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European Journal of Education Studies ISSN: 2501 - 1111 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 3 │ Issue 8 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.838743 STRESS MANAGEMENT IN TAKING TESTS: THE ROLE OF EFL LEARNERS' STRESS COPING STRATEGIES IN THEIR TEST ANXIETY AND TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES Salimeh Salehi1, Afsaneh Ghanizadeh2i Soroor Rostami1 MA of TEFL, Imam Reza International University, Iran 1 Assistant Professor of TEFL, Imam Reza International University, 2 Mashhad, Iran Abstract: The purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of some strategies (stress coping and test-taking strategies in diminishing Iranian EFL learners’ test anxiety. The sample consisted of 152 adult participants, 48 males and 104 females aged 20 to 35 with Persian as their first language. The instruments used in this study consisted of three questionnaires, the coping inventory for stressful situations (CISS), test anxiety questionnaire, and test taking strategy questionnaire. The results of path analysis demonstrated that among the coping strategies, task (β= .35, t= 5.00) and avoidance (β= .32, t= 4.32) are positive predictors of test-taking strategies and emotion negatively predicted test-taking strategies (β= -.21, t= -3.26). Test anxiety is influenced by task (β= -.17, t= -2.18) and avoidance (β=- .33, t= -4.25) negatively and positively by emotion (β= .23, t= 3.43). It was also found that test-taking strategies and test anxiety are negatively associated (β= -.25, t= -3.17). In addition, results of independent sample t-test showed that there is a significant difference between male and female students with respect to stress coping strategies, test taking strategies, and test anxiety. Finally, the findings were discussed with reference to the context of Iran. Keywords: stress coping strategies, test-taking strategies, test anxiety, task, avoidance, emotion Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 436 Salimeh Salehi, Afsaneh Ghanizadeh, Soroor Rostami STRESS MANAGEMENT IN TAKING TESTS: THE ROLE OF EFL LEARNERS' STRESS COPING STRATEGIES IN THEIR TEST ANXIETY AND TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES 1. Introduction It cannot be said decisively when or where the first formal test was given (Christmann & Badgett, 2008). As put by Foucault (1977), "Through the test, the teacher, and later the policymaker defined what was expected of students and the test in turn forced students to reveal periodically how their learning was progressing. The written examination guaranteed the movement of knowledge from the teacher to the pupil, but it extracted from the pupil knowledge destined and reserved for the teacher, thus becoming a mechanism for exercising power over the pupil p. . One of the main concerns of science education in the 21st century is establishing a convenient learning environment to make learners achieve academic success. One of the main barriers to attain this target is test anxiety. The term test anxiety has been characterized as the negative affect, worry, physiological arousal, and behavioral responses that accompany concerns about failure or lack of competence on an exam or similar evaluative situation Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, anxiety has been observed in the literature since the early , p. . The topic of test ’s Mandler & Sarason, 1952) and from the beginning it has been an important area of study (Bonaccio & Reeve, 2010). Test anxiety has been a popular research field in Iran and many researchers investigated test anxiety from different viewpoints (e.g. Akbari, 2015; Jannati & Estaji, 2015, Javanbakht & Hadianb, 2014; Rezazadeh & Tavakoli, 2009; Shomoossi & Kassaian, 2009). Rezazadeh and Tavakoli (2009) designed a descriptive analytic study to investigate the relationship between gender, academic achievement, years of study and levels of test anxiety among 110 undergraduate students from University of Isfahan. The results indicated that female learners compared to males have a higher level of test anxiety. The average of test anxiety score among female students was higher. In addition, a significant negative correlation was found between learners’ test anxiety and their academic achievement. There was no meaningful relationship between test anxiety and years of study. In addition, Shomoossi and Kassaian (2009) carried out a study to investigate the impact of test anxiety on listening and speaking. The results revealed that anxiety is an important factor in taking oral tests than in the listening comprehension tests. However, there was no significant difference between test anxiety before and after the listening comprehension test. Also, no relationship was found to exist between test anxiety and the general proficiency of students. In addition, Akbari (2015) in a correlational and cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between test anxiety and academic performance among psychology students. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between test anxiety and academic performance among psychology students. European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 8 │ 2017 437 Salimeh Salehi, Afsaneh Ghanizadeh, Soroor Rostami STRESS MANAGEMENT IN TAKING TESTS: THE ROLE OF EFL LEARNERS' STRESS COPING STRATEGIES IN THEIR TEST ANXIETY AND TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES Modern living has brought with it an extreme amount of stress among all socio economic groups of population. Now-a-days everyone experiences it, whether it is within the family, classroom, business, or any other environment. Although everybody wants stress-free life, it is an inevitable component of life due to increasingly competitive state among people (Nayak, 2008). According to Lazarus and Folkman (1984), stress coping strategies are the particular tactics that students may use to reduce stress when demands in their environments exceed their resources to manage such demands. They have been propounded that coping strategies have two main functions, governing the emotions relating to the stressors and managing the problem. Moreover, Lazarus and Folkman (1984) purported another coping strategy known as avoidant coping strategies which include avoiding the situation, denying its existence or losing hope. Avoidant coping strategies can be considered as abnormal coping strategies which cause health problems such as chronic heart diseases, impairment of memory, and asthma. 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