Test anxiety restricts learning achievement. Therefore, attention has been paid to individual factors (e.g. self-concept, strategic competence) that can help students reduce the detrimental effects of these factors on learning achievement. This focus leaves external variables such as teacher feedback underexplored. The current study examined whether teacher feedback has the potential to reduce the level of test anxiety and weaken its detrimental effect on students’ English achievement. This cross-sectional study involved 535 12th graders (Mage = 17.97, SD = .60, females = 54%) from a middle school in China. Two questionnaires were delivered to measure students’ test anxiety and perceived teacher feedback. Students’ English achievement was indicated with an in-house English exam. Data were analysed using structural equation modeling with latent interaction. The results showed that: (1) test anxiety had a medium negative effect on English achievement (β = −0.24, p < .001); (2) positive and constructive teacher feedback had a small negative effect on test anxiety (β = −0.11, p <.001), thereby reducing the effectiveness of test anxiety in impairing English achievement; and (3) positive, constructive teacher feedback had a medium-sized moderation on the relationship between test anxiety and English achievement, weakening the detrimental effect of test anxiety on English achievement (β = 0.10, p <.001). The study provides new insights into the role of positive and constructive teacher feedback in diminishing test anxiety and mitigating its detrimental effect on English achievement.
AkramH.AbdelradyA.H. (2023). Application of ClassPoint tool in reducing EFL learners’ test anxiety: An empirical evidence from Saudi Arabia. Journal of Computers in Education, 10, 529–547.
2.
AtashenehN.IzadiA. (2012). The role of teachers in reducing/increasing listening comprehension test anxiety: a case of Iranian EFL learners. English Language Teaching, 5, 178–187.
3.
BarrosoC.GanleyC.M.McGrawA.L., et al (2021). A meta-analysis of the relation between math anxiety and math achievement. Psychological Bulletin, 147, 134–168.
4.
BensoussanM. (2012). Alleviating Test Anxiety for Students of Advanced Reading Comprehension. RELC Journal, 43, 203–216.
5.
BlackP.WiliamD. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability (formerly: Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education), 21, 5–31.
6.
BlondeelE.EveraertP.OpdecamE. (2024). Does practice make perfect? The effect of online formative assessments on students’ self-efficacy and test anxiety. The British Accounting Review, 56, Article 101189.
7.
CaiY.ChenY.YangY. (2025). The role of uncertainty tolerance in lowering test anxiety and enhancing English achievement. Thinking Skills and Creativity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2025.102027
8.
CaiY.GeQ.YangY. (2024). The role of perspective-taking in mediating the relationship between teacher feedback and reading achievement. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 39, 411–430.
9.
CaiY.JiangZ. (2024). Female students and students from more affluent families benefit more from fear of failure in learning achievements: A study based on 77 economies. Learning and Individual Differences, 111, Article 102441.
10.
CaiY.KunnanA.J. (2020). Mapping the fluctuating effect of strategy use ability on English reading performance for nursing students: A multi-layered moderation analysis approach. Language Testing, 37, 280–304.
11.
CaiY.LinJ. (2024). The moderation of culture dimensions on the relationships between expectancy-value factors and reading achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 115, Article 102542.
12.
CarlessD. (2012). From testing to productive student learning: Implementing formative assessment in Confucian-heritage settings. Routledge.
13.
CassadyJ.C.FinchW.H. (2020). Revealing nuanced relationships among cognitive test anxiety, motivation, and self-regulation through curvilinear analyses. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 1141.
14.
CassadyJ.C.HelsperA.QuaglianoQ. (2024). The collective influence of intolerance of uncertainty, cognitive test anxiety, and academic self-handicapping on learner outcomes: Evidence for a process model. Behavioral Sciences, 14, Article 96.
15.
CenY.ZhengY. (2024, 2024/01/01/). The motivational aspect of feedback: A meta-analysis on the effect of different feedback practices on L2 learners’ writing motivation. Assessing Writing, 59, Article 100802.
16.
ChengL.KlingerD.FoxJ., et al (2013). Motivation and test anxiety in test performance across three testing contexts: The CAEL, CET, and GEPT. TESOL Quarterly, 48, 300–330.
17.
CohenJ. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Erlbaum.
18.
CuiY.SchunnC.D.GaiX.JiangY.WangZ. (2021). Effects of trained peer vs. teacher feedback on EFL students’ writing performance, self-efficacy, and internalization of motivation. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 788474.
19.
DannR. (2016). Developing understanding of pupil feedback using Habermas’ notion of communicative action. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 23, 396–414.
20.
De JongeS.OpdecamE.HaerensL. (2024). Test anxiety fluctuations during low-stakes secondary school assessments: The role of the needs for autonomy and competence over and above the number of tests. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 77, Article 102273.
21.
Di LoretoS.McDonoughK. (2013). The relationship between instructor feedback and ESL student anxiety. TESL Canada Journal, 31, 20–41.
22.
DionisioA.G.C.ReyesJ.P.CulalaM.R. (2025). Teacher’s written and verbal corrective feedback on pupils’ test anxiety. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 25, 1144–1164.
23.
EysenckM.W.CalvoM.G. (1992). Anxiety and performance: The processing efficiency theory. Cognition and Emotion, 6, 409–434.
24.
EysenckM.W.DerakshanN.SantosR.CalvoM.G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: attentional control theory. Emotion, 7, 336 –353.
25.
EysenckM.W.MoserJ.S.DerakshanN.HepsomaliP.AllenP. (2023). A neurocognitive account of attentional control theory: how does trait anxiety affect the brain’s attentional networks?Cognition and Emotion, 37, 220–237.
26.
Fréchette-SimardC.PlanteI.DuchesneS.ChaffeeK.E. (2022). The mediating role of test anxiety in the evolution of motivation and achievement of students transitioning from elementary to high school. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 71, Article 102116.
27.
FuM.LiS. (2024). The associations between foreign language anxiety and the effectiveness of immediate and delayed corrective feedback. Foreign Language Annals, 57, 201–228.
28.
GoodarziA.NamaziandostE. (2025). A mixed-methods study on the effects of online dynamic assessment on L2 learners' motivation and speaking anxiety: Beyond the classroom perspectives. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 17, Article 100584.
29.
HattieJ. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.
HattieJ.TimperleyH. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77, 81–112.
32.
HayatA.A.ChoupaniH.DehsorkhiH.F. (2021). The mediating role of students’ academic resilience in the relationship between self-efficacy and test anxiety. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 10, Article 297.
33.
HorwitzE.K. (1986). Preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of a foreign language anxiety scale. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 559–562.
34.
HorwitzE.K.HorwitzM.B.CopeJ. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70, 125–132.
35.
HuangH.T.D.HungS.T.A. (2013). Comparing the effects of test anxiety on independent and integrated speaking test performance. TESOL Quarterly, 47, 244–269.
36.
JerrimJ. (2023). Test anxiety: Is it associated with performance in high-stakes examinations?Oxford Review of Education, 49, 321–341.
KingR.CaiY.ElliotA. (2024). Income inequality is associated with heightened test anxiety and lower academic achievement: A cross-national study in 51 countries. Learning and Instruction, 89, Article 101825.
39.
MarcoulidesK.M.YuanK.-H. (2017). New ways to evaluate goodness of fit: A note on using equivalence testing to assess structural equation models. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 24, 148–153.
40.
MartinS.Alvarez ValdiviaI.M. (2017). Students’ feedback beliefs and anxiety in online foreign language oral tasks. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14, 1–15.
41.
MežekŠMcGrathL.NegrettiR.BerggrenJ. (2021). Scaffolding L2 academic reading and self-regulation through task and feedback. TESOL Quarterly, 56(1), 41–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3018
NelsonM.M.SchunnC.D. (2009). The nature of feedback: how different types of peer feedback affect writing performance. Instructional Science, 37, 375–401.
44.
OECD. (2019). PISA 2018 assessment and analytical framework. OECD.
45.
PanaderoE.LipnevichA.A. (2022). A review of feedback models and typologies: Towards an integrative model of feedback elements. Educational Research Review, 35, Article 100416.
46.
PatraI.AlazemiA.Al-JamalD.GheisariA. (2022). The effectiveness of teachers’ written and verbal corrective feedback (CF) during formative assessment (FA) on male language learners’ academic anxiety (AA), academic performance (AP), and attitude toward learning (ATL). Language Testing in Asia, 12, Article 19.
47.
PlanteI.LecoursV.LapointeR.ChaffeeK. E.Fréchette-SimardC. (2022). Relations between prior school performance and later test anxiety during the transition to secondary school. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(3), 1068–1085. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12488
48.
PutwainD.W.AveyardB. (2018). Is perceived control a critical factor in understanding the negative relationship between cognitive test anxiety and examination performance?School Psychology Quarterly, 33, 65–74.
49.
PutwainD.W.DalyA.L. (2013). Do clusters of test anxiety and academic buoyancy differentially predict academic performance?Learning and Individual Differences, 27, 157–162.
50.
PutwainD.W.DalyA.L.ChamberlainS.SadreddiniS. (2016). ‘Sink or swim’: Buoyancy and coping in the cognitive test anxiety–academic performance relationship. Educational Psychology, 36, 1807–1825.
51.
PutwainD.W.SymesW. (2020). The four Ws of test anxiety: What is it, why is it important, where does it come from, and what can be done about it. Psychologica, 63, 31–52.
52.
ResendesM.ChenB.AcostaA.ScardamaliaM. (2013). The effect of formative feedback on vocabulary use and distribution of vocabulary knowledge in a grade two knowledge building class. In RummelN.KapurM.NathanM.PuntambekarS. (Eds.), To see the world and a grain of sand: Learning across levels of space, time, and scale: CSCL 2013 conference proceedings volume 1: Full papers and symposia (pp. 391–398). International Society of the Learning Sciences.
53.
RobsonD.A.JohnstoneS.J.PutwainD.W.HowardS. (2023). Test anxiety in primary school children: A 20-year systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 98, 39–60.
54.
RoosA.L.GoetzT.KrannichM., et al (2022). Control, anxiety and test performance: Self-reported and physiological indicators of anxiety as mediators. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 72–89.
55.
RueggR. (2015). The relative effects of peer and teacher feedback on improvement in EFL students’ writing ability. Linguistics and Education, 29, 73–82.
56.
SchererK.R. (2009). The dynamic architecture of emotion: Evidence for the component process model. Cognition and Emotion, 23, 1307–1351.
57.
SegoolN.K.CarlsonJ.S.GoforthA.N.Von Der EmbseN.BarterianJ.A. (2013). Heightened test anxiety among young children: Elementary school students’anxious responses to high-stakes testing. Psychology in the Schools, 50, 489–499.
58.
ShaoJ.WuY.ZengS.HuangR. (2024, 2024/07/03). The role of feedback type and language anxiety in the effectiveness of written corrective feedback for L2 learning. The Language Learning Journal, 52, 367–379.
59.
ShuteV.J. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78, 153–189.
60.
SungY.-T.ChaoT.-Y.TsengF.-L. (2016). Reexamining the relationship between test anxiety and learning achievement: An individual-differences perspective. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 46, 241–252.
TanS.H.PangJ.S. (2023). Test anxiety: An integration of the test anxiety and achievement motivation research traditions. Educational Psychology Review, 35, Article 13.
63.
UnsworthN.BrewerG.A.SpillersG.J. (2013). Working memory capacity and retrieval from long-term memory: The role of controlled search. Memory and Cognition, 41, 242–254.
64.
von der EmbseN.JesterD.RoyD.PostJ. (2018, February). Test anxiety effects, predictors, and correlates: A 30-year meta-analytic review. Journal of Affective Disorder, 227, 483–493.
65.
WanS.LinS.LiS.TuS.QinG. (2024). The relationship between perfectionism and test anxiety of junior high school students: the mediating role of self-efficacy and trait anxiety. Educational Studies, 50, 1184–1199.
66.
WangZ.HanF. (2022). The effects of teacher feedback and automated feedback on cognitive and psychological aspects of foreign language writing: A mixed-methods research. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 909802.
67.
WengF.LiuX. (2024). Exploring second language students’ language assessment literacy: impact on test anxiety and motivation. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1289126.
68.
WiliamD. (2023). Putting learners at the heart of the feedback process: Reflections on the special issue. Learning and Instruction, 87, Article 101785.
69.
XiaoY.CaiY.GeQ.YangY. (2023). The potential of using formative assessment to enhance academic achievement in the Confucian-heritage culture: A comparison between Hong Kong and Shanghai. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 32, 867–876.
70.
YenkimalekiM.van HeuvenV.J.HosseiniM. (2024). The effect of providing feedback and feedforward in prosody instruction for developing listening comprehension skills by interpreter trainees. Foreign Language Annals, 57, 184–200.
71.
ZafaraniP.AhangariS.Hadidi TamjidN. (2022). Perfectionism, anxiety and English language achievement of Iranian EFL learners: The contribution of performance goal-orientation. Research in English Language Pedagogy, 10, 389–411.
72.
ZeidnerM. (2007). Test anxiety in educational contexts: Concepts, findings, and future directions. In SchutzP.A.PekrunR. (Eds.), Emotion in education. (pp. 165–184). Academic Press.
73.
ZhangX. (2019). Foreign language anxiety and foreign language performance: A meta-analysis. The Modern Language Journal, 103, 763–781.
