The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

Saeide Majidifar; Mohammad Reza Oroji

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11

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The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

Saeide Majidifar, Mohammad Reza Oroji

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 3, Issue 6)

Received: 31 August 2015 Accepted: 19 September 2015 Published: 8 October 2015

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Abstract

Writing performance in general plays a significant part in any academic field and it is a flexible tool that can be used to meet a variety of goals (Diamond, 1999; Graham, 2006b). This study aimed to illuminate and investigate the two psychological and crucial factors influencing the writing performance: Self-efficacy (SE) and Test anxiety (TA). An attempt was made to assess the relationship among Self-efficacy, Test anxiety and writing performance. In so doing, after homogenizing the students as Intermediate ones via a placement test, two questionnaires of SE ( Owen &Froman,1988 ) and Test anxiety (Suinn, 1969) were administered to 50 intermediate students. Having administered the questionnaires, the researcher asked the subjects to compose an essay on a general topic: 'The effects of TV on people’s lives'. Based on the questionnaires, the subjects were divided into four groups: 1) High SE, High TA, 2) High SE, Low TA, 3) Low SE, High TA, and 4) Low SE, Low TA. The data collected from the questionnaires as well as the scores given to their writing performances were analyzed through SPSS (21.00). Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the two groups of High self-efficacy, low test anxiety and Low self-efficacy, high test anxiety. The former group outperformed the latter one. The outcomes of this study can have benefits for both foreign language teachers and learners. They both can attain better results by focusing more on these two psychological factors in their roles. The findings of the present study demonstrated that more concentration ought to be placed on these two psychological factors in order to enhance students’ writing performances.

Published in	International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 3, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11
Page(s)	323-327
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Self-Efficacy, Test Anxiety, Writing Performance

References

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[2]	Bandura, A., (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive view. Eaglewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
[3]	Betz, N. E., & Hackett, G. (1983). The relationship of mathematics self-efficacy expectations to the selection of science-based college majors. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 23, 329-345.
[4]	Chapell, M. S., Blanding, Z. B., Silverstein, M. E., Takahashi, M., Newman, B., Gubi, A., &McCann, N. (2005). Test anxiety and academic performance in undergraduate and graduate students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(2), 268-274.
[5]	DeDeyn, R. (2011). Student identity, writing anxiety, and writing performance: A correlational study (Master's thesis). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.
[6]	Diamond, J. (1999). Guns, germs, and steel: The fates of human societies. New York: Norton.
[7]	Graham, S. (2006b). Writing. In P. Alexander & P. Wiine (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (pp. 457–477). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
[8]	Hollandsworth, Glazeski, Kirkland, Jones, & Van Norman. (1979). An analysis of the nature and effects of test anxiety: Cognitive, behavioral, and physiological components. Cognitive Therapy and Research 3 (2), 165-180.
[9]	Holroyd, K. A., Westbrook, T., Wolf, M. & Badhorn, E. (1978). Performance, cognition, and physiological responding to test anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 3, 165-180.
[10]	Horwitz, E. K. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, 112 – 126.
[11]	Krampen, G. (1988). Competence and control orientations as predictors of test anxiety in students: Longitudinal results. Anxiety Research, 1, 185-197.
[12]	Linnenbrink, E. A., & Pintrich, P. R. (2003). The role of self-efficacy beliefs in student engagement and learning in the classroom. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 19, 119-137.
[13]	MacIntyre, P. D. & Gardner, R. C. (1989). Anxiety and second language leaning: Toward a theoretical clarification. Language Learning 39, 251–275.
[14]	MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C. (1994). The subtle effects of language anxiety on cognitive processing in the second language. Language Learning, 44(2), 283-305.
[15]	Owen, S. V., & Froman, R. D. (1988). Development of a College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale.
[16]	Pajares F. & Shunk D. H. (2001). Self-beliefs and school success: self– efficacy, self-concept and school achievement. In R. Riding & S. Rayner (Eds.) Perception (pp.239-266). London: Albex publishing.
[17]	Sarason, I. G. (1984), Stress, anxiety, and cognitive interference: Reactions to Tests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46 (4), 929-938.
[18]	Sarason, I. G. (1975). The test anxiety scale: Concept and research. In I. G. Sarason, & C. D. Spielberger (Eds.), Stress and anxiety (pp.193-217). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
[19]	Spielberger, C. D. & Vagg, P. R. (1995). Test anxiety: A Transactional Process Model. In Spielberger et al. (Eds), Test anxiety: Theory, assessment, and treatment (pp. 1-14). Taylor & Francis.
[20]	Suinn, R. M. (1969). The STABS, a measure of test anxiety for behavior therapy: Normative data. Behavior Research and Therapy, 7, 335-339.
[21]	Walker, B. J. (2003). The cultivation of student self-efficacy in reading and writing. Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 19, 173–187.
[22]	Zeidner, M. (1998). Test anxiety: the state of the art. NY: Plenum Press.

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Saeide Majidifar, Mohammad Reza Oroji. (2015). The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 3(6), 323-327. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11

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Saeide Majidifar; Mohammad Reza Oroji. The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2015, 3(6), 323-327. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11

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Saeide Majidifar, Mohammad Reza Oroji. The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners. Int J Lang Linguist. 2015;3(6):323-327. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11,
  author = {Saeide Majidifar and Mohammad Reza Oroji},
  title = {The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {3},
  number = {6},
  pages = {323-327},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20150306.11},
  abstract = {Writing performance in general plays a significant part in any academic field and it is a flexible tool that can be used to meet a variety of goals (Diamond, 1999; Graham, 2006b). This study aimed to illuminate and investigate the two psychological and crucial factors influencing the writing performance: Self-efficacy (SE) and Test anxiety (TA). An attempt was made to assess the relationship among Self-efficacy, Test anxiety and writing performance. In so doing, after homogenizing the students as Intermediate ones via a placement test, two questionnaires of SE ( Owen &Froman,1988 ) and Test anxiety (Suinn, 1969) were administered to 50 intermediate students. Having administered the questionnaires, the researcher asked the subjects to compose an essay on a general topic: 'The effects of TV on people’s lives'. Based on the questionnaires, the subjects were divided into four groups: 1) High SE, High TA, 2) High SE, Low TA, 3) Low SE, High TA, and 4) Low SE, Low TA. The data collected from the questionnaires as well as the scores given to their writing performances were analyzed through SPSS (21.00). Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the two groups of High self-efficacy, low test anxiety and Low self-efficacy, high test anxiety. The former group outperformed the latter one. The outcomes of this study can have benefits for both foreign language teachers and learners. They both can attain better results by focusing more on these two psychological factors in their roles. The findings of the present study demonstrated that more concentration ought to be placed on these two psychological factors in order to enhance students’ writing performances.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners
AU - Saeide Majidifar
AU - Mohammad Reza Oroji
Y1 - 2015/10/08
PY - 2015
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11
DO - 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11
T2 - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP - 323
EP - 327
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2330-0221
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11
AB - Writing performance in general plays a significant part in any academic field and it is a flexible tool that can be used to meet a variety of goals (Diamond, 1999; Graham, 2006b). This study aimed to illuminate and investigate the two psychological and crucial factors influencing the writing performance: Self-efficacy (SE) and Test anxiety (TA). An attempt was made to assess the relationship among Self-efficacy, Test anxiety and writing performance. In so doing, after homogenizing the students as Intermediate ones via a placement test, two questionnaires of SE ( Owen &Froman,1988 ) and Test anxiety (Suinn, 1969) were administered to 50 intermediate students. Having administered the questionnaires, the researcher asked the subjects to compose an essay on a general topic: 'The effects of TV on people’s lives'. Based on the questionnaires, the subjects were divided into four groups: 1) High SE, High TA, 2) High SE, Low TA, 3) Low SE, High TA, and 4) Low SE, Low TA. The data collected from the questionnaires as well as the scores given to their writing performances were analyzed through SPSS (21.00). Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the two groups of High self-efficacy, low test anxiety and Low self-efficacy, high test anxiety. The former group outperformed the latter one. The outcomes of this study can have benefits for both foreign language teachers and learners. They both can attain better results by focusing more on these two psychological factors in their roles. The findings of the present study demonstrated that more concentration ought to be placed on these two psychological factors in order to enhance students’ writing performances.
VL - 3
IS - 6
ER -

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Author Information

Saeide Majidifar

Department of English, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran
Mohammad Reza Oroji

Assistant Professor, Department of English, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran

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APA Style

Saeide Majidifar, Mohammad Reza Oroji. (2015). The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 3(6), 323-327. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11

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ACS Style

Saeide Majidifar; Mohammad Reza Oroji. The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2015, 3(6), 323-327. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11

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AMA Style

Saeide Majidifar, Mohammad Reza Oroji. The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners. Int J Lang Linguist. 2015;3(6):323-327. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11,
  author = {Saeide Majidifar and Mohammad Reza Oroji},
  title = {The Relationship among Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Writing Performance Among Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {3},
  number = {6},
  pages = {323-327},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20150306.11},
  abstract = {Writing performance in general plays a significant part in any academic field and it is a flexible tool that can be used to meet a variety of goals (Diamond, 1999; Graham, 2006b). This study aimed to illuminate and investigate the two psychological and crucial factors influencing the writing performance: Self-efficacy (SE) and Test anxiety (TA). An attempt was made to assess the relationship among Self-efficacy, Test anxiety and writing performance. In so doing, after homogenizing the students as Intermediate ones via a placement test, two questionnaires of SE ( Owen &Froman,1988 ) and Test anxiety (Suinn, 1969) were administered to 50 intermediate students. Having administered the questionnaires, the researcher asked the subjects to compose an essay on a general topic: 'The effects of TV on people’s lives'. Based on the questionnaires, the subjects were divided into four groups: 1) High SE, High TA, 2) High SE, Low TA, 3) Low SE, High TA, and 4) Low SE, Low TA. The data collected from the questionnaires as well as the scores given to their writing performances were analyzed through SPSS (21.00). Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the two groups of High self-efficacy, low test anxiety and Low self-efficacy, high test anxiety. The former group outperformed the latter one. The outcomes of this study can have benefits for both foreign language teachers and learners. They both can attain better results by focusing more on these two psychological factors in their roles. The findings of the present study demonstrated that more concentration ought to be placed on these two psychological factors in order to enhance students’ writing performances.},
 year = {2015}
}

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