Blank Minds and Stuck Voices: Understanding and Addressing Cognitive Anxiety in High-Stakes ESL Speaking Tests

Speaking test anxiety is a recurring challenge among second language (L2) learners, who often perceive the experience as intimidating and paralyzing. Beyond affective discomfort, learners are also susceptible to cognitive anxiety (CA), which manifests in mental blanks, blocked recall, and impaired clarity of speech during high-stakes assessments. Guided by Eysenck et al.’s Attentional Control Theory and Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis, this study conceptualizes CA as a disruption of attentional resources and language processing. To explore this phenomenon, a mixed-methods survey design was employed with 258 Malaysian undergraduates enrolled in diploma and technical programmes. Quantitative Likert-scale data were analyzed descriptively, while qualitative open-ended responses underwent thematic coding to capture students’ lived experiences. The findings revealed four core patterns: i) performance pressure induces recall blockage, ii) nervous arousal undermines speech clarity, iii) fear of negative evaluation amplifies cognitive disruption, and iv) coping mechanisms remain limited and unsystematic. Together, these results confirm that CA acts as a cognitive barrier to L2 oral performance, preventing learners from demonstrating their communicative ability. The study contributes to theory by extending understandings of test anxiety beyond affective dimensions into cognitive mechanisms, and to practice by recommending that educators integrate mock assessments, scaffold retrieval strategies, and cultivate supportive classroom environments to reduce the cognitive costs of high-stakes speaking tests.