I want to examine the test anxiety in English learners and find out whether a teacher can be a possible source of anxiety from students' point of view.
I have seen some papers about "demotivation" in which certain behaviors of the teacher reduce the motivation of students. That is not the same as teachers causing test anxiety, but there may some similarities about things a teacher does increasing or decreasing test anxiety.
An ESL teacher can cause test anxiety for ESL learners. ESL teachers who are not receptive or understanding of the student's needs and cultural differences and those teachers who are not willing to devote themselves to helping the student beyond the classroom are those who cause the most test anxiety. Students tend to develop test anxiety when they are confused and do not clearly understand what is being taught or what is expected of them. If the ESL teacher does not take the time to work with the student towards complete understanding, then the student begins to worry about failing the test, which leads to a lot of test anxiety. The ESL student is already struggling with adapting to a new culture if they are studying abroad and if the ESL teacher is not sensitive to this or the cultural differences, not only will test anxiety develop, but also "class" anxiety in general will develop. As with any class, the teacher will make or break the class. The teacher's motivation, desire to teach, willingness to go beyond the norm to help teach the student, and the teacher's flexibility will all determine the student's success in class and on test in the ESL classroom. Therefore, I believe the ESL teacher plays a huge part in whether the students develop test anxiety or not.
You know Renzo, the reason why I chose this topic is that I have the exact problem with some of my teachers right now. I study a lot and try to learn well, but i think for some teachers it's not enough. At the beginning of the class before they even ask questions to see who is ready who is not, they say students do not study enough these days or students don't know as much as they should or things like this. This attitude gives me stress when I'm taking their exam because I feel they don't know us and judge us based on what they have in mind not what we actually do or know.
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