A Study Of The Correlation Among Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety,Foreign Language Enjoyment And English Achievement Of Junior High School Students

Foreign Language Enjoyment(FLE)and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety(FLCA),two factors that influence students’ foreign language acquisition,have a significant impact on students’ English achievement(EA).Therefore,the purpose of this study was to explore the general tendencies of junior high school students’ FLE and FLCA and their relationship with students’ EA.Since the study of students’ FLE is at the nascent study and related data is relatively limited in junior high school students’ FLE,the present study aims to provide supplementary data and practical advice on foreign language teaching through exploring the relationship among junior high school students’ FLE,FLCA and EA.295 junior high school students in Suzhou participated in this study.This study combines quantitative and qualitative research methods and employs questionnaire survey and semi-structured interview as research tools.Two questionnaires,the English Classroom Enjoyment Scale(ECES)and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale(FLCAS),were adopted to determine learners’ FLE and FLCA level.Two monthly tests were used to examine their English achievements.The research questions are as follows:(1)What is the level of junior high school students’ FLE?(2)What is the level of junior high school students’ FLCA?(3)What is the relationship among junior high school students’ FLE,FLCA and EA?After data analyses,three major findings are as follows:Firstly,48.7%of the students are in medium of FLE,and 37.3%of the students are in high level of FLE,signifying that majority of them are able to feel the enjoyment of English learning.Besides,most students attribute their enjoyment to teacher support,followed by English learning and student support.Secondly,55.7%of the students fall into low level of FLCA,and 38.5%of the students fall into medium level of FLCA.It can be concluded that most junior school students are less likely to experience anxiety in English class.Besides,students are found most anxious about test,followed by negative evaluation anxiety,communicative anxiety and attitude towards English classroom.Thirdly,students’ FLCA has a significant negative correlation with their FLE and their EA.While Students’ FLE is significantly positively related to their EA.Furthermore,the positive correlation between students’FLE and EA is slightly higher than negative correlation between students’ FLCA and EA.Lastly,students’ FLE plays a mediating role in the relationship between students’FLCA and EA.Based on above findings,this study proposed some implications for teachers,students and schools as to boost students’ FLE and decrease their FLCA and further improve their English achievements.