The interplay between learner-internal variables and levels of anxiety and enjoyment among Spanish EFL learners

Abstract

The present study explores the relationship between learner-internal variables and enjoyment and anxiety in English foreign language (EFL) classes. Participants were 207 EFL learners from Spain who filled out an online questionnaire with Likert scale items. Statistical analyses revealed that sociobiographical background variables such as age and multilingualism had no effect, while gender had a small effect on foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA). Further analyses showed that other foreign language learning variables were significantly linked with each other and with both foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and FLCA. More favorable attitudes toward English were linked to significantly higher levels of FLE and lower levels of FLCA. Attitudes toward the English teacher were also linked to significantly higher levels of FLE but had no significant effect on FLCA. We argue that foreign language attitudes undoubtedly affect classroom emotions but that the causality could also go the other way, with high FLE and low FLCA boosting foreign language attitudes. The results confirm and expand previous research that showed that a positive attitude toward the foreign language is a powerful predictor of FLE and that teachers play a crucial role in increasing FLE but have limited power in reducing learners’ FLCA.