Probing into the influence of EFL learners’ self-assessment and evaluation apprehension in predicting their personal best goals and self-efficacy skills: a structural equation modeling

Effective instruction and assessment are greatly affected by many factors. The ever-growing literature on assessment outlined some cognitive, social, and emotional factors that directly or indirectly influence the learners’ academic achievement. In spite of the rosy literature on assessment, the possible interplay among the Core of Self-assessment (CSA), the Student Evaluation Apprehension (SEA), the Personal Best Goal (PBG), and Self-efficacy (SE) were untouched. To this end, this study intended to propose a model to disclose the association between CSA, SEA, PBG, and SE in higher education. Therefore, the Core of Self-assessment Questionnaire (CSAQ), the Student Evaluation Apprehension Scale (SEAS), the Personal Best Goal Scale (PBGS), and the Self-efficacy Scale (SES) were administered to 467 Iranian EFL university students at MA level. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated that CSA and SEA can contribute to PBG and SE. It means that learners’ investment in CSA and positive SEA can flourish and upgrade goal-settings and sense of efficacy beliefs among EFL university students. The implications and suggestions for future avenues are also discussed.