A Correlational Study of University Students’ Foreign Language Learning Anxiety and Academic Achievement in the Chinese Context

Authors

  • Xuan Di

    School of Oriental Languages, Anhui International Studies University, Hefei, China
  • Hongxia Yin

    Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Lampang Rajabhat University, Lampang, Thailand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i2.8188
Received: 5 November 2024 | Revised: 6 January 2025 | Accepted: 7 January 2025 | Published Online: 20 January 2025

Abstract

The correlation between foreign language learning anxiety (FLLA) and academic achievements (ACH) is an oft-researched topic. It is, especially, applicable when learning English as a foreign language (FL). As such, the present study examined the correlation between the FLLA that students majoring in English, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Spanish, and French at an international studies university in China experienced and their ACH. The results of the study indicate that the students experience moderate levels of FLLA. An insignificant difference was observed between the level of FLLA that female and male students experience. However, a significant difference was observed between the level of FLLA that the students experienced depending on their majors. More specifically, students majoring in Korean experienced the most foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) across all the examined dimensions, namely, communication apprehension (CA), academic anxiety (AA), and classroom anxiety (CN). Meanwhile, students majoring in French experienced the least CA and CN, while students majoring in English experienced the least AA. Apart from that, a significantly negative correlation was observed between the students’ exam scores (ES) and their levels of FLCA. Therefore, the findings of the present study can be used to develop high-quality foreign language learning (FLL) education in China. The implications of the present study’s findings are also discussed.

Keywords:

Academic Achievement; Foreign Language Learners; Foreign Language Learning Anxiety

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How to Cite

Di, X., & Yin, H. (2025). A Correlational Study of University Students’ Foreign Language Learning Anxiety and Academic Achievement in the Chinese Context. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(2), 137–148. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i2.8188

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 2 (February 2025): In Progress

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Article

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Copyright © 2025 Xuan Di, Hongxia Yin

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.