Learner-oriented assessment matters: testing the effects of academic buoyancy, reflective thinking, and learner enjoyment in self-assessment and test-taking anxiety management of the EFL learners

Students may better keep tabs on their own development by engaging in self-assessment (S-A), academic buoyancy (AB) construction, and reflective thinking (RT). Although S-A, AB, and RT have been known for a long time, very little is known regarding their potential effects on test-taking anxiety (TTA) and learner enjoyment (LE). Therefore, this study aimed to present a framework depicting the dynamic interaction of AB, RT, LE, S-A, and TTA. Specifically, 394 EFL students from Turkey were given the Academic Buoyancy Scale (ABS), the Reflective Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ), the Test-Taking Anxiety Scale (TTAS), the Core of Self-Assessment Questionnaire (CSAQ), and the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (FLES). Higher levels of S-A, AB, RT, and LE were associated with more S-A and less TTA among EFL students, as shown by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings of this research have important implications for the development of S-A, AB, and RT practices and the introduction of learning-oriented evaluation in educational settings.