The core of self-assessment and academic stress among EFL learners: the mediating role of coping styles

• Published in: Language Testing in Asia 2022-08, Vol.12 (1), p.1-18, Article 21
• Main Authors: Jahara, Syed Farhat, Hussain, Mudassir, Kumar, Tribhuwan, Goodarzi, Ahmad, Assefa, Yalalem
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic stress; Assessment; Avoidance; Coping; Coping styles; Education; Emotional Response; Emotions; English (Second Language); English as a second language; English as a second language instruction; English Language Learners; Foreign Countries; Language Education; Learning oriented Assessment (LOA): A Window for Fairness in Classroom Assessment?; Personality; Personality Traits; Problem Solving; Second Language Learning; Self evaluation; Self Evaluation (Individuals); Self-evaluation core; Stress; Stress Variables; Structural Equation Models; Testing and Evaluation
• ISSN: 2229-0443; 2229-0443
• DOI: 10.1186/s40468-022-00170-9

While several studies have addressed the interconnections between self-assessment and academic stress, much uncertainty still exists about the mediating role of coping styles in this interplay. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the mediating role of coping styles in the relationship between the core of self-assessment and academic stress. To this aim, a total of 384 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in the training institutes in Woldia, Ethiopia, filled out three questionnaires, including self-evaluations, the coping styles, and the academic stress. The analysis of the data using structural equation modeling revealed that the core of self-assessment had significant negative effects on academic stress, emotion-based coping, and avoidance. Furthermore, self-assessment with the mediating role of other factors, namely problem-oriented coping, emotion-based coping, and avoidance coping showed to have a negative and significant effect on academic stress. Based on the findings, it is possible to receive personality traits as an individual factor, predict differences in individuals coping styles of academic stress, and, as a result, teach appropriate coping styles to EFL learners to reduce their academic stress.