Arab Educational Information Network

The aim of this research is to explore teachers’ perceptions of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and foreign language teaching enjoyment (FLTE). This study targeted answering three research questions inquiring about teachers’ perceptions of FLCA and FLE, the influence of FLTE on FLCA and FLE, and teachers’ different experiences with these emotions. A mixed-method approach was employed in this exploratory study by using two instruments to collect data: a questionnaire and interviews. The total number of teachers who participated in this study was 54. The questionnaire aimed to quantitatively measure teachers’ perceptions of FLCA, FLE, and FLTE, and it collected 15 narratives to identify the sources of FLCA, FLE, and FLTE. Then, 10 participants were interviewed to get an in-depth understanding of their perceptions of the interactions between the three variables in this study. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify the main themes related to each variable in this study. A Pearson correlation analysis and t-test were run to analyze the quantitative data. Regarding the main findings of the questionnaire, teachers reported that they noticed that their students’ enjoyed learning English more often than they were anxious. In addition, they prioritized increasing their FLE level over decreasing their FLCA level since they believed that students’ FLE levels had the strongest influence on their FL achievement. The results of the interviews and narrative writings were inconsistent since some teachers were able to define these emotions and correctly identify their main sources, while others could not. Regarding FLTE, the results revealed that participants enjoyed teaching English immensely, and the majority believed their enjoyment level could affect students’ FLCA and FLE levels. However, by running Pearson correlation analyses on their responses to the questionnaire, it was found that while FLTE might significantly affect students’ FLE, there was no relationship between FLTE and FLCA. The results imply that some FL teachers need more training programs in students’ psychology to raise their knowledge and awareness about how students’ different emotions may or may not affect each other and how teachers’ emotions can affect their practices in the classroom. (Author’s abstract)