Classroom Interventions and Foreign Language Anxiety: A Systematic Review With Narrative Approach

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Applied Linguistics
• Second Language Acquisition

Background:

• Classroom interventions for foreign language anxiety (FLA) have been developed and evaluated.
• Heterogeneity in intervention characteristics complicates synthesis and practical application of findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct the first systematic review of educational interventions aimed at reducing foreign language anxiety (FLA).
• To synthesize findings from diverse intervention studies to inform practical application.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review methodology was employed, establishing six inclusion criteria for studies.
• A comprehensive search of ProQuest and Scopus identified 854 potentially eligible studies.
• Forty studies published between 2007 and 2020 met the inclusion criteria for analysis.

Main Results:

• Included studies varied significantly in intervention type, duration, and the scales used to measure FLA.
• Seven distinct features of classroom interventions for FLA were identified.
• Interventions were categorized into student-student interactions, student-teacher interactions, self-management, mood boosters, and further classified as individual or interactional.

Conclusions:

• This systematic review provides a structured overview of educational interventions for foreign language anxiety.
• The identified features offer a framework for developing and implementing more effective FLA reduction strategies in classrooms.
• Further research could focus on the efficacy of specific intervention features and their practical implementation.