Research Specifications

Recent studies have suggested that the relationship between positive and negative emotions in foreign language classrooms depends on a set of learner-internal and learner-external factors. The present study adopted a Dynamic Systems Theory perspective in investigating the relationship between Persian as Foreign Language (PFL) learners’ Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA), Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE), and goal Orientation along with mastery/performance and approach/avoidance dichotomies. Participants were 72 Turkish students of medical sciences in Iran who took PFL classes for four months. Foreign language classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, et al., 1986), Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014), and Revised Achievement Goal Questionnaire (Elliot & Murayama, 2008) were used to collect data. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to account for the dynamic relationship between the variables. Statistical analyses revealed a negative correlation between anxiety and enjoyment. Learners with performance-avoidance goals felt a high level of anxiety while performance-approach goals were negatively correlated with anxiety. Also, learners with mastery-avoidance goals experienced high level of enjoyment. Performance goal orientations predicted a total of 57 % of the variance in FLCA. Performance-avoidance goal had the strongest unique contribution to FLCA. The strongest unique predictor of FLE was the mastery-avoidance goal. The results generally confirm that mastery goals promote Persian learners’ emotional well-being while the role played by performance goals depends on the approach/avoidance dimension. It is suggested that the inconsistent findings regarding the relationships between emotional and motivational elements be accounted for by considering dynamicity between them.