The Impact of Test Anxiety on Reading Comprehension Test Performance in Relation to Gender among Iranian EFL Learners

Zahra Mohammadi Salari,Seyed Nezam-Al-Din Moinzade

doi:10.13189/lls.2015.030503

Abstract

Most students experience some levels of anxiety during an exam. When anxiety affects test performance, it becomes a problem. Test anxiety can interfere with the students' ability to perform adequately and prevent students from demonstrating their knowledge on examinations. Some students have the skills and knowledge to do very well in testing situations, but their excessive anxiety impairs their performance. Among many factors, anxiety can explain the differences in reading comprehension performance among learners and has a tremendous effect on foreign language reading. The study presented in this paper aimed to explore the effects of test anxiety on Iranian EFL learners' reading test performance. Furthermore, it scrutinized the role of gender on reading comprehension and test anxiety. A total of 39 EFL learners 20 male and 19 female learners at Shokouh Language Institute of Kerman Iran attended the study. Participants took one TOFEL reading comprehension tests and also completed one questionnaires of Test Anxiety Scale (38). The results of pearson correlation and t-test indicated that the relationship between test anxiety and (RC) was negative and significant. That is, the higher the level of test anxiety these students experienced, the lower the score they obtained on (RC) test and vice versa. This result indicates that test anxiety interferes with foreign language (RC). In addition, in this study females were found to be more anxious than males in reading settings and males were found to be better in (RC).

Highlights

In second language acquisition, Reading Comprehension (RC) has been regarded as a passive skill
The current study has examined to what extent test anxiety influences reading test performance
The above table describes the relation between test anxiety and reading comprehension according to gender

Summary

Introduction

In second language acquisition, Reading Comprehension (RC) has been regarded as a passive skill. The coleman Report in 1929 recommended a reading-based approach to foreign language teaching for use in American schools and colleges. This emphasized teaching the comprehension of texts. Those involved in the teaching of English as a second language in the United States between the two world wars used either a modified Direct Method approach [41] a great deal of attention has been devoted to Reading skill in recent years, comprehension gaps (i.e. comprehension problems) often occur and special efforts to deduce meaning are required. One problematic affective variable that EFL learners experience in reading comprehension tests is a kind of anxiety called "test anxiety"

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