Dynamic Changes Of "Positive-Negative" Emotion In Second Language Oral Production

Among various negative and positive emotions,foreign language anxiety(FLA)and foreign language enjoyment(FLE)are the most prevalent ones experienced by foreign language learners and have received great scholarly attention in the last decade.Although previous studies have yielded rich findings,most of them adopt a crosssectional design to examine the relationship between the two variables,and little research has focused on foreign language emotion experiences in extra-curriculum scenarios.As for the relationship of emotions to foreign language performance,few studies have investigated the predictive effect of foreign language emotions on language domain-specific skills(e.g.,speech production).Therefore,based on the Complex Dynamic Systems Theory(CDST),the present study explored Chinese EFL(English as a foreign language)learners’ FLA and FLE in a speech contest scenario and the predictive effect of FLA and FLE on second language(L2)speech performance.Specifically,the present study addressed the following questions:(1)What is the dynamic correlation pattern between FLA and FLE during L2 oral production?(2)What are the sources of dynamic changes in FLA and FLE during L2 oral production?(3)How do FLA and FLE affect Chinese EFL learners’ L2 speech performance?The current research recruited six English speech contestants from a university in Shandong province as participants and measured their anxiety and enjoyment emotions on a short timescale by utilizing the idiodynamic approach.Data collection included three steps: conducting an audio and a video recording of each participant’s prepared and spontaneous speeches;collecting their demographic information and emotional intensity self-rating data;completing in-depth interviews focusing on the dynamic change of emotional intensity.To address the aforementioned research questions,a series of Pearson correlation tests were employed to examine the overall relationship between FLA and FLE and the relationship between the two in specific time intervals;and simple linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the relationships between FLA/FLE and indicators of breakdown fluency.Besides,thematic analysis was conducted on the interviews to identify the inducing factors of FLA and FLE.The findings are as follows:(1)The relationship between FLA and FLE was nonlinear and highly dynamic on a short-time scale.The relationship between the two emotions alternated between negative and positive ones,displaying idiosyncrasy and unpredictability in both prepared and impromptu speech tasks.(2)The dynamic changes of participants’ FLA and FLE were predominantly related to learner-internal factors in a speech contest scenario.Specifically,fears were the main factor inducing FLA while positive self-related beliefs such as self-confidence and self-recognition were the main sources of FLE.(3)Based on simple regression analyses,the current study revealed a positive predictive effect of FLE and a debilitating effect of FLA on Chinese EFL learners’ speech fluency.However,FLA was negatively related to pause frequency in the impromptu speech task demonstrating its facilitating role.The above findings can help FL teachers gain insights into the mechanism of positive-negative emotions and provide pedagogical implications for the teaching practice of L2 speaking.First,teachers may perform effective interventions on FLA through boosting L2 learners’ positive emotional experiences,thus creating a positive classroom atmosphere.Besides,effective emotion management strategies could be included in designing oral skill teaching and oral production tasks to cultivate L2learner’s self-emotional regulation ability.