Positive Impact of the Stress.
Negative Impact of the Stress.
Anxiety.
Anger.
Depression.
Self-criticism.
Change in Sleeping Habits.
Health problem.
Academic Dishonesty.
Components of Phobia Exam.
Cognitive Component.
Emotional Component.
Physiological Components.
Nausea and Vomiting.
Headaches.
Stomachaches.
Palpitation.
Excessive Sweating or Preparation.
Trembling or Shaking.
Diarrhea.
Shortness of Breath.
Sleep Disturbance.
Factors that Can Shape Exam Phobia.
Strategies to Overcome Exam Phobia.
School Administration and Teachers.
School Counsellors.
Parents.
Students are Encourage to.
Conclusion.
Introduction
Everyone feels anxious during examination, which is a normal thing to some extent. The level of pressure during such as exam varies from one student to another. In fact, all we need some low level of pressure to help us perform well. However, if learners have too much pressure, they will become extremely anxious and have a specific fear called exam phobia. It is considered as an affective factor that prevents learners from achieving good results. This chapter is devoted to give a deep understanding of this psychological phenomenon called “exam phobia”. And its negative effects on learners’ performance. Then, we will define some concepts related to this issue. Also, we will introduce features of exam phobia and discuss factors that may cause it. Finally, we seek to find effective strategies to reduce the phenomena of exam phobia among EFL learners.
Understanding Phobia
Accordingto Grace (2017, p. 4), “A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder. It is an extreme form of fear or anxiety triggered by a particular situation or object, even when there is no danger”. Similar to this, idea Elliott and Tyrrell (2003, p. 2) stated that “To become phobic, all you need is a high anxiety state paired with an object, situations or even thoughts”. We can indicate from what have being already said that, phobia is a psychological state where the person feels extremely anxious and discomfort towards a specific situation or event. Furthermore, O’Broin (2008) claimed that people can develop phobias in late childhood, adolescence, or in early adult life following a frightening situation or event. However,Phobias can also run in families, but it is unclear whether this is inherited or learned from another family member. An example of a learned response would be when a child associates spider as being dangerous because they have observed their parent becoming very frightened of spider. Finally, concerning how phobia works on human’s mind, Livingston (2005) stated that,phobias are run by the subconscious mind, and when your subconscious mind recognizes a dangerous it is automatically acts to protect us.That is why people with phobias cannot just "get over it" by consciously deciding to overcome their phobia.
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Convert your MS Word file from ODT to DOCX as I told you before. You’ll make me crazy or what?
Types of Phobia
Muris (2006) mentioned that there are over about 275 types of phobias listed through different sources and stated that “where is page number, I told you before to add it then you didn’t. Are you fooling me?” “The phobias restricted to highly specific situations such as proximity to particular animals, heights, thunder, eating certain foods, dentistry, the sight of blood, bloodshed or injury, the fear of exposure to specific diseases and examinations create horrifying situations in individuals”. Whereas, Botella et al (1998) in their turn have mentioned five types of specific phobias that include: animal phobia, natural environment phobia, situational phobias, blood-injection /injury phobia (as cited in Javed& Khan,2011, p.04).
However, as a result of all what have been said earlier, we can assume that researchers are in agreement that phobias as psychological disease and can develop around any object or situation. Thus, it can be roughly categorized into two types specific and complex, and the later one involves several phobias include: Agoraphobia and social phobia (Warin& Challis, 2014, p. 5) I told you before“where are the quotation marks” Don’t you understand English or what?
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2.1.1 Specific (simple)phobias
These phobias are about a single object, situation or activity. They often develop in childhood or adolescence, and for many people they will lessen as they get older. These commonly include animals or insects, such as spiders or snakes, or the environment, such as a fear of heights or storms. Sometimes specific phobias involve a situation, such as flying or using an escalator, or being in a situation that may lead to a feared event such as vomiting or choking.
Specific phobias can also be a fear of blood, medical interventions such as injections, or injury. People with blood-injury phobia may faint in the presence of blood or injury, following a reduction in their heart rate and blood pressure. This vasovagal response leading to fainting does not normally occur with other anxiety disorders as a person’s heart beat and blood pressure usually increases as their arousal rate increases.
Complex phobias
Complex phobias tend to have a more disruptive or disabling impact on people life than specific (simple) phobias. They also often develop in adolescence. Two of the most common complex phobias are social phobia and agoraphobia. (Warin& Challis,2014, p.05).
Social phobia
According to Warin& Challis (2014), social phobia (also called social anxiety or social anxiety disorder), it is an extreme sense of fear and anxiety in social situations. This may be connected to one specific situation, such as public speaking, or being around people in general. People with social phobia are likely to be shy and afraid that they will behave in embarrassing way that lead other people to judge them negatively. So, they often prefer to avoid them. These phobias can be extremely debilitating and make it very difficult to engage in everyday activities to becomes limited.
Agoraphobia
For Warin& Challis (2014), agoraphobia is widely thought to be a fear of open spaces, crowds, entering shops or travelling alone, but it is more complex than this. The essential feature of agoraphobia that the phobic person will feel extremely anxious about being in places or situations that it would be difficult or embarrassing to get out of, or trapped and unable to get help, such as in having a panic attract. In addition, many people with agoraphobia find it hard to leave their house or dislike being alone (monophobia), as well as they are frightened to live in small confined spaces (claustrophobia).
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Definition of Exam Phobia
According to Ronald, Kahn and Adamec (2008), the term is derived from Greek word “Phobos” which means ‘fear’ terror ‘panic. They add, phobos was a Greek god who caused panic and fear among the enemies of those who worshiped him. Besides, the term phobia did not appear in common usage until the 19th century. According to the Cambridge International Dictionary of English (n.d),phobia is “extreme fear of a particular thing or situation, especially one that cannot be reasonably explained “(as cited in Livingston,2005, p.06). In the same context, Dictionary.com (n.d), defines the concept phobia as “A persistent, abnormal or irrational fear a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid the feared stimulus”. In the sense of all what have been said, we realized that the meaning of the term is agreed upon which is mainly the same, but it is expressed in different ways. However, for psychologists fear of examination can be expressed into different terms like examination phobia, test phobia, fear of exams, test anxiety and so on. Although different authors use these terms interchangeably but in psychological construct there exists a sound difference among these concepts (Maryam, Dahar and Yousuf ,2015, p.01).
According toParvez and Mohd (2012), exam phobia is a psychological disorder in which learners’ experience an intense form of fear, panic and anxiety before and/or during exams; it refers to the excessive worry about upcoming exams, which leads to a compiling desire of avoidance. The fear of being evaluated prevents learners from performing well according to their knowledge. As their mind goes blank before starting examination and they forget the answers of some questions due to nervousness and fear of examinations (as cited in Jha,2015,06). This idea was supported by Hall (1975) who stated that “Some students experience genuine, deep-rooted problems in examinations. Their mind goes blank, they get the shakes, their hands go numb and they suffer from any number of sudden disability” (as cited in Khatoon&Parveen, p.113).
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Moreover, Davies (1998) stated that exam phobia is: “a major problem for large number of students. For them, the examination is something which is almost inevitable” (as cited in Khatoon&Parveen, p.133). In other words, exam phobia became one of the most negatively affective factors for many learners, because when they start to feel the importance of such an examination, the level of the anxiety will be more increased, so the result of this exam can be more detrimental.
Furthermore, Jayantunge (2008) claimed that exam phobia “it is self-damaging factor which negatively affects the students and their performances” (as cited in Agrawal &Goel.n. d, p.02). It means that fear of examination is regarded as harmful factor which unable students to give his maximumproductively. While Loranger (1988) stated that “students with this mental disorder they experience extreme discomfort and anxiety during exam situations and seek avoidance whenever possible” (as cited in Javed& Khan,2011, p.04). This means the phobic learners are unable to handle the exam situation, so they try to escape and avoid this threat. As a result, they will get negative outcomes.
1.1 Definition of Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological phenomenon that has been the subject of research for decades. Since it is considered as an affective factor that prevents EFL learners’ to be efficient in learning as well as to perform well during examination. Most of students feel anxious and nervous when the exams are approaching. They start to create a negative prediction about the outcomes of such exam which disturb them mentally and impaired their level of achievement. According to Dectionary.com (n.d), anxiety is a Latin word “anxietas” which means distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune. Moreover, many researchers described anxiety as an emotional response occurs in difficult situation and under threat which prevents students to reach their optimal performance. According to Scovel (1978) anxiety can be defined as “a subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, self-doubt, and worry associated with an arousal of the automatic nervous system” (as cited in Park & Lee, n.d, p.199). Which means, anxiety is not produced unless student experience feelings of unease, which is followed by normal reaction that developed unconsciously and enable them to confront any danger. However, whenever the fear or feelings of dread exceeds abnormally to its limits especially during evaluation situation, it is called phobia or examination phobia (as cited in Maryam, Dahar&Yousuf. NA,2015). This is considered as the most interesting new topic in research area and classified as specific type of anxiety disorder. You didn’t correct it?
Definition of Exam Fear
Most people think that fear is only caused of anxiety or phobia. Though fear is a result of phobia, but still not the same. As stated by Agrawal &Goel (n.d, p.05) fear is an adaptive human response towards an extreme situation; it can be as warning or signal to our bodies and minds to react and protect ourselves in the situation of fear. In contrast, phobia is something complex as compared to normal situation of fear. However, Fear of examination is something shared by all the students which is a natural reaction that make the person afraid about upcoming exams. They fear of been evaluated as much they fear from failure. It is defined as a state where the individual experience the most unpleasant situation. According to Sylvia (2005) fear of examination is viewed as state having considerable significance for academic performance (as cited in Khatoon&Parveen, ndp.133). This means that there is a negative association between students who getting fearful during exam situation and their results since the results of this exam can have a critical reflection on their level of achievement.
According to Mandler&Sarason (1953) “Examination fear debilitating and the performance of the highly anxious person is lowered in the examination situation. The anxious individual worries during examination and may even engage in daydreaming to some extent. As a result, concentration can be seriously affected” (as cited in Khatoon&Parveen, p.134). It means that some students become so frightened and anxious during the examination which can affect negatively in their lives, health and in their performance. As well as, the obtained results of students are whether high or low it depends on their level of exam anxiety itself. What is more, the students who suffer from such a fear are likely to have some problems. For instance, they may face difficulties in concentrating while they are in exam; at the end they will perform poorly.
Definition of Stress
Stress is a feeling of strain, pressure, and discomfort. These emotions are normal and common in daily life. People experience stress when in face with challenging situation. According to Landow (2006) the word stress has Latin origin. It has been a part of English language since at least the fourteenth century. Its earliest meanings included “hardship, straits, adversity, affliction”. However, stress may take different forms and may mean different things to different individuals. It depends on the stressful situations that cause individuals to feel tension, pressure and even anger. Furthermore, a variety of environmental factors can contribute to a person feeling "stressed" (ibid). For instance, it is known that the exams are the most stressful period for everyone, where the students become highly stressed from the pressure to get good grades or having an excessive worry if they fail. Besides, Maville and Huerta (1997) made a negative association between too much pressure and academic achievement and stated that,“Stress may interfere in their learning process and consequently causes poor academic achievement, reaching the level of failure” (as in Landow,2006, p.71). Moreover, a study was conducted by Agrawal and Goal (2016, p.02) reported that, due to excessive pressure and stress especially during evaluation situations most of students will develop examination phobia. In the other hand, there are some students who perform better under pressure and they are able to handle stress. So, stress is basically a force applied to a person and may respond as positive or negative impact.
Positive Impact of Stress
Even though stress is viewed in general as a negative and harmful emotion but in some situations, it can trigger a positive reaction. Deferent research was dealt with its a negative impact and ignored the fact that some stress can be beneficial for those who experienced the most stressful events in their lives. The positive stress (called eustress) can be expressed when someone is focused on a specific task, motivated, feeling confident, and also excited about the result he /she hope to achieve; this type of stress is typically helpful to alert people and to accomplish more (Biorics,n.d).
Negative Impact of Stress
Negative stress (called distress) occurs when a person feels unable to perform or to cope with a situation. Thus,researchers who studied the effects of academic stress found that students were anxious, angry, and/or depressed, or finding themselves sacrificing good eating, or sleeping habits to compensate and cheating. (Biorics,n.d).you didn’t correct errors again?
1.6.2.1 Anxiety: Anxiety was explained by May’s Book (2015) as” the manner in which a person reacts or response to stress “. That means stress is viewed as a state followed by anxiety thus anxiety is an outcome of stress. (as cited in Owusu& Essel,2017, p.16).
1.6.2.2 Anger: Anger was found to be the emotional response of stress. Students reacting to that feeling of anger. (Mrowka,2006, p.33).
1.6.2.3 Depression:Studies have linked chronic stress with depression, thus untreated stress can result major depressive disorder (khan and khan,2017, p.01).
1.6.2.4Self-criticism:Stress destroy a student’s motivation and may be preoccupied with negative thoughts, doubting their academic ability and intellectual competence (Sarason&Sarason, 1990).
1.6.2.5 Change in Sleeping Habits: According to (Zunhammer, Eichhammer, &Bush,2014) they found that, the sleep quality is reduced among students due to the exam stress, and that poor sleep is associated with low academic performance.
1.6.2.6 Health Problems. Research suggests that stress may affect students’ health, and these stresses can lead to physical symptoms including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping as well in eating. (Essel&Owusu,2017, p.22).
1.6.2.7 Academic Dishonesty:academic dishonesty was a result of academic stress. However, (Ercegovac& Richardson, 2004) reported that, many students participate in cheating because of the desire to succeed, the climate created by the school, and pressure from parents. (Williams and Janosik, 2007, p.706).
Component of Phobia Exam
According to (Maryam, Dahar&Yousuf, 2015, p. 1) examination phobia is conceptualized as a sever fear and anxiety that students undergo in an evaluation situation. It is several times intensive than a usual fear from exams. Thus, a study found by (Sarason&Sarason ,1990) stated that there are three main components of examination phobia which can be categorized as the following: cognitive, emotional and physiological components (as cited in Sindhu,2015, p.74).
Cognitive component
Exam phobia impairs human mental faculties and exerts negative impact on students’ cognitive capabilities and personality by diminishing their consistency in performance in stressful evaluative situation. Phobic person may develop mental problems such as the feeling of excessive mental pressure about upcoming exams. Thinking of failure, they fear from failure as much they fear from negative evaluation and having an extreme pressure about possible outcomes. Negative self-talk (cognitive anxiety), which defined as the negative statement to tell yourself before and during tests which destroy person’s motivation and disturb them mentally. For instance, saying "I cannot remember the answers, or I have forgotten how to do the problems. I am going to fail.".... etc. Phobia may become barrier for mental blockage and good performance. Therefore, students may suffer from recurrent panic attacks and in extreme cases, they may commit suicide.
Emotionalcomponent
Everybody experiences fear or anxiety from time to time. But whenever the fear or anxiety become strong and irrational this can be considered as phobia, and the stimulation that causes phobia differs from individual to individual. However, suffering from phobia can interfere with many aspects of person’s life. It causes a serious problem not only on the physical and mental level, but also the emotional part of the person will be affected and damaged. Thus, different reactions will emerge such as: anger, tension, nervousness, depression, low self-esteem, etc.
Physiological components
When the exam stress or pressure become “phobia” the physical health of a student will be damaged by develop different physical reactions and number of sudden disability which include:
7.3.1 Nausea and Vomiting:According to Cambridge Dictionary (n.d), nausea is feeling of illness in the stomach that makes you think you are going to vomit, which mean to empty the contents of stomach through the mouth.
7.3.2Headaches:is pain located in head; sometimes neck or upper back pain may have interpreted as headache.
7.3.3 Stomachaches:According to the (Medical dictionary 2012) stomachaches is pain in the abdomen, usually arising in the stomach or intestine.
7.3.4 Palpitation: According to (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, n.d), palpitation refers to the abnormally rapid or irregular heart beating. (such as that caused by panic, arrhythmia, or strenuous physical exercise).
7.3.5 Excessive sweating or perspiration:The medical term for excessive sweating is Hyperhidrosis. Some people may sweat more than necessary under stressful situations such as during exams. (Sharma,2006).
7.3.6Trembling or shaking: refers to the body’s tremors or vibrating, occur frequently and can be visible or not visible which caused by great fear, stress and anxiety. (Folk,2018).
7.3.7 Diarrhea: according to (Cambridge Dictionary,2018) is an illness in which the body’s solid waste is more liquid than usual.
7.3.8 Shortness of breath:Breathless, or short of breath,describes as having problems in catching breath. The medical term for shortness breath is dyspnea (American Lung Association,2018).
7.3.9 Sleep disturbances:is having a terrible sleep problem, with symptoms such as difficulties falling asleep, frequent night awakenings, nightmares and daytime impairments(Schalarb et al.,2017).
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