The paper analyses the extent to which self-evaluation as a metacognitive strategy can help students lower their anxiety in English-speaking examinations and achieve better performance.

After giving some theoretical guidelines regarding cognitive and metacognitive strategies, the paper takes a more practical approach. The study involves testing B1- and B2-level students to establish whether self-evaluation has an impact on speaking exam performance. Students were given a questionnaire to establish whether they feel anxious before exams; those who have a tendency toward examination anxiety were included in the study. The experimental group was consistently taught how to use self-evaluation after speaking tasks during one semester, while the control group was not.

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