A Review of Pedagogical Intervention Strategies for Second Language Classroom Anxiety and Enjoyment

Abstract

Anxiety is prevalent among language learners and has been proven to negatively impact language performance. Conversely, positive emotions, like pleasure, can enhance learning engagement and academic achievement. However, despite growing recognition of the importance of these two emotional dimensions, sufficient evidence-based guidance remains lacking regarding how foreign language teachers can systematically regulate these emotions in their daily classroom teaching. This review adopts a literature review approach, examining empirical research published between 2011 and 2026 on teaching interventions targeting anxiety and pleasure in foreign language learning. Three effective types of interventions are identified, including teacher communication and support, task design and adjustment, and positive psychological training. Further analysis demonstrates that most interventions exert positive or neutral effects on language learning outcomes. Nevertheless, existing scholarship contains several key limitations: insufficient simultaneous measurement of anxiety and pleasure changes, scarcity of longitudinal follow-up research, weak causal evidence, and inadequate sample diversity. Based on these findings, this review proposes future research directions and provides evidence-based practical suggestions for foreign language teachers to optimize the classroom emotional atmosphere.