Mindfulness and the Mediating Role of Psychological Capital in Predicting the Foreign Language Anxiety.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between mindfulness and foreign language anxiety among a sample of 504 University students who were learning English as a foreign language. In addition, the mediating role of psychological capital was examined. Three self-reported questionnaires were administered to the participants and Pearson correlation, path analysis, and structural equation modeling was utilized to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that all five components of mindfulness except observation have a direct and significant effect on foreign language anxiety. However, it should be noted that the two components of description and non-reactivity to inner experiences had a positive while the two components of aware action and non-judgment of inner actions had a negative effect on students' foreign language classroom anxiety. In addition, two of the components of psychological capital, namely self-efficacy and resilience, play a mediating role in the relationship between the components of mindfulness and EFL classroom anxiety. Implications are discussed and suggestions for further research are given.