THE CAUSES OF EFL STUDENTS’ ANXIETY IN PREPARING FOR THE ENGLISH TEST IN THE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION EXAM

Nguyen Tran Bao Chau, Nguyen Ho Hoang Thuy

Abstract


It is evident that a considerable number of test takers are experiencing test anxiety. The current study aims to investigate the main causes of anxiety among the students in preparing for the English test in the national high school graduation exam. Data were collected by means of questionnaires delivered to 84 students of 12th grade at a high school and then semi-structured interviews with 10 among these 84 students. The causes of anxiety being investigated were relevant to three main themes, including learners’ perceived threat of tests, learners’ research and learning skills, and learners’ test performance attributions. The data was analyzed, synthesized and interpreted both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings identified possible causes of anxiety in preparing for the English test in the national high school graduation exam, among which the students’ fear for the difficult contents of the test and pressure of time to prepare for the test, the students’ difficulties in selecting the right materials and identifying the appropriate methods to study efficiently, and the students’ reliance on only the textbook when preparing for the test were found to be prominent. The study also proposed a variety of methods to alleviate the anxiety in order for the students to perform better in the English test.


Keywords


The national high school graduation exam, English test, test anxiety, causes

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References


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