Relationships Among Retrieval Inhibition, Anxiety, And Self-Efficacy In EFL Listening Comprehension

Although a great deal of research has obtained informative findings concerning the connections between retrieval inhibition and various cognitive activities as well as some emotional factors, few studies have hitherto been found to be devoted to retrieval inhibition and FL/SL learning and FL/SL learning emotions. The present study was designed to examine whether retrieval inhibition is related to EFL listening comprehension through its connection with emotional factors such as anxiety and self-efficacy which have been found to exert considerable influence on EFL learning. We hope that this study will draw researchers'attention to the role of retrieval inhibition in FL/SL learning and provide empirical support to relevant theories as well as practical strategies that are found to be beneficial for maintaining positive learning motivation.Retrieval inhibition occurs when inhibitory control processes are recruited to stop or override memory retrieval, thereby excluding unwanted memories from consciousness. According to Anderson (2005), findings from experiments of memory selection, memory stopping, and directed forgetting lend strong support to the mechanism of retrieval inhibition. As for the relation between inhibition and emotion, some researchers believe that inhibition plays a positive role in emotion regulation. Reducing the chance that certain memories will come to mind might be an elusive but valuable cognitive skill in depression, especially when the memories are unhappy ones (Hertel & Gerstle, 2003). Furthermore, there may be individual differences, not only in suppression proneness, but also in suppression efficacy (e.g. Brewin & Beaton, 2002; Rassin, 2003). The incidence of intrusive thoughts is in fact related to the inhibitory efficiency (Friedman, 2002).As far as the current study is concerned, we believe that the mechanism of retrieval...