Research Article
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Fear of Statistics among TEFL Postgraduate Students

Year 2021, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 202 - 221, 08.04.2021
https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.911253

Abstract

Although statistics is an important compulsory course in a wide variety of disciplines, the vast majority of students including TEFL postgraduate students find it frightening and difficult to understand, and thus suffer from underachievement. As a result, a specific kind of anxiety called statistical anxiety emerges that requires immediate attention. To date, a large and growing body of research has focused on exploring different aspects and dimensions of statistics that produce fear and tension. However, the problem of fear of statistics amongst TEFL postgraduate students has received scant attention in the literature. In this study, attempts are made to assess and describe the areas of anxiety that TEFL postgraduate students experience during a statistics course. To this end, the present study employed a descriptive research design, i.e., survey research. First, a statistical anxiety questionnaire, which reflects three correlated dimensions of statistical anxiety including Examination Anxiety, Asking for Help Anxiety, and Interpretation Anxiety, was distributed among 72 TEFL postgraduate students. Then, interview sessions were held with 10 participants for the purpose of further exploration of the participants’ responses to the questionnaire items. Analysis revealed that examination anxiety has the highest frequency among other subscales, while the lowest frequency belongs to asking for help anxiety. These descriptive results together with the conceptualization of participants’ perspectives regarding their major concerns in statistics have clear implications for statistics teachers, course developers, policy makers, and TEFL postgraduate students.

References

  • Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., Irvine, C.K.S., & Walker, D. A. (2013). Introduction to research in education. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.
  • Baloğlu, M. (2003). Individual differences in statistics anxiety among college students. Personality and Individual Differences, 34(5), 855–865.
  • Baloğlu, M. (2004). Statistics anxiety and mathematics anxiety: Some interesting differences. Educational Research Quarterly, 27(3), 38–48.
  • Baloğlu, M., Deniz, M. E., & Kesici, Ş. (2011). A descriptive study of individual and cross-cultural differences in statistics anxiety. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(4), 387–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.03.003
  • Bell, J. A. (2003). Statistics anxiety: The nontraditional student. Education, 124(1), 157-163.
  • Bell, J.A. (2005). Length of term and levels of statistics anxiety: A comparison of types of offerings. Academy of Information and Management Sciences Journal, 8(1), 103– 108.
  • Benson, J. (1989). Structural components of statistical test anxiety in adults: An exploratory model. Journal of Experimental Education, 57, 247-261.
  • Benson, J., & Bandalos, D. (1989). Structural model of statistical test anxiety. In R. Schwarzer, H.M. van der Ploeg, & C.D. Spielberger (Eds.), Advances in test anxiety research (vol. 5) (pp. 207-211). Lisse: Swets and Zeitlinger: Hillsdale, N.J. Erlbaum.
  • Blalock, H.M. (1987). Some general goals in teaching statistics. Teaching Sociology, 15, 164-172.
  • Bridges, G.S., Gillmore, G. M., Pershing, J. L., & Bates, K. A. (1998). Teaching quantitative research methods: A quasi-experimental analysis. Teaching Sociology, 26(1), 14–28.
  • Bui, N. H., & Alfaro, M. A. (2011). Statistics anxiety and science attitudes: Age, gender, and ethnicity factors. College Student Journal, 45(3), 573–585.
  • Caine, R.D., Centa, D., Doroff, C., Horowitz, J.H., & Wisenbaker, V. (1978). Statistics from who? Teaching Sociology, 6, 37-46.
  • Comanaru, R.S. (2014). Essential statistics for applied linguistics. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 17(4), 498-500. DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2013.809910
  • Cruise, R.J., Cash, R.W., & Botlon, D.L. (1985). Development and validation of an instrument to measure statistical anxiety. In Proceedings of the American Statistical Association. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Statistical Education Section. Chicago, IL, pp. 92–97.
  • Cunnings, I. (2012). An overview of mixed-effects statistical models for second language researchers. Second Language Research, 28, 369–382. doi:10.1177/ 0267658312443651
  • DeVaney, T. A. (2017). Anxiety and attitude of graduate students in on-campus vs. online statistics courses. Journal of Statistics Education, 18(1). doi.org/10.1080/10691898.2010.11889472
  • Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Druggeri, K., Dempster, M., Hanna, D., & Cleary, C. (2008). Experiences and expectations: The real reason nobody likes stats. Psychology Teaching Review, 14(2), 75–83.
  • Fitzgerald, S.M., Jurs, S. & Hudson, L.M., (1996). A model predicting statistics achievement among graduate students. College Student Journal, 30, 361–366.
  • Gaydosh, L.R. (1990). Syllabi and instructional materials for social statistics. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
  • Gonulal, T., Loewen, S., & Plonsky, L. (2017). The development of statistical literacy in applied linguistics graduate students. ITL – International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 168(1), 4–32. https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.168.1.01gon
  • Gorard, S. (2015). Rethinking “quantitative” methods and the development of new researchers. Review of Education, 3(1), 72-96. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3041
  • Hsiao, T., & Chiang, S. (2011). Gender differences in statistics anxiety among graduate students learning English as a foreign language. Social Behavior and Personality, 39(1), 41–42.
  • Huns ley, J.D. (1987). Cognitive processes in mathematics anxiety and test anxiety: The role of appraisals, internal dialogue, and attributions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 388-392.
  • Jones, B. D., Wilkins, J. L. M., Long, M. H., & Wang, F. (2011). Testing a motivational model of achievement: How students’ mathematical beliefs and interests are related to their achievement. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 27(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-011-0062-9
  • Krapp, A. (2005). Basic needs and the development of interest and intrinsic motivational orientations. Learning and Instruction, 15, 381–395.
  • Khany, R., & Tazik, K. (2019). Levels of statistical use in applied linguistics research articles: From 1986 to 2015. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, 26(1), 48–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/09296174.2017.1421498
  • Lazaraton, A. (2000). Current trends in research methodology and statistics in applied linguistics. TESOL Quarterly, 34(1), 175–181. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588103
  • Lazaraton, A. (2005). Quantitative research methods. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language learning (pp. 209–224). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Lazaraton, A., Riggenbach, H., & Ediger, A. (1987). Forming a discipline: Applied linguists’ literacy in research methodology and statistics. TESOL Quarterly, 21(2), 263– 277. https://doi.org/10.2307/3586735
  • Lindstromberg, S. (2016). Inferential statistics in language teaching research: A review and ways forward. Language Teaching Research, 20(6), 741–768. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1362168816649979
  • Loewen, S., & Gass, S. (2009). The use of statistics in L2 acquisition research. Language Teaching, 42(2), 181–196. doi:10.1017/S0261444808005624
  • Loewen, S., Lavolette, E., Spino, L. A., Papi, M., Schmidtke, J., Sterling, S., & Wolff, D. (2014). Statistical literacy among applied linguists and second language acquisition researchers. TESOL Quarterly, 48(2), 360–388. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.128
  • Loewen, S., Gönülal, T., Isbell, D. R., Ballard, L., Crowther, D., Lim, J., Maloney, J., & Tigchelaar, M. (2019). How knowledgeable are applied linguistics and SLA researchers about basic statistics?: data from north America and Europe. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 42(4) 871-890. doi:10.1017/S0272263119000548
  • Lundgren, T.D., & Fawcett, R. (1980). Statistics from statisticians. Teaching Sociology, 7, 191-201.
  • Malik, S., (2015). Undergraduates’ statistics anxiety: A phenomenological study. The Qualitative Report, 20(2), 120–133.
  • Macher, D., Papousek, I., Ruggeri, K., & Paechter, M. (2015). Statistics anxiety and performance: blessings in disguise. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1116. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01116
  • Morris, L.W., Kellaway, D.S., & Smith, D.H. (1978). Mathematics anxiety rating scale: Predicting anxiety experiences and academic performance in two groups of students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 589-594.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (1997). Writing a research proposal: The role of library anxiety, statistics anxiety, and composition anxiety. Library & Information Science Research 19, 5-33.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Academic procrastination and statistics anxiety. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 29, 3–19.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A.J., & Seaman, M.A., (1995). The effect of time constraints and statistics test anxiety on test performance in a statistics course. The Journal of Experimental Education, 63(2), 115–124.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A.J., & Daley, C.E. (1999). Perfectionism and statistics anxiety. Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 1089-1102.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A.J., & Wilson, V.A., (2003). Statistics anxiety: Nature, etiology, antecedents, effects, and treatments–a comprehensive review of the literature. Teaching in Higher Education, 8(2), 195–209.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A.J. Leech, N. L., Murtonen, M., & Tähtinen, J. (2010). Utilizing mixed methods in teaching environments to reduce statistics anxiety. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 4(1), 28–39.
  • Payne, G., & Williams, M. (2011). Teaching quantitative methods: Getting the basics right. Los Angeles, Calif: SAGE Publications Ltd.
  • Pica, S. (2003). Second language acquisition research and applied linguistics. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, 18(2), 1–26.
  • Pintrich, P., & DeGroot, E. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 33– 40.
  • Plonsky, L. (2013). Study quality in SLA: An assessment of designs, analyses, and reporting practices in quantitative L2 research. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35(4), 655–687.
  • Plonsky, L., & Gass, S. (2011). Quantitative research methods, study quality, and outcomes: The case of interaction research. Language Learning, 61, 325–366. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00640.x
  • Roberts, D.M., & Bilderback, E.W. (1980). Reliability and validity of a statistics attitude survey. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 40, 235-238.
  • Rodarte-Luna, B., & Sherry, A. (2008). Sex differences in the relation between statistics anxiety and cognitive/learning strategies. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(2), 327–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.03.002
  • Schacht, S., & Stewart, B.J. (1991). What's funny about statistics? Interactive/user-friendly gimmicks for teaching statistics. Teaching Sociology, 20, 329-332.
  • Scholfield, P. (1991). Statistics in linguistics. Annual Review of Anthropology, 20(1), 377–393.
  • Sutarso, T. (1992). Some variables in relation to students' anxiety in learning statistics. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, Knoxville, TN.
  • Trimarco, K.A. (1997, October). The effects of a graduate learning experience on anxiety, achievement, and expectations in research and statistics. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Northeastern Educational Research Association, Memphis, TN.
  • Vigil-Colet, A., Lorenzo-Seva, U., & Condon, L. (2008). Development and validation of the statistical anxiety scale. Psicothema, 20(1), 174- 180.
  • Williams, M., Sloan, L., Cheung, S. Y., Sutton, C., Stevens, S. & Runham, L. (2015). Can’t Count or Won’t Count? Embedding Quantitative Methods in Substantive Sociology Curricula: A Quasi-Experiment. Sociology, 50(3), 435-452. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0038038515587652
  • Zeidner, M. (1990). Does test anxiety bias scholastic aptitude test performance by gender and sociocultural group? Journal of Genetical Psychology, 150, 175-185.
  • Zeidner, M. (1991). Statistics and mathematics anxiety in social science students -some interesting parallels. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 61, 319-328.
Year 2021, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 202 - 221, 08.04.2021
https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.911253

Abstract

References

  • Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., Irvine, C.K.S., & Walker, D. A. (2013). Introduction to research in education. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.
  • Baloğlu, M. (2003). Individual differences in statistics anxiety among college students. Personality and Individual Differences, 34(5), 855–865.
  • Baloğlu, M. (2004). Statistics anxiety and mathematics anxiety: Some interesting differences. Educational Research Quarterly, 27(3), 38–48.
  • Baloğlu, M., Deniz, M. E., & Kesici, Ş. (2011). A descriptive study of individual and cross-cultural differences in statistics anxiety. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(4), 387–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.03.003
  • Bell, J. A. (2003). Statistics anxiety: The nontraditional student. Education, 124(1), 157-163.
  • Bell, J.A. (2005). Length of term and levels of statistics anxiety: A comparison of types of offerings. Academy of Information and Management Sciences Journal, 8(1), 103– 108.
  • Benson, J. (1989). Structural components of statistical test anxiety in adults: An exploratory model. Journal of Experimental Education, 57, 247-261.
  • Benson, J., & Bandalos, D. (1989). Structural model of statistical test anxiety. In R. Schwarzer, H.M. van der Ploeg, & C.D. Spielberger (Eds.), Advances in test anxiety research (vol. 5) (pp. 207-211). Lisse: Swets and Zeitlinger: Hillsdale, N.J. Erlbaum.
  • Blalock, H.M. (1987). Some general goals in teaching statistics. Teaching Sociology, 15, 164-172.
  • Bridges, G.S., Gillmore, G. M., Pershing, J. L., & Bates, K. A. (1998). Teaching quantitative research methods: A quasi-experimental analysis. Teaching Sociology, 26(1), 14–28.
  • Bui, N. H., & Alfaro, M. A. (2011). Statistics anxiety and science attitudes: Age, gender, and ethnicity factors. College Student Journal, 45(3), 573–585.
  • Caine, R.D., Centa, D., Doroff, C., Horowitz, J.H., & Wisenbaker, V. (1978). Statistics from who? Teaching Sociology, 6, 37-46.
  • Comanaru, R.S. (2014). Essential statistics for applied linguistics. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 17(4), 498-500. DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2013.809910
  • Cruise, R.J., Cash, R.W., & Botlon, D.L. (1985). Development and validation of an instrument to measure statistical anxiety. In Proceedings of the American Statistical Association. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Statistical Education Section. Chicago, IL, pp. 92–97.
  • Cunnings, I. (2012). An overview of mixed-effects statistical models for second language researchers. Second Language Research, 28, 369–382. doi:10.1177/ 0267658312443651
  • DeVaney, T. A. (2017). Anxiety and attitude of graduate students in on-campus vs. online statistics courses. Journal of Statistics Education, 18(1). doi.org/10.1080/10691898.2010.11889472
  • Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Druggeri, K., Dempster, M., Hanna, D., & Cleary, C. (2008). Experiences and expectations: The real reason nobody likes stats. Psychology Teaching Review, 14(2), 75–83.
  • Fitzgerald, S.M., Jurs, S. & Hudson, L.M., (1996). A model predicting statistics achievement among graduate students. College Student Journal, 30, 361–366.
  • Gaydosh, L.R. (1990). Syllabi and instructional materials for social statistics. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
  • Gonulal, T., Loewen, S., & Plonsky, L. (2017). The development of statistical literacy in applied linguistics graduate students. ITL – International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 168(1), 4–32. https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.168.1.01gon
  • Gorard, S. (2015). Rethinking “quantitative” methods and the development of new researchers. Review of Education, 3(1), 72-96. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3041
  • Hsiao, T., & Chiang, S. (2011). Gender differences in statistics anxiety among graduate students learning English as a foreign language. Social Behavior and Personality, 39(1), 41–42.
  • Huns ley, J.D. (1987). Cognitive processes in mathematics anxiety and test anxiety: The role of appraisals, internal dialogue, and attributions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 388-392.
  • Jones, B. D., Wilkins, J. L. M., Long, M. H., & Wang, F. (2011). Testing a motivational model of achievement: How students’ mathematical beliefs and interests are related to their achievement. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 27(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-011-0062-9
  • Krapp, A. (2005). Basic needs and the development of interest and intrinsic motivational orientations. Learning and Instruction, 15, 381–395.
  • Khany, R., & Tazik, K. (2019). Levels of statistical use in applied linguistics research articles: From 1986 to 2015. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, 26(1), 48–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/09296174.2017.1421498
  • Lazaraton, A. (2000). Current trends in research methodology and statistics in applied linguistics. TESOL Quarterly, 34(1), 175–181. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588103
  • Lazaraton, A. (2005). Quantitative research methods. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language learning (pp. 209–224). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Lazaraton, A., Riggenbach, H., & Ediger, A. (1987). Forming a discipline: Applied linguists’ literacy in research methodology and statistics. TESOL Quarterly, 21(2), 263– 277. https://doi.org/10.2307/3586735
  • Lindstromberg, S. (2016). Inferential statistics in language teaching research: A review and ways forward. Language Teaching Research, 20(6), 741–768. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1362168816649979
  • Loewen, S., & Gass, S. (2009). The use of statistics in L2 acquisition research. Language Teaching, 42(2), 181–196. doi:10.1017/S0261444808005624
  • Loewen, S., Lavolette, E., Spino, L. A., Papi, M., Schmidtke, J., Sterling, S., & Wolff, D. (2014). Statistical literacy among applied linguists and second language acquisition researchers. TESOL Quarterly, 48(2), 360–388. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.128
  • Loewen, S., Gönülal, T., Isbell, D. R., Ballard, L., Crowther, D., Lim, J., Maloney, J., & Tigchelaar, M. (2019). How knowledgeable are applied linguistics and SLA researchers about basic statistics?: data from north America and Europe. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 42(4) 871-890. doi:10.1017/S0272263119000548
  • Lundgren, T.D., & Fawcett, R. (1980). Statistics from statisticians. Teaching Sociology, 7, 191-201.
  • Malik, S., (2015). Undergraduates’ statistics anxiety: A phenomenological study. The Qualitative Report, 20(2), 120–133.
  • Macher, D., Papousek, I., Ruggeri, K., & Paechter, M. (2015). Statistics anxiety and performance: blessings in disguise. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 1116. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01116
  • Morris, L.W., Kellaway, D.S., & Smith, D.H. (1978). Mathematics anxiety rating scale: Predicting anxiety experiences and academic performance in two groups of students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 589-594.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (1997). Writing a research proposal: The role of library anxiety, statistics anxiety, and composition anxiety. Library & Information Science Research 19, 5-33.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Academic procrastination and statistics anxiety. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 29, 3–19.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A.J., & Seaman, M.A., (1995). The effect of time constraints and statistics test anxiety on test performance in a statistics course. The Journal of Experimental Education, 63(2), 115–124.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A.J., & Daley, C.E. (1999). Perfectionism and statistics anxiety. Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 1089-1102.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A.J., & Wilson, V.A., (2003). Statistics anxiety: Nature, etiology, antecedents, effects, and treatments–a comprehensive review of the literature. Teaching in Higher Education, 8(2), 195–209.
  • Onwuegbuzie, A.J. Leech, N. L., Murtonen, M., & Tähtinen, J. (2010). Utilizing mixed methods in teaching environments to reduce statistics anxiety. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 4(1), 28–39.
  • Payne, G., & Williams, M. (2011). Teaching quantitative methods: Getting the basics right. Los Angeles, Calif: SAGE Publications Ltd.
  • Pica, S. (2003). Second language acquisition research and applied linguistics. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, 18(2), 1–26.
  • Pintrich, P., & DeGroot, E. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 33– 40.
  • Plonsky, L. (2013). Study quality in SLA: An assessment of designs, analyses, and reporting practices in quantitative L2 research. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35(4), 655–687.
  • Plonsky, L., & Gass, S. (2011). Quantitative research methods, study quality, and outcomes: The case of interaction research. Language Learning, 61, 325–366. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00640.x
  • Roberts, D.M., & Bilderback, E.W. (1980). Reliability and validity of a statistics attitude survey. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 40, 235-238.
  • Rodarte-Luna, B., & Sherry, A. (2008). Sex differences in the relation between statistics anxiety and cognitive/learning strategies. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(2), 327–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.03.002
  • Schacht, S., & Stewart, B.J. (1991). What's funny about statistics? Interactive/user-friendly gimmicks for teaching statistics. Teaching Sociology, 20, 329-332.
  • Scholfield, P. (1991). Statistics in linguistics. Annual Review of Anthropology, 20(1), 377–393.
  • Sutarso, T. (1992). Some variables in relation to students' anxiety in learning statistics. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, Knoxville, TN.
  • Trimarco, K.A. (1997, October). The effects of a graduate learning experience on anxiety, achievement, and expectations in research and statistics. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Northeastern Educational Research Association, Memphis, TN.
  • Vigil-Colet, A., Lorenzo-Seva, U., & Condon, L. (2008). Development and validation of the statistical anxiety scale. Psicothema, 20(1), 174- 180.
  • Williams, M., Sloan, L., Cheung, S. Y., Sutton, C., Stevens, S. & Runham, L. (2015). Can’t Count or Won’t Count? Embedding Quantitative Methods in Substantive Sociology Curricula: A Quasi-Experiment. Sociology, 50(3), 435-452. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0038038515587652
  • Zeidner, M. (1990). Does test anxiety bias scholastic aptitude test performance by gender and sociocultural group? Journal of Genetical Psychology, 150, 175-185.
  • Zeidner, M. (1991). Statistics and mathematics anxiety in social science students -some interesting parallels. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 61, 319-328.
There are 59 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Linguistics
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Seyed Mohammad Reza Amirian This is me 0000-0003-3719-3902

Saeed Abbasi-sosfadi This is me 0000-0002-5901-8315

Publication Date April 8, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 7 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Amirian, S. M. R., & Abbasi-sosfadi, S. (2021). Fear of Statistics among TEFL Postgraduate Students. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1), 202-221. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.911253