Relationship between Foreign Language Learning and Exam Stress with Gender: A Study on Tshik International University Preparatory School Students, Iraq

Authors

  • Bünyamin Celik Department of Languages, Tshik International University, Erbil, Iraq Correspondence: Bünyamin Celik, Tshik International University, Erbil, Ir

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v5i3p311

Keywords:

Gender, Foreign Language Anxiety, Exam Anxiety, Exam Stress

Abstract

This study was conducted to draw attention to the issue of foreign language learning anxiety which negatively affects the foreign language learning process. It is based on the relationship between test anxiety and the gender of students which is one of the demographic features. 120 English language preparatory students at A1 level from Tishk International University Preparatory School, Iraq were selected to participate in the study. Also, an examination anxiety questionnaire consisting of 22 items was applied and the data were analyzed statistically. The important finding of the study is that students who learn English as a foreign language in a multicultural and multilingual environment in Erbil in Iraq, a Middle East country, clearly show that there is no significant relationship between gender and test anxiety. The only problem seemed to be insecurity, discomfort and lack of motivation caused by test anxiety.

References

Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. Modern Language Journal, 78, 155-168.

Aksoy, M. (2012). Yabancı dil öğreniminde kaygı, utangaçlık, strateji ve akademik başarı arasındaki ilişki. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Ankara University, Institute of Social Sciences.

Ala, H., Oda, A., Ali, H., Khammat, M. (2013). Investigating the Factors that Cause Language Anxiety in Iraqi EFL Learners. Journal of Basra Researches/Humanities, 38, 25-53.

Aslan, S.A. (2005). Ergenlerde ana-baba tutumu, sınav kaygısı, ders çalışma becerilerinin lise giriş sınavını yordama düzeyleri. Yayınlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi. Mersin Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.

Aydın, S., & Zengin, B. (2008). Anxiety in foreign language learning: A review of literature. The Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 4 (1), 81 – 94.

Aydın, Y. (2016). Lise öğrencilerinin yabancı dil kaygısının farklı değişkenler açısından incelenmesi. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Kırşehir.

Baş, G. (2014). Lise öğrencilerinde yabancı dil öğrenme kaygısı: Nitel bir araştırma. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 36, 101-119.

Batumlu, D. Z., & Erden, M. (2007). The relationship between foreign language anxiety and English achievement of Yıldız Technical University School of Foreign Languages preparatory students. Journal of Theory and Practice in Education, 3 (1), 24-38.

Batumlu, Z.D.U., (2006). YTÜ yabancı diller yüksek okulu hazırlık öğrencilerinin yabancı dil kaygılarının ingilizce başarılarına etkisi. Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İstanbul.

Berger, R., & Shechter, Y. (1996), Guidelines for choosing an “intervention package” for working with adolescent girls in distress. Adolescence, 31 (123), 709-719.

Brantmeier, C. A. (2000). The relationship between readers’ gender, passage content, comprehension and strategy use in reading Spanish as a second language. Doctoral Dissertation. Indiana University.

Chang, J. I. (1997). Contexts of adolescent worries: Impacts of ethnicity, gender, family structure, and socioeconomic status. Paper presented at the annual meeting of NCFR Fatherhood and Motherhood in a Diverse and Changing World, Arlington, VA.

Chastain, K. (1975). Affective and ability factors in second language acquisition. Language Learning, 25, 153-161.

Cho, E. (2016). Making reliability reliable: A systematic approach to reliability coefficients. Organizational Research Methods, 19(4), 651–682.

Chu, H. N. R. (2008). Shyness and EFL learning in taiwan: a study of shy and non-shy college students’ use of strategies, foreign language anxiety, motivation, and willingness to communicate. ProQuest. https://books.google.com.tr/books

Council of Europe (2011). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching. Assessment. Council of Europe.

Dalkılıç, N. (2001). An investigation into the role of anxiety in second language learning. Retrieved from https://sosyalbilimler.cukurovaom/p/articles/mi_mOFCR/is_4

Daly, J. (1991). Understanding communication apprehension: An introduction for language educators. In E. K. Horwitz & D. J. Young (Eds.), Language anxiety: From theory and research to classroom implications (pp. 3-13). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Daly, J. A., Kreiser, P. O., & Rogharr, L. A. (1994), Question-asking comfort: Explorations of the demography of communication in the eighth-grade classroom. Communication Education, 43, 27-41.

Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Felson, R. B., & Trudeau, L. (1991). Gender differences in mathematics performance. Social Psychology Quarterly, 54, 113-126.

Horwitz, E.K. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, 112-126.

Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B., & Cope A.J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 70, 125-132.

Horwitz, E.K., Horwitz, M.B., & Cope, J. A. (1991). Foreign language classroom anxiety. In E. K. Horwitz & D. J. Young (Eds.), Language anxiety: From theory and research to classroom implications (pp. 27-36). New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs.

Jackson, P. (2001), Test taking doesn’t have to lead to test anxiety: [Community Edition]. https://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=61&did

Kakamad, K., & Faqe, C. (2015). English language Learning Anxiety Among Foreign Language learners in Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Soran University as an Example. International Journal of Construction Education and Research, 3, 485-494.

Kavakci, Ö., Kuğu, N., & Semiz, M. (2010b) Üniversite öğrencileri arasında Dikkat Eksikliği Hiperaktivite bozukluğu ve eşlik eden bozukluklar. 46. Ulusal psikiyatri Kongresi, İzmir.

Kitano, K. (2001). Anxiety in the college Japanese language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 85 (4), 517-566.

Kleinmann, H. H. (1977). Avoidance behavior in adult second language acquisition. Language Learning, 27 (1), 93-107.

Kudek, A. L., & Sinclair, R. J. (2001). Predicting reading and mathematics achievement in fourth-grade children from kindergarten readiness scores. Journal of Education Psychology, 93, 3, 451-455.

Littlewood, W. (1984). Foreign and second language learning; Language acquisition research and its implications for the classroom. Cambridge: CUP, pp.58-59.

MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R.C. (1991). Methods and results in the study of anxiety and language learning: A review of the literature. Language Learning, 41, 85-117.

Marwan, A. (2007). Investigating students’ foreign language anxiety. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, 3, 37-55.

Mc Donald, A.S. (2001). The prevalence and effects of test anxiety in school children. Educ Psychol, 21, 89-98.

Moss, G. (2000). Raising boys’ attainment in reading some principles for intervention, reading. Published by Blackwell publishers.

Musch, J., & Broder, A. (1999). Test Anxiety versus Academic Skills: A comparison of two alternative models for predicting performance in a statistics exam. Br J Educ Psychol, 69, 105-116.

Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Bailey, P., & Daley, C. E. (1997). Foreign language anxiety among college

students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, Memphis, TN.

Öner, G., & Gedikoğlu, T. (2007). Foreign language anxiety affecting learning English of secondary school students in Gaziantep. Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 6 (2), 67-78.

Peleg-Popko, O. (2004). Differentiation and test anxiety in adolescents. J Adolesc, 27, 645-662.

Phakiti, A. (2003). A closer at gender and strategy use in L2 reading. Language Learning. 53, 4, 649-703.

Philips, E. M. (1992). The effects of language anxiety on students’ oral test performance and attitudes. The Modern Language Journal, 76, 14-26.

Pomerantz, E. M., Altermatt, E. R., & Saxon, L. J. (2002). Making the grade but feeling distressed: Gender differences in academic performance and internal distress. Journal of Education Psychology, 94, 2, 396-404.

Rothman, S. (2002). Achievement in literacy and numeracy by Australian 14 year-olds, 1975-1998″ LSAY Research Reports. Longitudinal surveys of Australian youth research report; n.29 https://research.acer.edu.au/lsay_research/33

Ruddell, R. B. (2002). Becoming an effective literacy teacher. Teaching children to read and write: Becoming an effective literacy teacher. London: Allyn & Bacon.

Sansgiry, S.S., & Sail, K. (2006). Effect of Students’ Perceptions of Course Load on Test Anxiety. Am J Pharm Educ, 15,26.

Sarason, I. G. (1984). Stress, anxiety, and cognitive interference: Reactions to tests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 929-938.

Sarıgül, H. (2000). Trait anxiety or foreign language anxiety and their effects on learners’ foreign language proficiency and achievement. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Boğaziçi University, İstanbul, Turkey.

Scovel, T. (1978). The effect of anxiety on language learning: A review of the anxiety research. Language Learning, 28, 129-142.

Scovel, T. (1994). The role of culture in second language pedagogy. System, 22 (2), 205-219.

Sellers, V. D. (1998). The relationship between anxiety and reading in spanish as a foreign language. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. The Pennsylvania State University. USA.

Sertçetin, A. (2006). Classroom foreign language anxiety among Turkish primary school students. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Uludağ University, Bursa, Turkey.

Young, D. J. (1991). Creating a low-anxiety classroom environment: What does the anxiety research suggest?. Modern Language Journal, 75, 426-439. https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/329492

Downloads

Published

01.03.2019

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Celik, B. (2019). Relationship between Foreign Language Learning and Exam Stress with Gender: A Study on Tshik International University Preparatory School Students, Iraq. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 5(3), 311-322. https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v5i3p311

Most read articles by the same author(s)

<< < 1 2 3 > >> 

Similar Articles

1-10 of 296

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.