Mitigating Students’ Anxiety: The Role of Resilience and Mindfulness Among Chinese EFL Learners

Abstract

To manage the undesirable effect of anxiety on students, a wide scope of research has been dedicated to determining the triggers of anxiety and pedagogical interferences that can assist students with mitigating anxiety. Mindfulness is a relaxation strategy that has been related to constructive impacts when utilized as a managing technique for stress and anxiety. Originating from the construct of mindfulness, there is a multidimensional conception acknowledged as resilience as one of the notions in the Positive Psychology (PP) literature, which highlights the organizations and individuals’ strengths and self-control to comply with accidental states. Given the eminence of mindfulness and resilience in learning situations, the present study sets forth to examine the role of these constructs in alleviating English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ anxiety. To meet this objective, 502 Chinese EFL learners took part in this research. They were asked to respond to the three questionnaires, namely resilience, mindfulness, and anxiety. To answer the research question of the study, a linear multiple regression was run and the findings demonstrated that mindfulness and resilience together could significantly predict anxiety. Consistent with the findings, some recommendations are presented concerning the implications of the present research.

Unveiling student academic resilience in language learning: a structural equation modelling approach

“…Typically, Lereya et al’s [ 6 ] ten-factorial structure of resilience scale (including family connection, school connection, community connection, participation in home and school life, participation in community life, self-esteem, empathy, problem solving, goals and aspirations, and peer support) has been adopted frequently in student academic resilience research in the language education field [ 5 , 13 , 14 ]. In these studies, Lereya et al’s [ 6 ] framework served as a research instrument to measure the role of academic resilience in learners’ engagement [ 5 ] and anxiety [ 13 ] or the relationship between academic resilience and academic motivation [ 14 ]. The attention given to this scale might be attributed to the holistic perspective on resilience presented by Lereya et al [ 6 ], which encompasses positive individual characteristics and external supports.…”

“…However, little attention has been attached to exploring the internal structure of student academic resilience in language learning with both internal and external protective factors taken into consideration. The academic resilience scales used in China yet ignored the specific features among high school students [ 5 , 13 , 14 ]. Compared to other demographic groups, such as college students, high school students exhibit a more pronounced parental involvement and teacher support in their language learning process [ 15 – 17 ].…”

Delving into the role of mindfulness on the relationship among creativity, anxiety, and boredom of young EFL learners

“…Indeed, anxiety is considered a natural human feeling which can be stimulated by internal and external changes, novel circumstances, or perceived vagueness. In the same vein, most individuals tend to experience anxiety and pressure when encountering a specific condition that is unfamiliar [ 56 ]. Broadly, several factors influence language anxiety, including psychological processes, cognitive and affective conditions, and contextual circumstances, among others, in various time scales [ 5 ].…”

Prevention before intervention: introducing mindfulness-based social-emotional learning in higher education institutions across the United Arab Emirates

“…On the other hand, designing and offering dedicated and standalone courses or workshops focused specifically on social-emotional well-being and mindfulness could add significant value (Galante et al, 2018(Galante et al, , 2021. These courses could cover topics such as holistic development, selfawareness, emotional regulation, stress management, meditation techniques, cultivating resilience, and positive classroom environment (Srinivasan, 2019;Galante et al, 2021;Medlicott et al, 2021;Shen, 2022) that incorporate mindfulness practices (Yeganeh and Kolb, 2009;Fullam and Kowalksi, 2020;Feize et al, 2021). Students could be guided to establish regular exercise, meditation, sleep, and relaxation practices.…”