Ways to Decrease Anxiety in Online Assessment: Can Self-Assessment, Teacher Support, Self-esteem, and L2 Grit Be Empowering?

Test anxiety is defined by a confluence of physiological manifestations and emotional responses that impede one's capacity to perform optimally during examinations. Online assessment (OA) may trigger test anxiety. It is vital to uncover the factors that may hinder or decrease test anxiety, which is the main aim of this experimental research. The random allocation of participants was achieved the accomplishment into two distinct groups, namely the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG), drawn from a population of 91 intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. The students assigned to CG participated in regular attendance of online webinars. The participants assigned to EG attended online webinars. Furthermore, they were given tasks concentrating on self-assessment, self-esteem, and L2 grit. Teacher support during this research is more highlighted for EG. The data analysis through Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) showed that EFL students in the EG experienced less anxiety in the final assessment, which was done online. Further research avenues and pedagogical implications were discussed in detail.