Resumen de Gender Effect on Avoidance Responses to Anxiety in Second Language Oral Tests

Lourdes García Marín, María Elena Gómez Parra, Cristina Huertas Abril

• The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between avoidance responses to anxiety and gender variable in second language oral performance. This research project investigates the conceptualization of second language anxiety in the context of oral production, considering avoidance responses to anxiety and differences derived from gender on foreign language speaking anxiety. There were 313 participants in the study, 146 female and 164 male participants. Among the participants, there were students from three different degrees at the University of Cordoba, Spain, studying ESP. A modified version of the Test Anxiety Questionnaire (CAEX; Valero, 1999) (in Spanish - Cuestionario de Ansiedad ante los Exámenes - CAEX), was administered to participants. The CAEX was modified to set the goals of the study, the original version of the CAEX consisted of 50 items, while the modified version administered to participants of this study consisted of 40 items. Results of the quantitative data in this research show that male learners demonstrated higher levels of anxiety than female ones. The results of this study might help teachers to select their teaching and testing strategies more effectively according their learners’ gender.