FEARS OF STATISTICS AMONG TEFL POST GRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

Although the field of statistics serves as a crucial and obligatory component of the curriculum across a myriad of academic disciplines, it has been observed that a significant proportion of students, particularly those enrolled in postgraduate programs focused on Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), frequently experience profound feelings of intimidation and find the subject matter exceedingly challenging to comprehend. Consequently, this pervasive difficulty often leads to a state of underachievement among these students, which can have adverse effects on their overall academic performance and self-confidence. In light of these circumstances, a particular type of anxiety, which is specifically identified as statistical anxiety, tends to manifest among learners and necessitates prompt and focused intervention to alleviate its detrimental effects. To date, an extensive and continually expanding body of scholarly research has concentrated on identifying and investigating various aspects and dimensions of statistics that elicit feelings of fear and tension among students. However, despite the wealth of literature available, the specific issue of statistical anxiety experienced by TEFL postgraduate students has not been adequately addressed or prioritized within academic discourse. In the context of the present study, efforts are made to systematically evaluate and articulate the specific areas of anxiety that individuals pursuing postgraduate studies in TEFL encounter during their engagement with a statistics course. To achieve this objective, the current research employed a descriptive research design, specifically utilizing survey research methodologies to gather data. Initially, a well-structured statistical anxiety questionnaire was disseminated to a sample of 72 TEFL postgraduate students, which was designed to capture three interrelated dimensions of statistical anxiety, namely Examination Anxiety, Asking for Help Anxiety, and Interpretation Anxiety. Following the questionnaire distribution, in-depth interview sessions were conducted with a subset of 10 participants to facilitate a more thorough exploration of their responses to the items presented in the questionnaire. The subsequent analysis of the collected data indicated that Examination Anxiety was the most frequently reported concern among the various anxiety subscales, while the least frequent concern was associated with Asking for Help Anxiety. These descriptive findings, in conjunction with the conceptual insights derived from the participants’ perspectives regarding their primary anxieties related to statistics, hold significant implications for educators who teach statistics, developers of academic courses, policymakers within the educational sector, and, of course, the TEFL postgraduate students themselves, as they seek to navigate the complexities of statistical concepts.