Test anxiety and reading to learn strategies in students with learning disabilities

Given the increasing importance attached to test performance by schools and the society, students experience increasing pressure and anxiety in evaluative situations. High test anxiety can have negative consequences on students' physical, social and emotional development as well as on their cognitive functioning and learning performance. Despite extensive research in this field, less attention has been given to test anxiety among the population of students with learning disabilities comprising students with minor learning disabilities called specific learning difficulties (hereinafter SpLD) and those with moderate to severe learning disabilities called deficits in individual learning areas. The Master's thesis presents the characteristics of test anxiety, paying special attention to test anxiety in students with SpLD and deficits in individual learning areas. Furthermore, it focuses on learning strategies, especially reading-to-learn strategies, and clarifies their correlation to test anxiety in students. The main objective of the Master's thesis was to identify the connection between test anxiety and the frequency of use of reading-to-learn strategies in students with deficits in individual learning areas. Moreover, it examined the level of test anxiety and the frequency of use of reading-to-learn strategies based on different test anxiety dimensions (thoughts, autonomic reactions and off-task behaviors) and types of reading-to-learn strategies (learning strategies before, after and during reading) as well as significant differences in the level of test anxiety and the application of reading-to-learn strategies across groups of students based on gender and age. The research method used was causal non-experimental. The sample comprised 163 elementary school students with deficits in individual learning areas in grades 5-9. To determine the level of test anxiety and the frequency of use of reading-to-learn strategies, a survey questionnaire comprising the Children’s Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS) and a Questionnaire on learning strategies were used. The statistical analysis of data was performed on the basis of descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed a statistically significant correlation between the identified level of test anxiety and the frequency of use of reading-to-learn strategies in students with deficits in individual learning areas. The identified correlation was weak and positive. The results also revealed statistically significant differences in the application of reading-to-learn strategies among students with higher and lower level of test anxiety, indicating that reading-to-learn strategies were more frequently used by students with deficits in individual learning areas and higher level of test anxiety. There were no significant differences in the level of test anxiety in students with deficits in individual learning areas based on gender and age, although a higher level of autonomic reactions was identified in girls and younger students, while a higher level of off-task behaviors was identified in boys and older students. There were no statistically significant differences in the application of reading-to-learn strategies in students with deficits in individual learning areas across age, while there were statistically significant differences across gender. It was determined that reading-to-learn strategies are more frequently used by girls with deficits in individual learning areas. In conclusion, the Master's thesis also provides limitations of the research and implications for further research, teaching practices and special-pedagogical help. The aim of the Master's thesis is to increase the awareness of professors of special and rehabilitation pedagogy and all teaching staff that attention must be paid to the emotional state of students, especially those with SpLD and deficits in individual learning areas, as they represent a risk group for the development of emotional problems