The Relationship Between Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety, Enjoyment, and Expectancy-Value Motivation and Their Predictive Effects on Chinese High School Students’ Self-Rated Foreign Language Proficiency

Abstract

The present study explored the relations among foreign language (FL) classroom anxiety, enjoyment, expectancy-value motivation, and their predictive effects on Chinese high school students’ self-rated FL proficiency. Participants were 280 senior high school Chinese English as a foreign language learners who were surveyed on their foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and expectancy-value motivation. Results showed that (1) the students generally experienced a medium to a high level of FL classroom emotions with FLE slightly higher than FLCA. They were more value-motivated than expectancy-motivated toward FL learning. Most of them perceived their FL proficiency as unsatisfying; (2) the students’ FLE was significantly positively correlated with all dimensions of expectancy-value motivation, while their FLCA and expectancy-value motivation demonstrated a complex correlation pattern. As the students’ FLCA level increased, their expectancy beliefs, intrinsic value, attainment value, and utility value decreased, but their cost value increased. By contrast, as their FLE level increased, their expectancy beliefs, intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value all increased, while their cost value first increased and then slightly decreased; and (3) expectancy beliefs, intrinsic value, private enjoyment in FL learning and anxiety arising from fear of negative evaluation jointly significantly predicted the students’ self-rated FL proficiency. Implications for future research and teaching were also discussed.

English use anxiety, motivation, self-efficacy, and their predictive effects on Chinese top university students’ English achievements

“… Nagle (2021) found that students’ willingness to communicate in Spanish was predicted by their attainment value and intrinsic value, and that the course achievement was predicted by their expectancy beliefs. Dong et al’s (2022) study revealed a complex correlation between the students’ FL classroom anxiety and expectancy-value motivation: As the students’ FL classroom anxiety increased, their expectancy beliefs, intrinsic value, attainment value, and utility value decreased, but their cost value increased.…”

“…For example, Gong et al (2020) and Liu and Zhang (2022) found that contact with native speakers increased participants’ interest in and motivation to learn the target language, which led to enhanced proficiency in the language. Dong et al (2022) found that learners with lower anxiety and greater motivation usually performed better in the target language than those with greater anxiety and lower motivation. This might be because motivation offers second language learners the stimulus to start learning and encourages them to keep learning without feeling reluctant, and eventually helps them to meet their goals ( Dörnyei, 2005 ).…”

“…Horwitz’s ( Horwitz et al, 1986 ) team, on the other hand, developed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, which had 33 items and was then applied in studies of non-western languages, including Chinese ( Sun and Teng, 2021 ), Japanese ( Aida, 1994 ), Korean ( Jee, 2016 ), and so on. Recent studies have indicated more focus on the idea of positive psychology, therefore leading to the development of Foreign Language Enjoyment questionnaire ( Dewaele and Mac Intyre, 2014 ; Liu and Hong, 2021 ; Dong et al, 2022 ) as a new perspective of interpreting FLCA. For example, Liu and Hong (2021) collected quantitative and qualitative data from 709 primary and secondary school students in China.…”

“…These definitions of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation have been gradually modified, specifically in the EFL context, for learners nowadays are largely motivated by the abundant international opportunities with the phenomenon of Global English ( Lamb, 2003 ; Lanvers, 2017 ), and the increasing intercultural influence of learners’ attitudes toward language learning should also be considered during evaluations. Dong et al (2022) explored the relations among foreign language (FL) classroom anxiety, enjoyment, expectancy-value motivation, and their predictive effects on Chinese high school students’ self-rated FL proficiency. Two hundred and eighty senior high school Chinese English as FL learners answered a battery of questionnaires.…”

“…Many studies have proven that besides being influenced by teachers and teaching materials, second language (L2) learners’ achievement can be affected by their own individual factors such as gender, age, anxiety, proficiency in the target language, self-confidence, motivation, and self-efficacy ( Deci and Ryan, 1985 ; Bandura, 1997 ). It is generally found that contact with the target language, self-confidence, self-efficacy, and motivation significantly positively correlate and predict L2 learning outcomes, while anxiety, limited access to the target language, and demotivation significantly negatively correlate with the latter ( Dikmen et al, 2016 ; Gong et al, 2020 ; Dong et al, 2022 ; Liu and Zhang, 2022 ). For example, Gong et al (2020) and Liu and Zhang (2022) found that contact with native speakers increased participants’ interest in and motivation to learn the target language, which led to enhanced proficiency in the language.…”