Review Research on Foreign Language Anxiety and Foreign Language Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Stephen Krashen points out emotional factors are of vital importance in second language acquisition (SLA) in the affective filter hypothesis, and the humanistic educational ideas represented by Carl Rogers also emphasize the important role of it. Anxiety and self-efficacy are two major factors that have greatly affected students’ foreign language learning (FLL) and their performance. This paper mainly reviews the concepts, development, and influencing factors of foreign language anxiety (FLA) and foreign language (FL) self-efficacy, concluding their relationship that the two factors are interactive which are in accordance with the cyclical relationship between anxiety, motivation, confidence and behavior. Pedagogically, figuring out the correlation between FL self-efficacy and FLA can improve learners’ SLA performance. In the end, the paper proposes feasible intervention measures for teaching from the relationship between FLA and FL self-efficacy. Teachers are expected to adjust FLA and enhance students’ FL self-efficacy of SLA, for students, maintaining an energetic and active study state is of vital importance.