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Foreign Language Enjoyment and Anxiety: Associations With General and Domain-Specific English Achievement

  • Jean-Marc Dewaele

    Jean-Marc DEWAELE is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism at Birkbeck, University of London. He has published widely on individual differences in second language acquisition and multilingualism. He is former president of the International Association of Multilingualism and the European Second Language Association. He is General Editor of the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.

         and Chengchen Li

    Chengchen LI (the corresponding author) is a lecturer at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Her research interests include positive psychology of foreign language learning, second language acquisition, multilingualism and multilingual education. She has published widely on affective, motivational and cognitive individual differences in second language acquisition. She is Editor of Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching.
Published/Copyright: February 18, 2022
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Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics
From the journal Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics Volume 45 Issue 1

Abstract

Recent research has confirmed the predictive effect of general foreign language (FL) achievement on Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA). However, few studies have examined the effect of domain-specific language achievement in shaping FL learning emotions. The present study thus aims to examine how FLE and FLCA are linked to overall FL achievement and self-perceived achievement in six different domains across listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar. A total of 1, 415 Chinese senior secondary students participated in the questionnaire survey. Regression analyses showed that 1) both FLE and FLCA were predicted more by self-perceived general English proficiency, while less by actual English achievement; 2) perceptions of speaking and grammar competence were significant predictors of both emotions; 3) perceived reading competence predicted FLE significantly but not FLCA; and that 4) perceptions of listening, writing, and vocabulary competence predicted neither FLE nor FLCA. The implication is that domain-specificity should be taken into consideration in future explorations of FL emotions.

Keywords: foreign language enjoyment; foreign language (classroom) anxiety; positive psychology; control-value theory

About the authors

Jean-Marc Dewaele

Jean-Marc DEWAELE is Professor of Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism at Birkbeck, University of London. He has published widely on individual differences in second language acquisition and multilingualism. He is former president of the International Association of Multilingualism and the European Second Language Association. He is General Editor of the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.

Chengchen Li

Chengchen LI (the corresponding author) is a lecturer at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Her research interests include positive psychology of foreign language learning, second language acquisition, multilingualism and multilingual education. She has published widely on affective, motivational and cognitive individual differences in second language acquisition. She is Editor of Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Social Science Foundation (Youth Project) of China 2019 (Grant No.: 19CYY017).

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Published Online: 2022-02-18
Published in Print: 2022-02-23

© 2022 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introducing Positive Psychology in Applied Linguistics: Asian Perspectives
  3. Where Psychology Meets Language Learning: Exploring the Positive Nexus
  4. A Different Kind of Tension: Foreign Language Anxiety From a Positive Psychology Perspective
  5. Foreign Language Enjoyment and Anxiety: Associations With General and Domain-Specific English Achievement
  6. Exploring Senior High School Students’ English Academic Resilience in the Chinese Context
  7. Second Language Acquisition
  8. The Difference of Lemma Activation Between Native Speakers of English and L2 Speakers of English With L1 Chinese: Evidence From the Semantic and Phonological Priming Effects on L2 Speech Planning
  9. Discourse Markers of “Saying”: A Comparative Study
  10. Second Language Writing
  11. Achieving Self-Imitation for English Intonation Learning: The Role of Corrective Feedback
  12. Cross-Cultural Communications
  13. China English and College Intercultural Education: A Cultural Linguistic Perspective
  14. Interview
  15. The “Wrong Love” Between the Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding: An Interview With Prof. James P. Lantolf
  16. Chinese Abstracts
https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2022-0104
Keywords for this article
foreign language enjoyment; foreign language (classroom) anxiety; positive psychology; control-value theory

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introducing Positive Psychology in Applied Linguistics: Asian Perspectives
  3. Where Psychology Meets Language Learning: Exploring the Positive Nexus
  4. A Different Kind of Tension: Foreign Language Anxiety From a Positive Psychology Perspective
  5. Foreign Language Enjoyment and Anxiety: Associations With General and Domain-Specific English Achievement
  6. Exploring Senior High School Students’ English Academic Resilience in the Chinese Context
  7. Second Language Acquisition
  8. The Difference of Lemma Activation Between Native Speakers of English and L2 Speakers of English With L1 Chinese: Evidence From the Semantic and Phonological Priming Effects on L2 Speech Planning
  9. Discourse Markers of “Saying”: A Comparative Study
  10. Second Language Writing
  11. Achieving Self-Imitation for English Intonation Learning: The Role of Corrective Feedback
  12. Cross-Cultural Communications
  13. China English and College Intercultural Education: A Cultural Linguistic Perspective
  14. Interview
  15. The “Wrong Love” Between the Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding: An Interview With Prof. James P. Lantolf
  16. Chinese Abstracts
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