Foreign Language Anxiety Research Articles

This study explores the effects of mindfulness, resilience, and self-efficacy on foreign language anxiety among Chinese college students and identifies the most significant predictor of foreign language anxiety. Employing a quantitative approach, data were collected from 323 English as a foreign language students using validated scales measuring these variables. Pearson correlation analyses revealed significant negative correlations of self-efficacy (r=-0.538, p0.01), resilience (r=-0.372, p0.01), and mindfulness (r=-0.331, p0.01) with foreign language anxiety. Multiple regression analysis indicated that self-efficacy was the most impactful variable for predicting foreign language anxiety, while mindfulness also significantly predicted foreign language anxiety, but resilience did not. These findings underscore the pivotal part played by self-efficacy in reducing foreign language anxiety and suggest that enhancing self-efficacy can improve language study experiences. The research offers meaningful understandings regarding the mechanisms of foreign language anxiety and offers practical recommendations for educators to implement strategies aimed at boosting students’ self-efficacy, with implications for future research and practice.

ABSTRACT Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) is a psychological barrier that hinders learners’ ability to acquire and use a new language effectively. While previous studies have explored the role of language learning strategies (LLS) in alleviating FLA, little is known about how plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC) influences this relationship. This study examines the contribution of LLS to FLA and investigates whether PPC moderates or mediates this relationship. A total of 143 participants completed validated measures assessing FLA, PPC, and LLS. Multiple regression analyses revealed that cognitive strategies negatively predicted FLA, while affective and compensation strategies were associated with increased anxiety. Further, PPC components, particularly plurilingual cognition and intercultural tolerance, systematically reduced FLA. Moderation analyses demonstrated that PPC amplified the effects of LLS, with plurilingual cognition reinforcing anxiety reduction when paired with cognitive strategies but increasing evaluation sensitivity when combined with affective strategies. Mediation analyses showed that plurilingual cognition mediated the relationships between cognitive, social, and metacognitive strategies and FLA, suggesting that cognitive flexibility and metalinguistic awareness play a crucial role in anxiety regulation. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating the development of PPC into language education to foster adaptive learning strategies and enhance learners’ confidence in multilingual environments.

This study investigates the correlation between academic help-seeking behavior and foreign language anxiety (FLA) among Indonesian EFL learners enrolled in Foreign Language for Specific Purposes (FLSP) classes. Using a quantitative correlational design, data were collected from 90 undergraduate students across four faculties through two validated instruments: the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and the Academic Help-Seeking Scale. Pearson’s correlation revealed a significant negative relationship between academic help-seeking and FLA (r = –0.445, p < 0.05), indicating learners who actively seek academic assistance experience lower levels of anxiety, particularly regarding fear of negative evaluation—the most dominant FLA dimension. These findings highlight academic help-seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy that mitigates affective barriers and enhances emotional resilience in language learning. Nonetheless, the study’s cross-sectional design and limited sample size restrict generalizability. Future longitudinal and mixed-method studies are recommended to confirm causality and extend applicability across diverse educational context. Pedagogically, fostering supportive and collaborative classroom environments may encourage adaptive help-seeking and reduce anxiety, promoting greater learner autonomy and success in foreign language acquisition.

This study, grounded in the frameworks of Positive Psychological Resources Theory and Emotion Regulation Theory, investigated the mechanism through which foreign language anxiety (FLA) and academic buoyancy (AB) influence students' willingness to communicate (WTC) in EFL classroom. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis based on data from 627 senior high school students and semi-structured interviews with eight randomly selected participants in China. The empirical results indicate that FLA significantly and negatively predicts WTC, while AB plays a partial mediating role in this relationship, thereby validating the proposed “FLA—AB—WTC” path model. These results highlight academic buoyancy as a positive psychological trait that mediates the effect of anxiety on willingness to communicate. This research offers theoretical and practical implications for affective regulation and psychological empowerment in foreign language pedagogy.

ABSTRACT Willingness to Communicate (WTC) and Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) are key constructs influencing learners’ communicative behaviours and emotional states during second language acquisition. While they have been extensively studied in monolingual contexts, their dynamic interaction in the context of L3 Languages Other Than English (LOTE) learning, particularly through translanguaging practices, remains underexplored. This study employs an idiodynamic approach to capture real-time fluctuations in WTC and FLA among four Chinese university students learning French (L3) with prior proficiency in English (L2). Participants engaged in one monolingual (French only) and one multilingual (translanguaging allowed) photo-description tasks. The results reveal nonlinear, context-dependent variability in WTC and FLA. Translanguaging practices generally enhanced WTC while reducing anxiety. Three key factors emerged as influential: learners’ translanguaging behaviours, their perceptions of translanguaging, and their multilingual competence. Strategic competence – defined as the ability to dynamically mobilise multilingual resources to achieve communicative goals – was identified as a critical mediator of WTC and anxiety regulation. This competence is a distinct operationalisation of perceived communicative competence in translanguaging practices, ultimately fostering a sense of multilingual self-confidence.

The current pilot study aimed at identifying whether Moroccan undergraduate EFL students’ levels of self-esteem (SE) correlated significantly with their Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA), focusing particularly on their speaking in the EFL classroom context. The study followed a quantitative approach using Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) to collect data from 150 second and third-year students who have completed at least two years of university English instruction. Fear of negative evaluation seemed to be a major source of (FLA) for our selected sample, followed by communication apprehension and test anxiety respectively. The two variables correlated negatively (r= -0.74, p <.001) with (SE) explaining 54% of the variance in anxiety. Besides, according to the independent t-tests, there was no indication of any significant differences between genders. This strong negative correlation and predictive association observed in the present study confirms Krashen’s (1982) Affective Filter Hypothesis which posits that self-perception directly affects learners’ levels of anxiety. The study concludes with educational implications aiming at enhancing students’ self-perception and reducing speaking anxiety in the Moroccan EFL context.

This qualitative study explores the dynamic interaction among Trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI), Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA), and Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) among Saudi university students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), with a particular focus on classroom speaking activities. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 14 second-year EFL learners at Al Jouf University, the research investigates how different dimensions of trait EI—namely self-control, emotionality, well-being, and sociability—influence students' emotional responses during oral communication tasks. The findings reveal that students with higher levels of self-control, sociability, and well-being tend to experience lower anxiety and greater enjoyment, facilitating active classroom participation and communicative confidence. While FLA and FLE often coexist, learners with strong emotional competencies navigate between these states more effectively. Self-control emerged as the most influential EI dimension in regulating speaking-related stress. This study underscores the importance of integrating emotional intelligence training and social-emotional learning (SEL) into EFL pedagogy to promote emotional resilience and enhance language learning outcomes. By highlighting learners' emotional experiences in speaking activities, the study provides pedagogical implications for fostering supportive classroom environments that reduce anxiety and enhance enjoyment. It further suggests that teacher awareness of students' emotional profiles can inform more adaptive instructional practices. Ultimately, the research contributes to the broader understanding of affective factors in SLA, particularly within culturally specific educational settings like Saudi Arabia, and offers valuable insights for educators and policymakers seeking to optimize language learning experiences and outcomes.

Language Anxiety in Neurosurgical Care.

Interactions between age to start learning English, high school, and language proficiency on EFL graduate students' anxiety.

Language barriers incorporate emotional, psychological, sociocultural, educational, and situational dimensions. We performed an interdisciplinary systematic review of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) barriers facing university students. A search across Web of Science, EBSCO, and ProQuest yielded 2,773 studies, with 21 meeting the inclusion criteria of studies to be in English, quantify EFL barriers, and focus on university students. Most studies were in the Middle East and Asia, with minimal representation in Europe. Our analysis identifies three main clusters of EFL barriers: 1) foreign language anxiety (FLA), which affects four language skills, including test anxiety; 2) inhibitory self-beliefs, which involve negative and unrealistic self-perceptions, as well as motivational and personality struggles; and 3) linguistic challenges, due to mother tongue influence (L1). The analysis suggests an overlap between FLA and negative self-beliefs, a phenomenon termed the FLA and Inhibitory Self-Beliefs Spectrum. However, it remains unclear whether these anxieties are codependent. While linguistic challenges are substantial obstacles to EFL improvement, nonlinguistic factors have emerged as significant in hindering linguistic development. Nonetheless, positive findings such as overcoming anxiety and self-regulation should be acknowledged. These insights could inform more adaptable teaching methods, potentially enhancing language skills, well-being, and self-image to in turn enhance self-intervention.

A correlational study of anxiety and motivation on learning Chinese as a foreign language.

Understanding trait emotional intelligence and L2 willingness to communicate: The serial mediation of perceived teacher support and L2 emotions.

Is foreign language anxiety malleable? A systematic review of longitudinal observation studies

This study aims to identify efficient strategies to overcome and reduce foreign language anxiety (FLA) among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. 9 EFL teachers from university shared their views toward FLA and reported their strategies to reduce FLA. Using a qualitative method, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The findings showed that several effective strategies may help to overcome FLA among students. The strategies have included creating a supportive atmosphere, classroom environment, using engaging teaching methods, and helping students build confidence. This study contributes to the existing findings of FLA while comparing the teachers’ effective strategies.

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) continues to act as a key affective barrier in English as a Second Language (ESL) speaking contexts, hindering learners’ communicative competence, fluency, and participation. Although prior research has examined the causes and impacts of FLA, short-term, classroom-based interventions remain underexplored. This quasi-experimental study investigated the effectiveness of a one-week, theory-informed strategy plan in reducing FLA and enhancing oral performance among 40 ESL learners. Drawing on the Foreign Language Anxiety framework by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986), the intervention targeted communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation through guided peer collaboration, positive self-talk, scaffolded discussions, and mock speaking tasks. Pre- and post-test assessments, evaluated using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) and structured group discussions, revealed statistically significant improvements across all performance measures (fluency, confidence, participation, content relevance, and language use). Effect sizes indicated medium to strong practical significance. Findings demonstrate that even short, targeted interventions can yield measurable gains in communicative confidence. This study contributes a replicable, classroom-friendly model and underscores the need for future research on extended interventions, diverse learner populations, and the integration of digital or AI-mediated affective supports.

This study investigates the role of ChatGPT in alleviating language anxiety and improving English-speaking proficiency among Chinese university students. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, the research explores students' subjective experiences, emotional changes, and behavioral feedback during ChatGPT-enabled English-speaking practice. Grounded in the Foreign Language Anxiety Theory and Technology Acceptance Model, the study examines how ChatGPT's non-judgmental and interactive features influence learners' communication apprehension, confidence, and language performance. Data will be collected through semi-structured interviews and diary records from 10-15 participants with intermediate or above English proficiency. Thematic analysis will identify key insights into anxiety reduction, language proficiency enhancement, and technology usage. Findings will contribute to theoretical advancements in AI-assisted language learning and provide practical guidance for optimizing AI tools in educational settings.

In the context of globalization, second language communication skills have become one of the essential core competencies for middle school students. However, there are significant differences in the willingness and enthusiasm exhibited by different middle school students in second language communication. Previous studies have shown that this difference is closely related to the emotional intelligence (EI) of middle school students, and the enjoyment and anxiety generated during foreign language learning may also play an important role in it. This research selected 120 middle school English learners as research subjects and conducted empirical research using quantitative research methods. SPSS 27.0 was used to test the normal distribution, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis of the data. PROCESS v4.1 was used to test the mediating effect of foreign language anxiety (FLA) and foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and to clarify the specific mechanism by which EI affects learners' willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC). Not only does it touch on core issues in multiple disciplines such as psychology, education, and linguistics, but it also provides a new perspective and strategy for understanding and optimizing the second language learning process.

ABSTRACTThis study investigates how competitive classroom climate in Chinese educational settings shapes EFL learners’ feedback‐seeking behavior (FSB) through expectancy‐value appraisals. Grounded in situated expectancy‐value theory (SEVT), the research employs a mixed‐methods approach, combining structural equation modeling (SEM) with qualitative interviews involving 617 junior high students. Results reveal that competitive environments positively predict feedback monitoring (FM) via extrinsic motivation (EM), self‐efficacy, and foreign language anxiety (FLA), while directly suppressing feedback inquiry (FI) due to social‐evaluative risks. Intrinsic motivation (IM) and self‐efficacy emerged as critical mediators, fostering proactive FSB, whereas anxiety‐driven strategies prioritized covert monitoring over direct inquiries. Pedagogically, reframing competition through competency‐oriented feedback and collaborative tasks mitigated adverse effects, channeling extrinsic pressures into skill mastery. The study bridges sociocultural dynamics with psychological constructs, offering insights into optimizing FSB in high‐competition EFL contexts.

Abstract The study examines the effectiveness of Total Physical Response (TPR) and Game Based Learning (GBL) compared to traditional instruction in teaching Italian vocabulary to Arabic-speaking EFL children, learners of Italian as a third language, based on Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis (AFH). The study follows a quantitative quasi-experimental comparative design with pre- and post-tests including twenty-four Italian words that refer to twelve body parts and twelve related actions for a period of six weeks. Vocabulary knowledge was assessed based on four criteria: pronunciation, listening, contextual knowledge, and interrelatedness. The findings showed that the differences between the participants’ answers on the post-test in the two experimental groups (i.e., TPR and GBL) and the control group were statistically significant in favor of the former. It was found that GBL and TPR foster an engaging and enjoyable learning environment, which is believed to enhance motivation and decrease foreign language anxiety. Although the control group did not employ specific strategies to lower the affective filter, they still demonstrated significant improvement from the pre-test to the post-test. This improvement suggests that factors such as general motivation and a positive learning environment can positively influence learning outcomes. However, the differences between the participants’ answers on the posttest in the two experimental groups were not statistically significant. It was argued that AFH cannot be used to explain the differences and unique effectiveness of teaching approaches when compared to each other.

The focus of this qualitative exploratory studies is on the genesis, impact, and alleviation of foreign language anxiety among Pakistani college students. Collection of data using focus group and individual semi-structured interviews as well as the corresponding thematic analyses of the results is an example of this. The findings point towards the existence of primary anxiety stemming from communication, a centerpiece of test, and the feared negative evaluation which then gets compounded through the lens of the sociolinguistic hierarchy of English in Pakistan. The Anxiety impacts the students’ ability to speak and results in students’ poor performance, low self-esteem, a confining sense of professional aspirations, and a weak level of confidence. The variety of tactical avoidance coupled with rote learning to engage in social peer behavior, interaction, preparation, self-associational/anxiety provoking and cultural strategies to positive prayer, and self-constructive language. It is a point of focus, of this study, which seeks to address the issue of minimizing anxiety, it is claimed, such equally important and an issue of equally important pedagogical change at the institutional level.