Calm down: A mediation model on the mitigating effect anxiety has on learner interactions and learning outcome

Learners in videoconference-mediated classrooms are expected to interact regardless of their varied demographic and behavioral characteristics, including susceptibility to foreign language (FL) anxiety. With a focus on apprehension, the present study aimed to better understand the influence students' FL anxiety has on the relationship between learner interactions and academic self-efficacy beliefs. To this end, questionnaire data was collected from 647 South Korean university students attending emergency remote online classes through Zoom's videoconference platform. Structural equation modeling was carried out to identify the mediating effect of FL classroom anxiety on the relationship between academic self-efficacy beliefs and interactions. Findings revealed full mediation on the path coefficient from learner-learner interaction to learning expectations, while no mediation effect was observed between learner-instructor interactions and learning expectations. Increasing levels of learner-learner interactions were associated with increasing FL anxiety, partly explaining the positive path between learner-learner interactions and expected academic performance. Unlike learner-instructor interactions, learner-learner interactions increase communication anxiety, consequently decreasing expected learning outcomes.