(SKKN 2022) how to help students grade 10 at havanmao high school overcome test anxiety

TABLE OF CONTENT Content Page Introduction 1.1 Reasons for choosing the study 1.2 Aims and significance of the study 1.3 Methods of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 New features in the study’s results Development 1.Theoretical background 2.2 Practical background 2.3 Suggestions to help students overcome test anxiety 2.3.1 Make test preparation fun 2.3.2 How to proceed 2.3.3 Tips for giving your students success on test 2.3.4.Some other pieces of advice to reduce the level of 1 1 2 2 3 11 anxiety Effectiveness of the study Conclusion and recommendation 3.1 Conclusion 3.2 Recommendation REFERENCENCES 13 14 14 14 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reasons for choosing the study Anxiety is a basic human emotion consisting of fear and uncertainty that typically appears when an individual perceives an event as being a threat to the ego or self-esteem (Sarason, 1988) In some instances, such as avoiding dangerous situations, anxiety can be helpful However when taken to extremes, it may produce unwarranted results One of the most threatening events that causes anxiety in students today is testing When students develop an extreme fear of performing poorly on an examination, they experience test anxiety Test anxiety is a major factor contributing to a variety of negative outcomes including psychological distress, academic underachievement, academic failure, and insecurity (Hembree, 1988) Many students have the cognitive ability to well on exams but may not so because of high levels of test anxiety Because of the societal emphasis placed on testing, this could potentially limit their educational and vocational opportunities (Zeidner, 1990) Tests are essential because they allow both you and your students to evaluate their performance You will discover what areas they are struggling with and they will find out where they need to focus their attention Tests may hold the key to our educational success—as long as educators are willing to commit the time and effort required to design tests that foster learning rather than impede it During many years of teaching at Ha Van Mao High School, I always my best to find the useful solution to help my students equip themselves with both knowledge and good spirit to take the exams with high results After much time of research, I decided to choose the topic:“ How to help students grade 10 at Ha Van Mao High School overcome test anxiety ” for my experienced innovation 1.2 Aims of the study This study aims at: - Introducing some characteristics of test anxiety - Providing both teachers and students of English some suggestions to overcome the problems - Help students feel confident, reduce feelings of stress when attending exams 1.3 Methods of the study - Distill from my own experience and study colleagues’s at Ha Van Mao upper secondary school in the teaching process - Participate in extra-curricular training sessions on educational psychology - Observe, collect and process information and devise appropriate strategies - Collaborate with the Ha Van Mao upper secondary school’s communist youth union to organize school forums to listen to students' problems about test anxiety 1.4 Scope of the study Given the aims of the study , it is necessary to limit the study to the areas which are manageable Benefits of using useful methods to help students feel tests and examinations be a part of the challenge, but they open up opportunities to experience and learn valuable lessons In addition, equipping students with ready mentality and preparing carefully for exams are useful tips that this study draws The subject under the study are the 10 th – form students at Ha Van Mao High school 1.5 New features in the study’s results In my innovation, the new point of this study is the flexible application between theory and practice Distilling knowledge from reading books, watching educational programs on the media, consulting from colleagues, participating in school forums, then applying them effectively with students at Ha Van Mao High School are new points introduced in this study DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Theoretical background Test anxiety is composed of three major components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral Students who experience test anxiety from the cognitive perspective are worriers lacking self confidence They may be preoccupied with negative thoughts, doubting their academic ability and intellectual competence (Sarason&Sarason, 1990) Furthermore, they are more likely to overemphasize the potential negative results and feel helpless when in testing situations (Zeidner, 1998) Some students may feel the need to answer every question on the test correctly When this does not occur they may think of themselves as being incompetent, thus fueling negative thoughts such as, "I knew I was not going to pass this test," "I know I am going to make a poor grade," or "Everyone knows I am not smart." In order for students to have the best opportunity for academic success, negative thinking must be minimized and controlled From the affective perspective, test anxiety causes some students to experience physiological reactions such as increased heart rate, feeling nauseated, frequent urination, increased perspiration, cold hands, dry mouth, and muscle spasms (Zeidner, 1998) These reactions may be present before, during, and even after the test is completed In conjunction with the physiological reactions, emotions such as worry, fear of failure, and panic may be present When students are not able to control their emotions, they may experience higher levels of stress, thereby making it more difficult for them to concentrate Test-anxious students express anxiety behaviorally by procrastinating and having inefficient study and test-taking skills Zeidner (1998) contends that testanxious students have a more difficult time interpreting information and organizing it into larger patterns of meaning 2.2 Practical background During more than 10 years of teaching at Ha Van Mao High School, I have realized that when students enter 10th grade, they meet a wide rang of difficulties Firstly, the educational environment in high schools is partly different from lower secondary education Secondly, the educational methods in high schools are also completely different Therefore, many students cannot help worrying and have troubles in finding their own learning methods Many students enter the exams with anxiety, and have not performed well in their tests In addition, some students may physically feel tired or exhausted during test administration because they not have a healthy diet, have poor sleeping habits, and fail to routinely exercise 2.3 Suggestions to help students overcome test anxiety 2.3.1 Make test preparation fun Your current unit has come to a close, and you have put your heart and soul into your classroom activities over the past weeks Your students have had a good time and have learned, too, and now comes the most dreaded part of all It is not the unit end test but getting your students ready to take it With all the creativity and energy you put into the lessons along the way, how can a review of the material be at all interesting? Here are some ideas to try the next time you have to get your students ready for the test 2.3.1.1 Let your students write the test Maybe you not want them to write the test themselves, but you may want to let your class write the review questions By assigning each person to write a specific number of review questions, either in class or for homework, they become the teachers during the review As any teacher knows, teaching a subject only makes you know it even better, so having your students write the review and conduct their parts in class will make them experts on the information assigned to them Depending on what your unit covered, you will need to break the information up among individuals or groups in your class You can divide the information by page numbers (give each person one or more pages and the information on those pages), by topic (assign certain topics you have covered to individuals or groups), or randomly assign content by pulling topics out of a hat No matter how you break the information into pieces, assign each person or group to write five or more review/potential test questions that cover the information You may want to motivate them to the best job they can by choosing to include one or more of the best questions in the test itself and letting them know you will be doing it That way, the writer of that question should have no problem getting the answer right and neither should your class if they pay attention during the review Students are designing their own questions for the test 2.3.1.2 Foster creativity Another way to let your students the review starts once again by assigning topics to groups of students This time, instead of writing review questions, ask each person to one of two things The first option is to teach the material to the class a second time They can use any method they choose, and making them responsible for the review will ensure that they engage throughout the process The second option is to present the information to the class in a creative way They may choose to a skit, a song or another presentation that will free them to think out of the box The more outrageous the presentation, the more of an impact it will have on the viewers, and your class will be sure to remember the information during the test If you make a habit of reviewing in this manner, your students just may get competitive about how creative they can be, and the end of every unit will become a celebration and students will look forward to it with energetic anticipation Students are presenting in different ways 2.3.1.3 Make a game of it Perhaps the best method of test preparation is to play games with your class You can find several ideas for ESL games They work well specifically for review ofmaterial Not only will your students have fun, they will be energized with creativity and showmanship To review content, try Jeopardy with your students Though you will have to write the questions ahead of time, your students will have fun buzzing in, working in teams and getting in some terrific practice forming questions in English If your students wrote test review question in the first activity, use those questions to play classroom baseball Divide your class into two teams and get one team “up at bat” first Designate each corner of the room as a base Ask a question, and if the first person answers correctly, he walks ahead a base If the answer is incorrect, he is out Continue to play and only count points as players pass home plate After three outs, the other team is up at bat If you really want to make things tough on the teams, let the team “in the field” choose the review questions to ask of the players at bat They must know the answer to the question they ask, but they can use their books and notes and work together to come up with the questions If the team asking the questions gives a bad question, the other team automatically scores a point.Test review does not have to be the most boring part of the unit In fact, it can be fun and engaging and something your students look forward to the day before a test By putting the material in the hands of your students, they not only review the material but also put themselves in the role of teacher cementing the information in their minds like no other activity can 2.3.2 How to proceed You may have horrible memories of taking tests as a student but now that you are teaching, it is important to test your students on the material you cover in class Here are some things to remember when testing students 2.3.2.1 Frequency Rather than save material from the whole year to include in one massive exam, consider quizzing students at the end of each chapter and then every quarter or semester to break material up into more reasonable amounts It may seem like students are always preparing for a quiz or test but as long as they have clear goals and material is covered thoroughly, they should adapt to the routine easily Another benefit is that with more tests, each one is a lower percentage of the overall grade so there is less anxiety about performance on individual tests Example 1: After completing the Unit 8- Language focus (English 10) I conducted for students to draw a mind map to re-systemize the knowledge of Reported Speech At first, I let the children follow the groups, then let them work individually I provide the children with the diagrams as shown below to help them understand and perform better TENSES PRONOUNS YES/ NO QUESTION REPORTED SPEECH WH- QUESTIONS STATEMENTS ADVERBS COMMANDS Example 2: Similar to the above examplea, after Unit 11- Language Focus (English 10), I also give them a diagram of conditional statements to help them systematize their knowledge logically, and remember them better TYPE TYPE TYPE CONDITIONAL SENTENCES TYPE ( MIXED) EXAMPLES UNLESS INVERSION 2.3.2.2 Content Sometimes tests should focus on very specific material while others should be more comprehensive It is important to check that students are retaining information in the long term and not just memorizing information Use questions or question types that students have already seen in class Springing a new type of question or activity on them during an exam can be incredibilly confusing while including the exact questions from the study guide can be too easy Take the middle ground here Use familiar formats and ask different questions or variants of questions This will give students the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned without getting bogged down in reading directions 2.3.2.3.Variety If possible try to include a variety of exercises in your tests Not every school is able to this but interview tests can be very effective because students have to demonstrate their ability to listen and speak as well as read and write Since the first two are critical for students who will have the opportunity to speak English outside the classroom, they are also very important in the evaluation process You can also use projects to grade students if you are willing to attempt something new Perhaps for one semester skits can be the primary factor in determining overall grades While these can be a challenge to evaluate compared to multiple choice questions, they also give students who not perform well on tests the chance to more fully demonstrate their abilities 2.3.2.4 Preparation It is important to help students prepare for exams so that they can feel confident going in to them By creating a study guide, reviewing material in class, giving students information about the test, and answering any questions students have, you will help them immensely Stress can reduce student performance so simply encourage them to study the material and their best By reducing their anxiety, you have ensured that they will be more successful 2.3.2.5 Incentive You can also set goals for your students when it comes to exams so that they have something specific to work towards Depending on your students, you should consider individual and class goals Make these reasonable but challenging and not reveal individual test scores to the class as this might cause some students some embarrassment You may decide the goal should be a class average of 85% Assuming that students performed about this well on past exams, this should be a reasonable and attainable goal The incentive might be that you will not assign homework for one week which will help motivate students to achieve their target score 2.3.2.6 Review After returning the graded tests to students, go over the answers so that students can figure out what they did incorrectly Simply telling them the answers will not help them understand their mistakes You can mark the papers without correcting them and then go over each and every question in class so that students can correct their answers and ask questions While students really should take advantage of this opportunity to correct their mistakes so that they have correct material to review another time, you may need to use an incentive to encourage students to make corrections 2.3.3 Tips for giving your students success on tests 2.3.3.1 Practice makes imperfect One struggle many ESL students have when taking standardized tests is over preparation Now, I don’t mean students can know too much English or have too advanced skills to take a test What I mean is that some students have taken too many practice exams For some students, taking practice exams can actually hinder their ability to succeed on standardized tests The students who tend to overtake practice exams are those who feel insecure in their language abilities to begin with And the combination of the two can lead to lack of confidence when it comes to taking the real test In other words, students can psych themselves out Eliminate this problem before your students get to it by limiting the number of practice tests you administer and encouraging students not to take too many on their own time, either 2.3.3.2 Lather, Rinse, Repeat You can overcome lack of confidence in your students (which will have a detrimental effect when they sit down to take standardized tests) by repeating activities in class By giving students an activity that they have already done at least once in class, your students will be primed for success Try repeating a worksheet or activity as an opener for class or as a review activity Not only will your students feel good when they know the answers, an encore performance of given activity will solidify those concepts in your students’ minds, eliminating questions as well as lack of confidence 2.3.3.3.The circle of life Repeating a particular activity in class is not the only way to give students confidence and prepare them for success Try covering the same topic in class at regular intervals You can either teach the same material (with different methods, of course) several days in a row, or spend one day each week teaching a particular piece of information Do this until students find the task or material easy, and then add a second or third element to your instruction (while still teaching the material you already covered) This way, students build on what they already know instead of tossing out the old unit when it’s time to start the new one 2.3.3.4 Slow and steady Your students, no matter what standardized test they are planning to take, will have a listening portion And preparing them for this section of the exam is necessary for success But sometimes throwing them into exam level material, even if you cover it in small chunks and review it copiously in class, isn’t good enough Some students will benefit far more from a simple slowing down of the listening material If you have a good classroom tape player or digital recorder, you should have a slowdown function where you can adjust the speed at which the recorded information is played Try slowing down your listening material for your students until they can successfully perform the task you assign them Then, as the days and weeks go by, speed the material up little by little until your students are able to successfully accomplish their tasks with the tape running at normal speed, the speed they will have to manage on the exam 2.3.3.5 Clozed for practice Cloze activities are great for getting an overall read of your students’ skills in English When you replace a blank every five to ten words in a given reading passage, your students will have to rely on all of their language skills to successfully complete the exercise You can create a simple cloze activity with any reading passage your students have read or will read Don’t require students to fill in the blanks with specific words As long as what they write is grammatical and makes logical sense, they have succeeded at the task 2.3.3.6 Keep it simple Sometimes testing all areas of language at the same time is not the right choice, and that is particularly true when preparing ESL students for standardized exams Instead of focusing on all areas of language competency at one time, try choosing only one area for a preparation activity If you are creating a cloze exam, replace only verbs or only conjunctions This way students will focus on one area of language competency rather than all areas at one time In so doing, students will gain confidence from the more manageable challenge 2.2.3.7 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Using one reading passage for multiple tasks in test preparation will also be of benefit to your ESL students Try using a reading passage as the basis for a clozed activity, then having students a reading comprehension activity with the same material, and then using it again for a grammar lesson Example: Use one reading passage ,then design different tasks for students to practice Passage Sample: Tuberculosis (T.B) is a serious disease that mainly affects the lungs It is caused by bacteria It spreads easily when a person with the disease coughs or sneezes In serious cases, it causes coughing up blood, chest pain, high body temperature, weight loss and death T.B usually can be cured with medicines In Amsterdam, ministers from 20 countries signed a declaration to act against T.B The ministers agreed to establish effective systems to provide medicines for people who have T.B and they would work to develop an effective vaccine to prevent the disease The stop T.B Program organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) says 98% of the million T.B deaths each year are in developing countries and 95% of the million new T.B cases each year are in poor countries Task 1: Read the passage and choose the best answer 10 Q1 T.B is a serious disease that mainly affects the _ A heart B kidneys C lungs D brain Q2 In serious cases, T.B causes A coughing up blood and chest pain B high body temperature and weight loss C death D all are correct Q3 T.B A can be cured with medicines B cannot be cured with medicines C can be prevented with a vaccine D A and C Q4 _countries signed a declaration to act against T.B A 12 B 20 C 98 D 95 Q5 How many people die of T.B every year? A 98,000 B million C million D 10 million Task2: Read the passage and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F) Q1 It is caused by virus _ Q2 Person who gets T.B can’t be cured _ Q3 A declaration to act against T.B was signed in Netherlands 2.3.3.8 All in This Together Multiple choice activities don’t have to give students a choice from A to D for every question Instead, try mixing up all of the answer choices at the bottom of the page with several questions We often this with a word bank for cloze activities and fill in the blanks, but you can change things up with any multiple choice acidity this way, too In addition to finding the correct answers to your questions, students will also have to determine which answers can be used with each of the questions, adding an element of grammar and comprehension to any multiple choice exercise 2.3.3.9 Give them the answers Can it really help your students if you give them the answers to questions that are supposed to test them? Yes! Giving your students a set of questions with the answers already marked will challenge them in a different way Instead of trying to find the correct answer to the question, you can ask them to explain why that answer is the right one That might entail going to a source paragraph and locating specific information, or it may be that they explain a grammatical concept or particular vocabulary word Either way, when students are on the explaining end of instruction, they will understand the information better and remember it more easily 2.3.3.10 Make prioritizing a priority Timed tests are a challenge, but with standardized exams, all the questions are worth the same amount of points You can help your students succeed on test day by teaching them to answer the easiest questions first Give your students some exam style questions, and have them skim through the list 11 without answering any questions Instead, have them mark the questions they immediately know the answers to with a star, the questions they think they can answer with a circle, and the toughest questions, the real stumpers, with an exclamation point Then have students answer the questions in that order – starred, circled, and then exclamation pointed Point out to them that they should follow this pattern on test day, looking to answer the easy questions first before going back to the tougher ones It may make a big difference in how many points they are able to score on the big day 2.3.4 Some other pieces of advice to reduce the level of anxiety during an exam 2.3.4.1.General preparation/building confidence: - Review your personal situation and skills - Develop good study habits and strategies - Manage time(dealing with procrastination, distractions, laziness) - Organize material to be studied and learned - Take a step by step approach to build a strategy and not get overwhelmed outside pressures - Review your past performance on tests to improve and learn from experience - Use whatever strategies you can to personalize success: visualization, logic, talking to your self, practice, team work, journaling, etc - View the exam as an opportunity to show how much you've studied and to receive a reward for the studying you've done - Learn your material thoroughly and organize what materials you will need for the test Use a checklist - Avoid thinking you need to cram just before - Strive for a relaxed state of concentration - Avoid speaking with any fellow students who have not prepared, who express negativity, who will distract your preparation - A program of exercise is said to sharpen the mind - Get a good night's sleep the night before the exam - Do not go to the exam with an empty stomach Fresh fruits and vegetables are often recommended to reduce stress Stressful foods can include processed foods, artificial sweeteners, carbonated soft drinks, chocolate, eggs, fried foods, junk foods, pork, red meat, sugar, white flour products, chips and similar snack foods, foods containing preservatives or heavy spices - Take a small snack, or some other nourishment to help take your mind off of your anxiety - Avoid high sugar content (candy) which may aggravate your condition 2.3.4.2 During the test - Read the directions carefully - Budget your test taking time 12 - Change positions to help you relax - If you go blank, skip the question and go on - If you are taking an essay test and you go blank on the whole test, pick a question and start writing It may trigger the answer in your mind - Do not panic when students start handing in their papers There's no reward for finishing first - Use relaxation techniques If you find yourself tensing and getting anxious during the test: - Take slow, deep breaths - Don't think about the fear - Pause: think about the next step and keep on task, step by step - Use positive reinforcement for yourself: - Acknowledge that you have done, and are doing, your best -Expect some anxiety It's a reminder that you want to your best and can provide energy Just keep it manageable Realize that anxiety can be a "habit" and that it takes practice to use it as a tool to succeed 2.4 Effectiveness of the study After applying these tips in my teaching, I have found that my students are more confident when doing the test Moreover, it takes my students less time to come up with the answers, so they have more time to devote to the other parts of the test As a result, students produce rather good in the tests As a part of the plan, I evaluated the learners’ achievement after the applying the ideas I decided to use qualitative approaches to collect the data Firstly, we made the direct observations before, during and after applying to evaluate the learners’ behavior towards these new techniques of teaching Then, we designed forty-five minute tests to examine the learners’ achievement after each lesson Results verified solutions that are implemented with 111 students at classes of 10A1- 35 students, 10A3 - 38 students, and 10A5 - 38 students at Ha Van Mao High school in the academic year : 2021- 2022 are following: The number of students The number of The number of The getting mark 0-4 students getting students getting students (%) Class 10A1 10A3 10A5 Before 17.2 47,4 55,3 number getting After mark 5-7 (%) Before After mark 8-9 (%) Before After mark 10 (%) Before After 2.86 21,1 26,3 65,8 44,7 42,1 11,4 7,9 2,6 5,6 0 37,14 52,6 57,9 45,8 18,4 13,2 of 14,2 7,9 2,6 The table comparing the results before and after applying techniques 13 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% The number of students getting mark 0-4(%) The number of students getting mark 5-7 (%) The number of students getting mark 8-9 (%) The number of students getting mark 10 (%) 20% 10% 0% The bar chart comparing the results before and after applying techniques By applying new approach, I acommodated the students with the techniques for a basic listening lessons, then assigned similar tasks to students , the results received were more positive Look at the table and the chart above, it is easy to see the results have changed remarkablely in the three classes After survey, the number of students whose test scores are average and weak is lower than that before For example, the weak proportion decreases by 1/3 after applying these new methods Besides, the percentage of students’ tests which are good and moderately good is increasing rapidly As can be seen, the rate of moderately good tests of the three classes increased quickly between “before” and “after” survey, at about 10,6 % in 10A5, 10,5 % in 10A3 and 34,4 % in 10A1 respectively Similarily, the figure of good marks varies among classes during the survey First, it increases from 0% in 10A5 to 2,6 %, the next is 7,9 % in 10A3 and the last is 8,6% in 10A1 Conclusion and recommendation 3.1.Conclusion Test anxiety is something that impacts students from all ethnic backgrounds and grade levels Helping students learn to effectively manage such anxiety is a challenging task that requires a genuine team effort Students, parents, teachers, school counselors, and school administrators must all find ways to be actively involved in reducing test anxiety We live in a test-taking society and when students are anxious during tests, they are less likely to perform up to their academic potential 3.2 Recommendation What I would like to recommend in this study is that how to avoid test anxiety is an important part in the process of language learning It makes the teaching and 14 learning process run smoothly, and helps students acquire knowledge in a pleasant way Thus, it is crucial that teachers of English find the ways to motivate their students in learning English in general and in developing their skills in dealing with the problem I am looking forward to the leadership equiping us with equipment and materials to help us have better teaching conditions and learning with high effectiveness I hope to receive the contributions from professionals, English teachers for my study to make it better Ha Van Mao High School, April, 2022 I ensure that this study has been written by myself The headmaster’s identification The writer Hoang Bich Thuy 15 16 ... I decided to choose the topic:“ How to help students grade 10 at Ha Van Mao High School overcome test anxiety ” for my experienced innovation 1.2 Aims of the study This study aims at: - Introducing... need to focus their attention Tests may hold the key to our educational success—as long as educators are willing to commit the time and effort required to design tests that foster learning rather... Results verified solutions that are implemented with 111 students at classes of 10A1- 35 students, 10A3 - 38 students, and 10A5 - 38 students at Ha Van Mao High school in the academic year :