This document is a research proposal that investigates secondary school students' speaking test anxiety towards school-based oral English assessments from teachers' perspectives and strategies. The introduction provides background on the implementation of school-based oral English assessments in Malaysian secondary schools and how it can increase students' speaking anxiety levels. The research objectives are to investigate teachers' awareness of students' anxiety, how assessments influence anxiety, and strategies to help overcome anxiety. The significance is that the findings can help teachers, researchers, and authorities better understand anxiety issues and develop support strategies.

1. EDU702 RESEARCH METHODODLOGY
Title of Research Proposal:
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ SPEAKING TEST ANXIETY TOWARDS SCHOOL-
BASED ORAL ENGLISH ASSESSMENT: TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES AND STRATEGIES
PREPARED BY:
NADZIRAH BAZLAA’ BINTI KAMARUZZAMRI
2015281472
ED7701A1
PREPARED FOR:
DR. JOHAN EDDY LUARAN
SUBMISSION DATE:
26th
October 2015

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CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………
Background of the Study……………………………………………………........
Statement of the Problem…………………………………………..………...…..
Research Objectives…………………………………………………….………...
Research Questions…………………………………………………….………...
Operational Definitions of Terms …………..……...…………………………......
Limitations of the Study……………………………………………………………
Significance of the Study…………………………………………………….…....

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CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
1.0 INTRODUCTION
English speaking assessment has been prevalent since adolescent and later in adulthood. It
could be in a form of spelling bee, oral speaking test, presentation and interviews. From this,
students’ communicative abilities and fluency in the target language would be gauged and
determined if they fulfill the criteria as a competent user of English language.
In accordance to Malaysian Educational goals and philosophy, a School-Based
Assessment (SBA) otherwise known as Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah (PBS) were
introduced to year one students of secondary school in 2012 (Kementerian Pendidikan
Malaysia, 2014). As it became more established in the following years, secondary school
students of year two and year three are also included. Since school-based oral assessment for
English Language began in 2003 and it is made compulsory for secondary five students who will
be SPM examination candidates to take school-based Oral English Test (Fook & Sidhu, 2011),
students could no longer avoid from being assessed. Yet, problems ensue when students are
facing difficulties due to anxiety caused by their fear towards speaking in English language and
in speaking assessment.
As Ayu Rita and Nadhia Dalila (2008) mentioned in their study, “anxiety in
communicating in a second language, especially when that language is English can have a
debilitating effect and can influence students’ adaptation to the target environment and
ultimately their educational goals”. Hence, when their fear of speaking in English intermingles
with their fear of speaking assessment that follows with it, their speaking anxiety will be
heightened. If the students’ fear towards these assessments still persists until adulthood, then it

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would cripple the students’ English speaking capabilities to function in the social context that
requires them to not only function theoretically but also in real life situation and settings.
Not only that, Richard Seel (2001) stated that anxiety is provoked by change and people
every so often behave in surprising and disturbing ways even in smaller groups. As new
challenges emerge in reaching the standards of school-based oral English assessment,
students’ speaking anxiety level would also be affected due to increased expectations from their
parents, teachers and peers. Students may view this change from old and familiar way of
assessment to a more challenging school-based assessment as a threat. This is because any
achievements or failures resulting from the school-based oral English assessment would affect
their overall academic performance. Thus, students’ speaking anxiety would be more complex
if the cause of their anxieties are not addressed and dealt with properly in which would lead to
academic stress (Deb et al., 2014).

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1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
One of the main components in the School-based Assessment (SBA) applied in Malaysian
secondary school is the oral English assessment. It is a formative assessment used in gauging
the students’ achievement and proficiency English speaking skills. Their performance during the
assessment would determine their bands which could be rated from Band 1 to Band 6.
To adhere to the criteria required in achieving the highest band, students would have to
perform above average and demonstrate their extensive vocabulary in English language. An
effective speaking skill is to not only able to communicate well with their audience, but also
manage to persuade their audience to agree with their opinions. Thus, a teacher would have to
be prepared more than teaching the persuasive speaking skills to their students. A more
effective way for students to be better learner is through receiving feedbacks. A teacher’s role in
class does not solely to prepare students to assess their performance summatively but also
formatively through constant feedback in students’ learning progress.
Hence, it is crucial for teachers to identify on students’ speaking anxiety levels on
earliest stage. Since English language is not the native language of Malaysian secondary
school students, they would require all the help they need. This is because students’
performance in oral English assessment would be negatively influenced by their speaking
anxiety. Thus, the strategies employed by the teachers would influence the students’ level of
speaking anxiety towards English oral assessment. By applying effective strategies to ease
students’ speaking anxiety towards oral English assessment, it would directly increase students’
confidence in their speaking performance.

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By increasing students’ familiarity and comfort to use the language is one of the
important components in ensuring success of using the language. Indirectly, tackling this
problem would influence the rise or fall of Malaysian students’ English language mastery up to
their tertiary education and even in the working context.

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1.2 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
The Ministry of Education in Malaysia directed their policies in ensuring future graduates are
literate and proficient user of both Bahasa Melayu and English language by the end of school
years. The introduction of Oral English Test (OET) to Malaysian schools in 2002 is hope to
develop students’ oral competence as parallel to English Language Syllabus for Malaysian
Secondary Schools’ learning objectives (Malaysian Examination Syndicate, 2002; Lembaga
Peperiksaan, 2013). However, the effectiveness of such policy is very dependent on the
teachers’ implementation of SBA in terms of teacher training (Mat Hassan & Talib, 2013).
Azrul (2011), Mohd Fadzli (2011) and Lee (2012) mentioned further issues arise with the
implementation of SBA as there were continuous server malfunction and teachers’ difficulties in
managing between the new assessment in school and the increased workload that came with it.
Inevitably, those issues heightened teachers’ concerns (Majid, 2011) and tensions in teachers
and students’ performance (as cited in Mat Hassan & Talib, 2013, p.194).
For students to fair well mastering the target language, students should be equipping
themselves with strategies in managing their speaking test anxiety when facing oral English
assessment. This depends heavily on their teachers’ preparation and strategies in familiarizing
their students to the speaking skills required. As had been highlighted by a study by Killen
(2005), teachers and students both will be presented with meaningful feedbacks that will assist
them in teaching and learning through assessment.
Yet, teachers in school focuses heavily on getting good grades in examination rather
than using the assessment as a mean to provide meaningful feedback because the Malaysian
education is too exam oriented (Abu Bakar, 2003). Hence, students negative attitudes such as
speaking anxiety, dislikes and avoidance towards English oral assessment would persist and
impede their progress in acquiring the needed mastery.

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Consequently, the purpose of this study focuses on strategies employed by Malaysian
teachers to lessen their students’ anxiety towards school-based oral English assessment in
school. Findings must be collected to investigate the effectiveness of strategies employed and
when it was applied, be it before, during or after the assessment. In doing so, the teachers have
to also be able to identify the symptoms of speaking test anxiety in students before applying any
strategies. Hence, by identifying the symptoms correctly, the teachers would use strategies that
suit their students’ needs.

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1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The research objectives of this study are:
i. To investigate teachers’ awareness on secondary school students’ speaking test anxiety
levels.
ii. To investigate teachers’ perspective on the influence of school based oral English
assessment on students’ speaking test anxiety levels.
iii. To identify the best strategies used in helping students to overcome their speaking test
anxiety towards oral English assessment.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The research questions of this study are:
i. What are the teachers’ awareness on secondary school students’ speaking test anxiety
levels?
ii. How does the school-based oral English assessment influence students’ speaking test
anxiety levels based on teachers’ perspectives?
iii. What are the best strategies used by teachers in helping students to overcome their
speaking test anxiety towards oral English assessment?

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1.5 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
The following terms are defined and used in this study:
ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
According to Cambridge Dictionaries Online, English as a second language is English as
taught to people whose country where English is an official and main language and
whose main language is not English. For the purpose of this study, English as a second
language refers to students who used it as a second language in a more formal context
such as in school. In the Malaysian educational context, the students primarily use
Bahasa Melayu as the main medium of language.
SPEAKING TEST ANXIETY
Speaking anxiety varies from trembling, blushing and sweating to feeling out of breath,
dizziness as well as frightening to faint at the moment of speaking as symptoms of public
speaking anxiety (Samuelsson, 2011).
Duman (2008) stated that the incorporation of things like insufficient studying
techniques, excessive physiological reactions and non-test related thoughts are
behaviours that affect achievement in school and exams which defined as test anxiety.
Hence the students’ speaking anxiety has its relation to test anxiety. It is also consistent
with the definition given by Sridevi (2013) that test anxiety is a concern about possible
failure in any testing or evaluation situation that is accompanied by a set of
phenomenological, physiological and behavioural responses. For the purpose of this
study, speaking test anxiety refers to students’ speaking anxiety towards school-based
oral English assessment that is conducted at the Malaysian secondary schools.

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SCHOOL BASED ORAL ENGLISH ASSESSMENT
First off, a School Based Assessment (SBA) is introduced into Malaysian education
system in 2011 and is an assessment process done formatively in schools (Mat Hassan
& Talib, 2013). SBA is also known as Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah. For the purpose
of this study, this study look into one aspect of SBA which is the oral English assessment
on lower secondary and the Oral English Test (OET) for form 5 students.
TEACHERS
According to the Cambridge Dictionaries Online, a teacher is someone whose job is to
teach in a school or college. For the purpose of this study, teachers refer to those who
undergo the postgraduate studies of Master in Teaching English as a Second Language
at UITM Shah Alam. These adult learners are also experienced teachers who had or are
currently teaching English language at secondary schools.

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1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The first limitation for this study is the number of respondents. The sample for this study only
involves teachers who undergo postgraduate studies at UITM Shah Alam. Teachers who are
not involved in the program are not eligible as respondents for this study.
Secondly, this study only involves the teachers as respondents. The responses obtained
from the interview are based on the strategies used by the teachers which may be influenced by
their preferences. In other words, it depends on the teachers’ themselves to rate the
effectiveness of their own strategies. Therefore, the result from the findings may be affected by
such factor.
To conclude, findings obtained from this research could not be generalized as it does not
represent teachers from other demographics such as type of schools and experience. They do
not share the same characteristics, demographic and geographical factors as the ones who do
not participate in this study.

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1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is significant in investigating the strategies teachers use in managing the effect of
oral assessment on secondary school students’ speaking anxiety level where anxiety is
considered as the one of the prevalent mental illness among the world population.
It is hoped that both researchers and teachers alike would gain insight in strategies
employed by the Malaysian school teachers in helping their students dealing with their speaking
anxiety towards oral English assessment through the findings of this study. This is because
teachers with different educational backgrounds would use different strategies in handling this
issue which may or not be an effective solution. Therefore, they would garner more beneficial
information from this study to expand their existing schemata on teaching approaches and
strategies.
Thirdly, the findings from this study would help the school authorities. The school
authorities could look at the strategies used by the teachers and may adapt the strategies to
help their teachers and students who are facing the similar issue. In doing so, school would get
an overall view of what works best for their students. Hence, a further action and improvements
may be taken in the future to improve students’ English language communicative competency.
Lastly, this study is also significant for Ministry of Education and school authorities as a
source of information. Findings obtained from this study could be used in the development of
the curricula by organizing a program or training that specifically conducive for these students.
.

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INSTRUMENTS
First off, a set of questionnaire will be given to teachers. The items in the questionnaire mainly
ask questions in relation to speaking anxiety in students. The aim of the questionnaire is to find
out the level of awareness in teachers towards their students’ speaking anxiety.
Secondly, a semi-structured interview will be conducted to investigate further the teacher’s
perspectives on the influence of oral based assessment on students’ speaking anxiety. Next,
more questions will be asked on their strategies in tackling the issue in lessening the students’
fear towards oral based assessment.

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REFERENCES
Deb, S., Strodl, E. & Sun, J. (2014). Academic-related Stress among Private Secondary School
Students in India. Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 3 Iss 2 pp. 118 – 134
Fook, C. Y. & Sidhu, G. K. (2011). School-Based Assessment among ESL Teachers in Malaysian
Secondary Schools. Malaysian Education Dean’s Council Journal, Vol. 9 pp. 75-87
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (2014). Panduan Pengurusan Pentaksiran Berasaskan
Sekolah. Lembaga Peperiksaan 2014. Retrieved from http://58.27.16.93/v1/files/
penerbitan/ 2014/Panduan_Pengurusan_PBS_21_April_2014_2.pdf
Mansor, A.N., Leng, O.H., Rasul, M.S., Raof, R.A. & Yusoff, N. (2013) The Benefits of School-
Based Assessment. Asian Social Science. Canadian Center of Science and Education.
Vol. 9 pp. 101-106
Mohamad, A.R., & Abd Wahid, N.D. (2008). Anxiety and Speaking English as a Second
Language among Male and Female Business Students in Universiti Industri Selangor.
Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/2053663/Anxiety_and_speaking_english_
as_a_second_language
Seel, R. (2001). Anxiety and Incompetence in the Large Group. Journal of Organizational
Change Management, Vol. 14 Iss 5 pp. 493 – 504

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NEW REFERENCES
Abdul Majid, Abd Samad, A., Muhamad, M. & Vethamani, M. E. (2011). The School-Based Oral
English Test: Similarities and Differences in Opinion between Teachers and Students.
The English Teacher Vol. XL pp. 113-128.
Mat Hassan, M.A. & Talib, R. (2013) Perception towards SBA Implementation among Teachers
in Malaysian Schools. 2nd
International Seminar on Quality and Affordable Education, pp.
194-200.
Majid, F. A. (2011). School-based Assessment in Malaysian Schools: The Concerns of the
English Teachers. US-China Education Review pp. 393-402.
Sridevi, K. V. (2013). A Study of Relationship among General Anxiety, Test Anxiety and
Academic Achievement of Higher Secondary Students. Journal of Education and
Practice Vol. 4 pp. 122-131