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Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 48:2 (2025) ► pp.329–349

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One cohort or two?

Enjoyment, anxiety and study behaviours among intermediate language learners in tertiary language classes

ORCiD logo with link | Monash University
 | Monash University
 | Monash University
Published online: 12 July 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.23063.wil
Abstract
Foreign language anxiety and enjoyment have been shown to correlate with each other ( (2022). Taking stock: A meta-analysis of the effects of Foreign Language Enjoyment. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 12(2), 205–232. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), but few studies to date have considered whether distinct groups of learners within the one class may experience these variables differently. This article considers whether learners who have arrived in Australian university intermediate language classrooms via two different pipelines, either having studied the language at university the year before or entering directly from high school, report diverse levels of enjoyment, anxiety, or out-of-class study behaviours. The study draws on data from 141 students studying at an Australian university who allowed their questionnaire data to be matched to their final grade for the unit. While there was no significant difference in the final grades awarded to students from each pipeline, the two groups reported differences in their experience of anxiety, and study behaviours. When it came to final grades only Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) was clearly predictive of performance.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Students’ experience of mixed-level language classes
  • Methodology
    • Participants
    • Procedure
    • Analysis
  • Results
    • Research question 1: Do students from each pipeline achieve similar grades?
    • Research question 2: Do students from each pipeline report similar FLE, FLCA or out-of-class language activities?
    • Research question 2a: Do students from each pipeline report similar levels of FLE?
    • Research question 2b: Do students from each pipeline report similar levels of FLCA?
    • Research question 2c: Do students from each pipeline report similar levels of out-of-class language activities?
    • Research question 3: Is there a relationship between final grades and FLE, FLCA or study behaviours for students from either pipeline?
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (33)
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