Foreign Language Enjoyment And Its Effect On Foreign Language Performance---A Case Study In A Junior Middle School In Xi’an

Stimulated by Positive Psychology,positive emotions experienced by FL learners has received much scholarly attention,of which Foreign Language Enjoyment(FLE)was the most typical and well-observed one for its impact on facilitating language learning and promoting language learners’ well-being(Li,2021).However,most of the previous research in China has focused on college students and senior high school students,while very limited research targeted on junior high school students.Adopting quantitative method,this study examined the general profile of junior high school students’ FLE and its effect on foreign language performance.To this end,202 Chinese junior high students were invited to complete the Chinese version of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale,and their mid-term English examination scores were gathered as a measure of foreign language performance.The quantitative findings revealed that(1)Students acquired high level of FLE in terms of the overall FLE as well as three subscales of FLE;there were significant differences resulted by grade but no significant gender difference was found.(2)FLE had a positive effect on English performance,with the effect of enjoyment of English learning on English performance the greatest,and the effect of enjoyment of teacher support and enjoyment of student support at very small scales;the effect of FLE on foreign language performance was stronger among Grade 9 students than that among Grade 7 students.These findings suggest that English teachers should design interesting,challenging,but manageable class activities for students.Moreover,teachers from Grade 9 should guide students to improve their awareness of the intrinsic value of learning activities and learning itself rather than learning outcomes.