The mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship between foreign language anxiety and learning burnout among college students with different language environments

Abstract

Language environments play a crucial role in foreign language learning. Increasing Chinese students choose to attend joint venture colleges where a foreign language is predominantly used. Naturally, the language environment in these institutions differs from that of traditional colleges where Chinese is exclusively used, potentially leading to differences in foreign language anxiety (FLA). However, these differences have not been examined. Although students with higher FLA levels tend to experience heightened learning burnout and reduced psychological capital, a protective factor against the negative impacts of difficulties and challenges, it remains unknown the relationships among these variables in these two types of college students. This study addressed these questions by measuring the FLA levels, learning burnout, and psychological capital of 260 joint venture college students and 267 traditional Chinese college students. Results showed that FLA levels were significantly higher in traditional Chinese college students, psychological capital partially mediated the relationship between FLA and learning burnout in both groups, and school type moderated the path from FLA to psychological capital. These results suggest that psychological capital can mitigate the impact of FLA on learning burnout and these mitigating effects are influenced by language environment. Practical implications for school administrators and instructors are discussed.