Ending the cycle of anxiety in language learning: A non-recursive path analysis approach

From a socio-psychological perspective, learners with high second language (L2) learning anxiety are likely to avoid using L2, missing substantial L2 learning opportunities to improve their L2 competence, which would result in negatively impacting their L2 anxiety, forming a circulation process, also known as “vicious cycle of language anxiety” (Lou & Noels, 2020a). In this study, we explored the reciprocal relationship between self-perceived language competence, language anxiety, and language proficiency using two structural models applied to second language learning settings by recruiting 270 undergraduate students learning English as their foreign language, and building a recursive (i.e., a structural equation model) and a non-recursive (i.e., a path analysis with a feedback loop) structural models to investigate how to end the cycle of anxiety. Evidently, we found that there existed a reciprocal relationship between these factors, and building a growth language mindset, previous proficiency, and motivation would alleviate the “vicious cycle of language anxiety” in light of the results from the non-recursive path analysis model. Our findings are a major step forward from prior suggestions of piecemeal solutions that only partially affect a cyclical element to eventually break this so-called vicious cycle, such as fostering learners’ growth mindset to mitigate their anxiety. •Original vicious cycle of language anxiety was successfully replicated with a different sample.•Our non-recursive model statistically confirmed a feedback loop of the vicious cycle.•Fostering language mindset as well as motivation simultaneously could end the vicious cycle.