Foreign language enjoyment and anxiety: The effect of teacher and learner variables

• Published in: Language teaching research : LTR Vol. 22; no. 6; pp. 676 - 697
• Main Authors: Dewaele, Jean-Marc, Witney, John, Saito, Kazuya, Dewaele, Livia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.11.2018; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Anxiety; FLES; Foreign Countries; Foreign language instruction; Foreign language learning; High School Students; Language Attitudes; Language Teachers; Language Tests; Language Usage; Learner Engagement; Learning environment; Mastery Learning; Modern Language Curriculum; Psychology; Resistance (Psychology); Scores; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Second language teachers; Second Languages; Secondary school students; Speech Skills; Student Attitudes; Teacher Characteristics; Teacher Student Relationship; Time on Task; United Kingdom (Great Britain); foreign language anxiety; foreign language enjoyment; learner-internal variables; Emotional classroom; teacher effect
• ISSN: 1362-1688; 1477-0954
• DOI: 10.1177/1362168817692161

Positive psychology has boosted interest in the positive as well as the negative emotions that Foreign Language learners experience. The present study examines whether – and to what extent – foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language (FL) classroom anxiety (FLCA) are linked to a range of learner internal variables and teacher/classroom-specific variables within one specific educational context. Participants were 189 British high school students learning various FLs. Higher levels of FLE were linked to higher scores on attitudes towards the FL, the FL teacher, FL use in class, proportion of time spent on speaking, relative standing and stage of development. Lower levels FLCA were linked to higher scores on attitudes towards the FL, relative standing and stage of development. FLCA thus seems less related to teacher and teacher practices than FLE. The pedagogical implication is that teachers should strive to boost FLE rather than worry too much about students’ FLCA.