Social networking applications have emerged as potential new tools for enhancing second language vocabulary learning. The current study explores the development of academic vocabulary knowledge of English as a foreign language (EFL) students using WhatsApp compared to the traditional method of vocabulary instruction. It also aims at investigating students' perceptions about the use WhatsApp in learning vocabulary. Forty Arab EFL students at the elementary level enrolled at a public university in the Arabian Gulf region participated in the study. Twenty one participants belonging to the same class were randomly assigned to the experimental group. They completed and submitted their vocabulary assignments which consisted of looking up the meanings of new words in a dictionary and building a sentence using each word and submitting their sentences via WhatsApp. Nineteen students from another class were assigned to the control group. They had to submit the same homework assignment using the paper and pencil method. Data were collected using pretest-posttest design. Results of t-test scores indicated that WhatsApp group significantly outperformed the traditional group on a vocabulary test. Furthermore, results of a questionnaire that gauged participants' perception of the use of WhatsApp in learning vocabulary show that generally participants have positive attitudes towards learning new vocabulary items via WhatsApp. Implications for teaching and future research are discussed.

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The present study focuses on the link between foreign language anxiety (FLA), self-perceived proficiency, and multilingualism in the under-explored EFL context of Saudi Arabia. Ninety six Arabic learners of English (56 males, 40 females) answered the Arabic version of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLACS; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). The analyses revealed that Saudi multilinguals suffered from low to moderate levels of FLA with female participants experiencing more anxiety than their male counterparts. Multiple regression analyses revealed that gender and self-perceived proficiency explained over a quarter of variance in FLA. Furthermore, the study did not find any role of experience abroad in predicting FLA.

The current study is motivated by the dearth of research regarding trilingualism and its relationship with foreign language anxiety (FLA) especially in a bilingual and diglossic context. The present study reports on the FLA level in an underexplored context of seventy-three male and female Arabic-and Frenchspeaking university trilingual students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in Tunisia. It also examines the main sources of the participants' anxiety. Using data from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986), analyses revealed that the English learners experienced low to average amounts of FLA. Worry about failing English class, apprehension about speaking in English, and anxiety related to the classroom were identified as major sources of FLA. No association was found between gender and FLA. This study found a significant negative relationship between students' level of FLA and their exam scores. Implications for language teaching are offered.

The current study was motivated by recent interest in the effect of positive and negative emotions in the context of foreign language learning resulting from the rise of the positive psychology movement (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2016; MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014). It examines the construct of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and its relationship with foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) among a group of 487 English as a foreign language (EFL) students (340 females, 147 males) enrolled in public universities in Saudi Arabia. A measure of FLE based on Likert scale ratings of ten items (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014), and a measure of FLCA based on eight items extracted from the FLCAS (Horwitz et al., 1986) were used. Male and female students had the same levels of FLE and FLCA. Correlation analysis showed that the relationship between students’ FLE and FLCA was significantly negative. Qualitative analysis of the participants’ learning experiences revealed the causes of FLCA and FLE among Saudi EFL learners.