The Interrelationship between EFL Learners’ Levels of Reading Anxiety and Their Levels of Cognitive Test Anxiety: An Analysis of EFL Learners’ Speed of Processing an IELTS Reading Test

Abstract

This study investigated the EFL learner’s speed of processing an IELTS reading test, in relation to their scores on Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) and Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS). The association between their scores on the two aforementioned scales was also examined to find if there was any significant relationship. 196 senior university EFL learners majoring in either English translation or English literature were participating in the first phase of the study. Out of them 46 were chosen according to their FLRAS scores -23 of them were low-anxiety group and 23 were high-anxiety group- who participated in the second stage of the study. Their speed of reading and processing an IELTS reading test and their levels of CTAS were then examined. To find the relationship, the Pearson Product-moment formula was used and the results indicated that the higher were the EFL learners’ scores on FLRAS and CTAS, the more time they needed to finish the reading task. A positive correlation between the EFL learners’ levels of Foreign Language Reading Anxiety and their scores on CTAS was also found.