Anxiety level and critical thinking associated with foreign language learning, depending on educational and professional activities

Abstract

The reasons for emerging foreign language anxiety and ways to manage it have been attracted researchers’ attention for more than 20 years. Identifying anxiety reasons and predicting the conditions for its emergence allows reducing negative experience, teaching students how to cope with educational challenges, and increasing the overall training effectiveness and creativity. To assess the foreign language anxiety level, the authors of the present study used the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). The Critical Thinking Test in Environmental Education (CTTEE) was used to assess critical thinking. The research population was represented by 200 undergraduates from Ogarev Mordovia State University and 200 undergraduates from Al Ain University. The research aim was to study the relationship between the sphere of student activity, the level of anxiety, and critical thinking in foreign language learning with the minimization of all factors that could somehow affect the learning outcomes. The novelty of this study is that it minimizes the influence of additional factors when determining the dependence of foreign language anxiety on the sphere of activity. In practice, the study findings can become a starting point for further research in the field of critical thinking or may be applied during the development of language training courses for students of non-linguistic specialties.