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The relationships between young FL learners’ classroom emotions (anxiety, boredom, & enjoyment), engagement, and FL proficiency

  • Art Tsang EMAIL logo and Jean Marc Dewaele
Published/Copyright: January 10, 2023
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Abstract

The last decade has seen a proliferation of studies about emotions in FL teaching and learning. The present study examined three of the most researched and well-known FL emotions to date, namely anxiety, boredom, and enjoyment, and their relationships with learners’ engagement in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classes and their EFL proficiency. One hundred and eleven Grade 3–4 EFL children completed a questionnaire and English tests. Various statistical analyses (correlation, hierarchical multiple regression, and path analysis) revealed that all five variables were significantly inter-correlated. Enjoyment was the strongest predictor of engagement and proficiency, followed by boredom. The path analysis indicated that the hypothetical path of emotions→engagement→proficiency did not exist; rather, only two direct relationships were found in the model: Enjoyment→engagement and enjoyment→proficiency. The findings highlight the crucial role of enjoyment for young learners in FL teaching and learning.


Corresponding author: Art Tsang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, E-mail:

Funding awarded to the first author: Language Learning early career research grant.


Funding source: Language Learning early career research grant

Award Identifier / Grant number: NA

Appendix

Figure A: 
Standardized weights of the relationships in the model.
Figure A:

Standardized weights of the relationships in the model.

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Received: 2022-06-18
Accepted: 2022-12-30
Published Online: 2023-01-10
Published in Print: 2024-09-25

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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