The Relationship Between Chinese English Major Students' Learning Anxiety and Enjoyment in an English Language Classroom: A Positive Psychology Perspective.

Fan Fang,Xiaofei Tang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.705244

Abstract

Many studies have explored learner psychology in relation to second language acquisition (SLA) in order to understand the effectiveness and difficulties of language learning. In the last two decades, emotional factors in students' language learning have garnered much attention in the field of SLA. However, more recently, studies have begun to focus on enjoyment and its relationship with anxiety. By collecting data at a provincial key university in southeast China, the study discussed in this paper investigated English major university students' emotions related to learning English. By collecting questionnaire responses from 140 English major undergraduates and conducting interviews with six students, the findings revealed that the participants' levels of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) were significantly higher than their levels of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and that they experienced FLE more frequently than FLCA. It was also found that the participants' FLE was more related to their teachers and peers and their FLCA was more related to their emotions, such as fear of a negative evaluation and speaking without sufficient preparation. In addition, this study also provides a few pedagogical implications for improving foreign language learning outcomes and teaching efficiency in English teaching and learning.

Highlights

There have been a number of advancements in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) that have created an understanding of the manner in which individual differences and social environments enable certain learners to more acquire a foreign language as compared to others (Horwitz and Young, 1991; Dörnyei, 2009; MacIntyre and Gregersen, 2012; Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014)
The findings of this study provide a more in-depth understanding of Chinese English major students’ levels of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and of the reasons these emotions occur
It should be noted that the factors contributing to FLE are complex and dynamic, but the students mainly enjoy English learning when they obtain teachers’ encouragement, success in group discussion, and their own performance

Summary

Introduction

There have been a number of advancements in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) that have created an understanding of the manner in which individual differences and social environments enable certain learners to more acquire a foreign language as compared to others (Horwitz and Young, 1991; Dörnyei, 2009; MacIntyre and Gregersen, 2012; Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014). Researchers have begun to investigate the relationship between foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and FLE (Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014, 2016; Jiang and Dewaele, 2019). A more holistic understanding of the relationship between FLE and FLCA needs to be further explored in various contexts

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion