Chinese university EFL learners’ foreign language classroom anxiety and enjoyment in an online learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present study investigated foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and foreign language enjoyment (FLE) of 492 Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in their online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The quantitative data revealed that the participants reported higher levels of FLE than FLCA in online learning and that FLE was negatively correlated with FLCA. FLE was more strongly predicted by teacher-related variables (i.e., teachers’ friendliness, their familiarity with teaching platforms, their joking, English accent, and frequency of speaking English in class), while FLCA was mainly predicted by learner-internal variables (i.e., relative standing among peers and online interaction with the teacher). The qualitative data confirmed that Chinese EFL learners’ FLE was strongly linked to the teacher, while their FLCA to the learners themselves. Based on these findings, the study provided pedagogical implications for online EFL teaching and learning.