

how they currently study and how they can study.

Procedure: The first half of this activity will consist of students discussion how they currently

study (including where they study, with whom they study, when they study, how much they

study). The second half of the activity will consist of students discussing how they think they

can improve on their studying.

Wednesday.

Overview of lesson goals: Students will practice working in a small group to accomplish the task

of creating a study guide. Students will practice speaking skills while working with their group,

reading skills while reading possible topics, and writing skills while creating the study guide of

possible responses.

Materials to take to class: Handout of TOEFL speaking topics.





Activity: TOEFL Speaking Topics

Purpose: This will get students comfortable with possible TOEFL speaking topics. They will

also practice speaking in groups. They will focus on formulating their own opinions.

Procedure: Students will be distributed a handout with a list of possible TOEFL speaking topics.

The remainder of the class will consist of the students discussing responses for each topic and

writing down notes. If conversation gets off topic, groups may be switched periodically

throughout the class period.

Thursday.

Overview of lesson goals: Students practice speaking and fluency skills as they record

themselves. They will reflect on their own work as homework.

Materials to take to class: TOEFL speaking rubric (Appendix D).

Equipment needed for class: iPad.


Special room arrangements: Private study room will be available.

Activity: Selfie Video

Purpose: This activity will allow students to practice speaking actual TOEFL topics. They will

also have the opportunity for self reflection.

Procedure: Students will be asked to continue working on their study guide from the previous

day. Individually, students will record a selfie video using the iPad in the study room. Rubric

will be distributed at the end of class.


Homework: Students will be asked to critique their selfie video for homework and take notes

using the provided rubric.

Friday.

Overview of lesson goals: Students will continue the self reflection of their videos and receive

feedback.

Materials to take to class: None.

Equipment needed for class: iPad.

Assignments to collect from students: Students are expected to have their notes from their

critique of their selfie video.

Special room arrangements: Private study room is available.

Activity: Instructor Review

Purpose: This activity allows students to discuss what they think they have done will and what

they can work on in their speaking video. This will help prepare them for the anxiety inducing

speaking portion of the TOEFL.

Procedure: Instructor will ask students to continue speaking about TOEFL topics. A handout

with TOEFL reading passages may also be provided if students are not responsive to speaking

about the topics. Individually, the instructor will meet with the students to discuss how they

critiqued themselves. The instructor will provide mostly positive feedback, in order to give the

student confidence and reduce their anxiety. Constructive feedback can be given in a positive

way and if the student addresses it first.

Post-TOEFL.

Students will be distributed the post-TOEFL self-report survey (Appendix E). This will show the

instructor if they felt less anxious during and after the exam.


Conclusions

By looking at the affective filter and identifying anxiety as a factor that inhibits progress

in second language acquisition, I have concluded that it is important to look at anxiety as an

individual difference that can also affect students when taking assessments. First identifying the

anxiety that is present in the classroom and addressing the anxiety by providing test taking

strategies may significantly reduce test taking anxiety. It would be beneficial to implement this

study in a classroom and compare the pre-exam survey and the post-exam survey to see if the

students felt less anxiety. Conclusions can be made after the data is analyzed.

Limitations and Considerations

For some students, eliminating assessments would lower their affective filter

considerably and their anxiety would be lowered, however in the American public school system

is impossible to eliminate assessments. This paper has considered strategies for dealing with the

anxiety surrounded test taking for ELLs, but the SLA community would benefit from further

research in how to adjust the assessments themselves to reduce anxiety. This may include, for

example, adjusting oral exams to be between peers, to be less intimidating, instead of between

the student and instructor.

It is important to remember that self-report surveys should not generalize all students.

These surveys should look at students individually, as anxiety and learner strategies are different

for each student.

Further studies may consider more research that deals with the psychological aspect of

anxiety, including general anxiety, and how this affects students in an ESL or EFL classroom. It

would also be beneficial to consider how test taking anxiety varies between proficiency levels

and age. This could potentially help identify triggers of anxiety. There are many causes of


anxiety and many manifestations of anxiety, so it is important to remain broad in the study of

anxiety in the classroom.

Implications

Discussing with my students and understanding how my students are affected by

classroom anxiety and more specifically test-taking anxiety can positively influence my teaching

because I can address the anxiety that is subsequently affecting my students’ language

acquisition. By being conscious of my students’ anxiety, I can adapt my teaching and provide

strategies to lower my students affective filter and therefore increase their level of language

acquisition, and also create a comfortable and safe learning environment.


References

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Achievement in the Language. Language In India, 12(8), 50-70

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http://childmind.org/article/classroom-anxiety-in-children/

Di Loreto, S., &McDonough, K. (2014). The Relationship Between Instructor Feedback and ESL

Student Anxiety. TESL Canada Journal TESL, 31(1), 20. Doi: 10/18806/tesl.v3lil.1165

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http://admissions.colostate.edu/internationalstudentshome/englishproficiency/

English Language Proficiency Assessment. (2016). Retrieved November 29, 2016, from

https://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/ela

Expanding Access. (2013). Retrieved November 29, 2016, from http://parcconline.org/

Ghorbandordinejad, F., & Ahmadabad, R. M. (2014). Examination of the Relationship Between

Autonomy and English Achievement as Mediated by Foreign Language Classroom

Anxiety. J Psycholinguist Res Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 45(3), 739-752. doi:

10.1007/s10936-015-9371-5

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Larsen-Freeman, D., & Anderson, M. (2011). Techniques & principles in language teaching.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Appendix A

Assessment Anxiety Self-Report Survey

Adapted from Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986), using the Likert Scale.

(Statements can be added or adapted to instructors discretion.)

1. When taking a test in language class, I get so nervous I forget things I know.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.

2. Even if I am well prepared for a test, I feel anxious about it.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.

3. I feel confident when I speak English to native speakers.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.

4. I feel well prepared for tests in English.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.

5. The more I study for a language test, the more confused I get.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.


Appendix B

Studying Tips Handout

STUDYING & TEST TIPS

Test tips

Arrive prepared

Pace yourself

Answer every question

Take notes

Studying

Where do you study?

With whom do you study?

How do you study?

o Study guide

o Note cards

o Reading

Do you want to study?

Are you getting enough sleep?


Appendix C

Possible TOEFL Speaking Topics Handout

Adapted from www.bestmytest.com.

The school is planning to build a coffee shop in the campus library. Describe the advantages and disadvantages.

Does technology make our lives more simple or more complex?

Do you agree that students should have a job while studying in school?

Should teachers be evaluated by their students?

Do you prefer indoor or outdoor activities? What activities do you enjoy?


Appendix D

TOEFL Speaking Rubric Handout

From www.ets.org.


Appendix E

Post-Exam Self-Report Survey

Adapted from Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986), using the Likert Scale.

(Statements can be added or adapted to instructor’s discretion.)

1. I felt confident while taking the test.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.

2. I articulated what I wanted to say.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.

3. I struggled to think of something to say.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.

4. I did not know the answers to some of the questions and I was nervous.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.

5. I spoke too fast and couldn’t slow down.a. Strongly agree.b. Agree.c. Neutral.d. Disagree.e. Strongly disagree.

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