Does the effect of enjoyment outweigh that of anxiety in foreign language performance?
Journal Title: Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching - Year 2018, Vol 8, Issue 1
Abstract
Interest in the effect of positive and negative emotions in foreign language acquisition has soared recently because of the positive psychology movement (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014, 2016; MacIntyre, Gregersen & Mercer, 2016). No work so far has been carried out on the differential effect of positive and negative emotions on foreign language performance. The current study investigates the effect of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) on foreign language performance in a group of 189 foreign language pupils in two London secondary schools and a group of 152 Saudi English as a foreign language learners and users of English in Saudi Arabia. Correlation analyses showed that the positive effect of FLE on performance was stronger than the negative effect of FLCA. In other words, FLE seems to matter slightly more than FLCA in foreign language (FL) performance. Qualitative material collected from the Saudi participants shed light on the causes of FLCA and FLE and how these shaped participants’ decisions to pursue or abandon the study of the FL.
Authors and Affiliations
Jean-Marc Dewaele, Alfawzan Mateb
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP274238
- DOI 10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.2
- Views 133
- Downloads 0
Notes on Contributors
.
Anagnorisis and narrative incorporation: How significant incidents affect language-learning behavior
This paper examines how fleeting experiences exert a disproportionately powerful effect on the language learning motivation and behavior of university students. A thematic analysis of interview data is used to show how s...
Love and enjoyment in context: Four case studies of adolescent EFL learners
This study explores the foreign language learning emotions of four EFL adolescent students in Romania and the ways in which their emotions emerge in their sociocultural context. Multiple qualitative methods were employed...
Global trends and local realities: Lessons about economic benefits, selves and identity from a Swiss context
Inspired by the unexpected results of a standardized questionnaire survey of Swiss university students’ motivation and attitudes toward English, the paper discusses the influence of global and local contexts on language...
L2 irregular verb morphology: Exploring behavioral data from intermediate English learners of German as a foreign language using generalized mixed effects models
This paper examines possible psycholinguistic mechanisms governing stem vowel changes of irregular verbs in intermediate English learners of German as a foreign language (GFL). In Experiment 1, nonce-infinitives embedded...