ABSTRACTIn this study, we present questionnaire data obtained from Japanese students of our Spanish conversation class. The following questions are addressed: 1) How do students perceive oral class tests? 2) Are tests considered a cause of anxiety? 3) Do tests really serve as tools to generate study habits? With regard to the first question, all students perceived one or more positive points in the tests (for example, 46% said that the tests had motivated them to review what they had learned and 27% considered that, because the tests were oral, they had practiced with their classmates outside the classroom). On the other hand, 54% of the students did not perceive any negative point in the tests, while 22% considered as a negative point not knowing the exact content of the tests. With respect to the second question, one student considered tests as a cause of anxiety; and two other students declared that they felt anxious when they did not know the concrete content. However, three other students reported that the tests had helped them reduce either their anxiety when speaking in Spanish or the stress generated by the final examination. Thus, class tests can be considered as causes of anxiety, but also as tools that minimize it. Regarding the third question, 73% of the students indicated that if there were no class tests, they would study less or not study at all. This would confirm that class tests are useful in developing study habits.
