Students’ Test Anxiety in the Preparation of High-Stakes Examinations: Case of the Baccalaureate Exam

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to, first, highlight and procure a deep understanding about students’ fear and uneasiness of sitting for the Baccalaureate. Then, it tries to suggest solutions and remediation to this unwanted and uncomfortable state (test anxiety). The investigation took the form of an exploratory case study of third AS students in addition to their teachers and parents. Different research instruments were used in order to gather the necessary data. Those instruments included two questionnaires administered to 3 rd year high school students and their EFL teachers. They were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Then, an additional research tool was used: an interview with parents of 3AS students to support the gathered data from the other instruments. The findings revealed that 3 rd year secondary students suffered from test anxiety due to the high-stakes exam (i.e.; the Baccalaureate). On the other hand, teachers play a great role for overcoming BAC exam anxiety with technical strategies. The results lead to the idea that students suffer from major problems such as the long programme to cover, time management and mental and physical fatigue due to the attendance of both school and coaching courses, which are source of their anxiety. Finally, some suggestion and recommendation were put forward in accordance to the leading investigation for resolving BAC exam anxiety problems and the three stakeholders (students, teachers and parents) contribute largely in this section.