Humanising Language Teaching
Year 5; Issue 2; March 03

Ways of helping test-takers cope with Anxiety, Fear and Panic.

by Michele Lambert, UK

If this article interests you, Pilgrims offers courses in this area. Click here for more information.

I have several things which I do to help my students try to face their fears and to try to deal with them in a safe environment ie my classroom.

1. Reading and dealing with the panic of having to read and absorb a lot in a short time
Most lessons I give the students 20 - 60 secs to read a short text/ the blank fill / passage to be edited/ set of questions... (the length of time depends on what we have in front of us)
and I encourage them to be aware of the panic of having to do a task in such a short time, and then to concentrate on breathing it away. I encourage them to say to themselves 'I'm panicking but by breathing deeply and thinking that this is normal , the panic will all go away.' I remind them that they may have to do this in the exam and that they will need practice in coping with such feelings as much as speed reading techniques.

2. 'Complaining' before an activity and releasing resentment
When doing exam practice (especially past papers) I tell them that they have 30 secs to complain about the activity before we start. They can't usually manage 30 secs at first and so we build up to it , starting with 10 and then 15 secs. I feed them lines like
' I can't believe we have to do yet another blank fill / reading/ use of English!'
'What a waste of class time !'
' I'm going to write and get my money back!'
'This is so boring !'
'Not another one!'
I emphasise that they have to put a lot of feeling into their complaints and really sound like they are complaining. I encourage them to make as much noise as possible and everyone has to speak at he same time. It's loud.
This usually releases a lot of resistance/anxiety and causes a lot of laughter , and when the time comes for them to start they do so in a more positive state of mind. Some students want to set to without waiting for the required 30 secs of complaining time to lapse, but I try to encourage them to keep talking/complaining, saying that they'll have to talk for a minute in the speaking part of the exam so they had better get used to it!.

3. Anxieties about the Listening test
Close to the listening test ,about the week before, I divide the class into 2 and explain that half the class have to make as much noise as possible ( without talking) while the other half try to answer the questions in part 1 of the listening test.
I start the tape and then say 'GO!'
The rules are that nobody can speak but they can scratch their heads, sharpen pencils, cough, russle papers, squeak their chairs, scribble loudly, blow their noses,quiet laughter etc.
I play enough of the tape so that they have fun.
Then I rewind the tape so the other half of the class have a go at trying to answer the same questions while the others make noise.
The point of doing this is that all students say that they feel the 'real' listening test is harder than any of the practice tests or any past papers. Why is this? Well, they also regularly complain that some individual inevitably arrives late and/or is noisy and that this puts them off.
The reasoning behind this exercise is that if they have had the experience of some disturbance happening and of having to deal with it , then they will be much better able to keep focused if this happens on the day.
Needless to say it is also a fun activity with the students sometimes almost wetting them selves !! and therefore this releases a lot of tension (usually only tension!) in this stressful time. In addition, often the students surprise themselves by having answered some of the questions correctly despite having been so rudely interrupted!
When both halves of the class have listened intently and made a lot of noise, I rewind the tape back to the beginning and do the listening practice for real with everyone quiet.

PS I've just told my kids about this and they tell me that they have just seen a film called 'Senseless' where the main character fails an exam because his listening powers are too acute! All he can hear are scratches and breathing etc and not the tape itself. What about showing this extract?

4.Visualisation - Seeing your class mates doing really well and you doing well too.
Another anxiety for students is that they are not going to do as well as their classmates, and will look stupid when the results come out.
They often panic when they see another student pick up their pen and start to write furiously as soon as the exam begins. Panic means their minds begins to race and then go entirely blank.
So in the weeks coming up tp the exam I give them a quick visualisation. I task them to close theit eyes and talk them through arriving at the exam building, being welcomed by a friendly woman who explains where to go, walking up the stairs, sitting down and being told the exam is about to start.
I then tell them to look to their left and right and wish their peers well. They have to see their peers smiling at them and looking happy before they begin to write. Then they are told to see themselves picking up their pens and feeling really confident, they look at hte paper and all the questions seem easy.They feel relaxed and know exactly what to do.

5. What's the worst that can happen?
I do this the day/ last lesson before the exam.
I ask this question or write it on the board.
I ask a few basic questions and then feed them a couple of answers to get their minds working and then let them take over, prompting when necessary by asking ' and then what happens?' or giving a prompt word e.g. 'snow' - ie there is a snowstorm and your car/bike/house gets snowed under (see later). The secret is let each avenue be explored as far as possible before coming back to the basic questions.
I start by asking what time they intend getting up on the morning of the exam and what might be the problem... I ask 'What's going to wake you up?' and then ask 'what might be the problem?'
the alarm clock doesn't go off, it goes off at 2am, it goes off every hour, you watch the minutes/seconds ticking by, etc
Then I ask what they might forget to take to the exam ie pen, pencil, rubber,dictionary etc
What can happen to your pen?
It runs out, it's the wrong colour, the ink comes all your hands/paper/clothes
Then I ask how they are getting to the exam
and then when given the answer 'bus'
ask what might be the problem
ie it doesn't come, no 27 comes instead of no 45, it's full, the bus driver says you can't come on, it crashes/breaks down, goes the wrong way etc when given the answer 'bike'
i prompt answers to the question What might be the problem with it?
It's been stolen, the tyre has gone flat, it's been crushed/jumped on, the front tyre has been removed, you can't find your lock/key etc
What happens on the way?
you fall off, get a puncture, get lost, can't find the building etc
there's an earthquake and the ground opens up, there's a fire and they can't let you through etc
ther's a snowstorm and you get submerged under snow
a diversion takes you through London and you have to get 2 trains 5 buses and then walk for 30 mins
who do you meet on the way and what do they tell you?
they try to persuade you to go for a coffee,
they tell you it';s the wrong day, wrong place, wrong time etc
you've got to return urgently home NOW etc
you're wearing the wrong clothes (what do you have to wear?)
you suddenly realise you are entirely naked,
a helicoptor picks you up and takes you blind-folded to a secret far away location,
you're given a machine gun and a soldier's uniform and told you are joining a secret army,
you have just won the lottery and so will never need to take this or another exam again etc
when you fall off the bike or you fall because you are running, what happens? where do you fall?
You fall in a puddle, in mud, dog dirt, old chips,
you break a leg, arm, both legs, both arms etc
While you are on the ground a dog comes along What does the dog look like?
young fluffy puppy? small dog? big dog? viscious dog? how many teeth?
what does it do to you?
licks you, bites you,where? how many times? tears your clothes etc
what about the building?
You can't find the entrance, it's locked, no-one else is there, they won't let you in, you get caught in the lift between floors etc
You are sitting in the room waiting for the exam to start, what happens?
Noone comes to tell you to start,
It's the wrong paper when you open it,
What is it? maths etc
it says something horrible like 'go home this is not for you!'
What else might it say?
'You are rubbish/stupid!
' You can't answer these questions go home now!' 'You are going to get the lowest ever recorded mark.. ..in England, Europe, the World'
When you open the paper what's the surprise?
There are only 2 questions, 100 extra questions, you have to draw your answers,
A bug/snake flies/slithers out etc
The whole point of this activity is to go beyond any reasonable problems which could possibly occur and to push the game to some wild extremes
And some really fun scenarios which could not even be dreamed of even in a nightmare before the exam.

6. Writing fears
So many students never 'get round to' doing their written homework. Many students hate the idea of handing in work to be marked because they feel they are going to be judged and possibly more importantly they fear they will not live up to their own expectations. Indeed when they get their work back it is inevitably covered in the teacher's corrections, which can be quite discouraging.
In order to try to help overcome writing fears I get my students to spend 5 mins at the end of every lesson writing up their impressions of the lesson, and any thoughts they may have had related to any topic which has come up BUT the most important thing is that they are told that when the 5 mins are up they are to throw their paper into the bin! It's important that they screw the paper up into a tight ball before throwing it in - this seems to release some laughter and make it more fun.
On the first occasion I pick up the bin and ask the students why I'm holding it up. I wait till someone says it's for throwing something into. then I explain that they will write for 5 mins and then screw up their paper and throw it in and that no one will look at it. They can't believe I'm going to really do this the first time, but in my experience all students manage to get something out on paper, even those who never do regular written homeworks.
When asked 'Why are we doing this?' I reply ' well how do you feel now?' and look round and see them all grinning!

7. Students who don't listen to each other
Get them to listen out for grammar mistakes which the others are making!

8. Speaking exam practice
The students speak for 10 secs and then their partner has to repeat word for word what they said. Then they swap over and repeat 10 secs and 10 secs. They build up to speaking for longer periods ie 60 secs.
This is good for group dynamics too as it's always good to be listened to!

Well Mario
can't think of anything else just now.

Michele