The Levels of Examination’s Phobia in English Subject: Students’ Perceptions in the Secondary Schools of Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan being a multilingual country, the people speak different languages in different regions. The people feel comfortable to communicate and interact in their mother tongues. Mostly, the students feel uncomfortable when they turn to English. They have developed a kind of feeling that English is difficult. Consequently, most of the students score either too low or get failed in the English Subject.  In view of the above, the current study investigates examination phobia caused by English subject and its dimensions such as “Worry” and “Lack of Confidence” in the government Secondary Schools in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Data was collected from 384 secondary school students in district Mardan, which was then analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics (i.e., frequency and percentage distribution) and Spearman rho correlation/SEM/AMOS (Structural Equation Modeling) techniques. It was revealed that the level of the variable “Examination Phobia” is high in English subject. Furthermore, the levels of the dimensions such as; “worry” and “lack of confidence” were also found as high. The analysis suggests that, the rate of the students’ dropout and suicide intention in the context can be reduced to zero, if the level of examination phobia due to English subject is reduced. Further, the government, the schools, and the parents should play their active role in reducing the level of examination phobia in reference with English in the secondary schools