Harnessing Resilience to Mitigate the Effect of Test Anxiety on English Achievement: A Case of the Dual-Mode Hypothesis.

Test anxiety has been found to impede English achievement. Much attention has been paid to motivational and cognitive factors (e.g., self-concept, strategic competence) in reducing test anxiety and its effects, leaving under-explored psychological variables such as resilience. Drawing on the Dual-Mode Hypothesis (DMH), we hypothesize that resilience can impact the effect of test anxiety on English achievement through two modes: reducing the level of test anxiety and subsequently its effectiveness in impairing English achievement (the effectiveness mode) and weakening the negative relationship between test anxiety and English achievement (the efficiency mode). To test these hypotheses, we recruited 823 12th graders (Mage = 17.97, SD = 0.60, females = 54%) from a high school in East China. Test anxiety and resilience were measured using two questionnaires, and English achievement was indicated by mid-term exam scores. Results of structural equation modeling showed that: (1) test anxiety was negatively and significantly associated with English achievement; (2) resilience was non-significantly associated with test anxiety (failing to confirm the effective mode); and (3) resilience weakened the negative association between test anxiety and English achievement (confirming the efficiency mode). Our findings provided insights regarding the complex relationship between resilience and test anxiety in impacting English achievement.