What Affects Middle School Students’ English Anxiety in the EFL Context? Evidence from South Korea

Abstract

This paper examines what affects adolescents’ English anxiety in the English as Foreign Langauage (EFL) context. A total of 414 adolescents in South Korea participated in the study and the AMOS 20.0 was used in structural equation modeling for statistical analysis. The results are as follows. Girls showed a higher level of English anxiety and self-directed learning ability than boys. Second, adolescents’ English self-efficacy had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between parental pressure expectation and English anxiety. Third, parental pressure expectation had a significant effect on English anxiety through self-directed learning and English self-efficacy. Fourth, a gender difference in the paths of the models was significant. This provides supporting evidence to many educators and parents for the implementation of effective support practices for adolescents who learn English in EFL contexts similar to Korea to reduce thier English anxiety.

Keywords

• English anxiety
• English self-efficacy
• middle school students
• SEM
• gender difference