Understanding Language Learners' Emotions in Foreign Language Learning: The Effect of Teacher and Learner Variables

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 33
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher and Learner Beliefs: Perspectives From World Languages Classrooms

Abstract

This mixed methods study explores foreign language (FL) learners’ enjoyment and anxiety of FL learning in a mid-western U.S. university. It examines the relationship between FL learners’ enjoyment and anxiety and a range of learner-internal variables and teacher-related variables. This study presents preliminary results from a large research project studying undergraduate students’ emotions from eight different FLs in the United States. Fourteen participants with a FL of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Russian completed the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, and open-ended questions. Participants’ attitudes towards their FL teachers were positively correlated with enjoyment. Results are discussed in line with previous findings and their practical implications for foreign language teaching and learning in a US context.

Authors

• Kristen J Cypret, The University of Kansas

• Tsung-han Weng, University of Kansas