The complex relationship between classroom emotions and EFL achievement in China

Abstract

The present study adopted a mixed-method approach combining principles from Complex Dynamic Systems Theory and Positive Psychology to examine the interaction between Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) and Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) of 1,307 Chinese students, the single and combined effects of FLCA and FLE on self-perceived English proficiency and actual English achievement, and finally, the effect of EA on FLE and FLCA. Statistical analyses revealed negative correlations between FLCA and FLE in three groups at different levels of English achievement. Qualitative data from 64 participants threw further light on this complex relationship. Second, FLCA was found to be significantly negatively related to self-rated proficiency at all achievement groups while FLE was positively related. Similar significant relationships were also found between two classroom emotions and actual English achievement except in the low achievement group. Finally, qualitative data allowed us to investigate the possible causes for this relationship.

How distinctive is the foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety of Kazakh learners of Turkish?

“…A small positive correlation was found between participants' FLE and FLCA. This is a novel finding as previous research has uncovered moderate negative relationships between both dimensions MacIntyre 2014, 2019;Li et al 2019). This suggests that Kazakh learners with higher FLE also tend to experience slightly more FLCA, which could be interpreted as a heightened emotional state, which could be beneficial to learning.…”

“…A second study by the same authors focused on the relationship between EFL achievement and emotions of 1307 Chinese EFL students at various achievement levels (Li et al 2019). FLCA and FLE were found to be significant predictors of self-perceived EFL proficiency.…”

“…It does not mean that other languages should be completely banned, however. Boosting positive emotions and controlling negative emotions will increase WTC (Dewaele 2019b; Dewaele and Dewaele 2018) and will ultimately lead to better performance in the FL (Dewaele and Alfawzan 2018;Li et al 2019). It is also clear that learners' attitudes toward the FL is a powerful source of enjoyment.…”

“…Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) have been found to have complex dynamic relationships with both learner-internal and contextual variables (Dewaele and Dewaele 2017; Dewaele and MacIntyre 2014, 2016Karci, Özdemir and Balta 2018) and play an important part in learners' Willingness to Communicate in the Foreign Language (FL) and in their performance in the FL . Relationships have been found to be broadly similar in FL classes in different parts of the world, including Belgium (De Smet et al 2018), China (Jin and Zhang 2018, Li 2018Li, Jiang and Dewaele 2018;Li, Dewaele and Jiang, 2019); Iran (Shirvan and Taherian 2018; Shirvan and Talebzadeh 2018); Japan (Saito et al 2018); Poland (Piechurska-Kuciel 2017), Saudi Arabia (Dewaele and Alfawzan 2018), Spain (Dewaele, Magdalena Franco and Saito 2019) and the United Kingdom (Dewaele and Dewaele 2017;Dewaele, Witney, Saito and Dewaele 2018). Most of these studies focused on English as a FL.…”

A Multidimensional Perspective on Individual Differences in Multilingual Learners’ L2 Chinese Speech Production

“…These positive attitudes were found to be beneficial to the development of their L2 Chinese speech production ability. Such a finding adds more evidence to the literature from a socio-cultural perspective that L2 learning enjoyment could significantly impact learners' L2 learning success (Dewaele and Li, 2018;Zhang, 2018, 2019;Li et al, 2019). Specifically, learners with strong interests in culture, society, and language would be more willing to be exposed to interactive social environments.…”