Predicting sense of classroom community from foreign language enjoyment and anxiety in an English as a foreign language classroom

Abstract

Whereas the role of anxiety and enjoyment in predicting learning outcomes is well documented in the literature, the role of these two emotion dimensions in predicting perceived sense of classroom community is rarely discussed in the literature despite the fact that classroom community serves as a good predictor of learning outcomes. Conducted in a sociocultural context which is under-represented in the international literature, the present study was designed to predict participants’ perceived sense of classroom community based on their reported enjoyment and anxiety scores. A total of 402 senior high school students (male: 153, female: 249) participated in the study. Participants were invited to complete the questionnaires measuring foreign language enjoyment, foreign language anxiety, and perceived sense of classroom community. Multiple regression analysis indicated that foreign language classroom anxiety and enjoyment concurrently explained 39% of the total variance in sense of classroom community. Foreign language enjoyment turned out to be a stronger positive predictor, whereas anxiety was a negative predictor. Both variables were significant predictors for sense of classroom community regardless of gender. Whereas males and females were comparable in terms of perceived sense of classroom community and foreign language enjoyment, females were more anxious than males.