Teacher Effect on the Level of Test Anxiety among Young EFL Learners

Teacher Effect on the Level of Test Anxiety among Young EFL Learners

AYDIN, Selami
Karakuzu, Melih
ELKILIÇ, Gencer

Related literature indicates that teachers and tests are strong sources of test anxiety among adult language learners while there exists a serious lack of research on the relationship between teachers and test anxiety in terms of young learners. Thus, this study aims to investigate the teacher effect on the level of test anxiety among young English as foreign language learners as the findings of the previous studies indicate that teachers and tests are strong sources of language anxiety. The sample group of the study consisted of 477 young EFL learners from five primary schools. In order to collect data, a background questionnaire and the TAS were used to assess learners’ attitudes towards teachers and their test anxiety levels. The collected data were used to provide a descriptive and correlational analysis to address the research question. The results of the study demonstrate that positive attitudes towards teachers have facilitating effects on test anxiety among children while students experience some physical and affective problems. In the light of the findings of the research, it is recommended that language teachers should use effective communication techniques to ensure moderate levels of test anxiety.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2009-06

393