Unraveling Student Anxiety in EFL Classrooms in China: The Roles of the Classroom Environment and Control–Value Appraisals

ABSTRACT In this study, control–value theory (CVT) was used to investigate how students’ perceptions of the classroom environment shape their anxiety in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) learning through the mediating effects of control and intrinsic value appraisals. To capture the dynamic and fluctuating nature of anxiety in the context of EFL learning, a combination of the experience sampling method and within‐person mediation analyses was employed. In total, 72 Chinese high school students reported their perceptions of six dimensions of the classroom environment, their appraisals, and their anxiety across eight consecutive English lessons ( n = 576). The results revealed that discussion had a dual effect in this context, namely, this factor exhibited a positive direct association with anxiety but a negative indirect association with anxiety via perceived control. Performance‐oriented feedback was positively related to anxiety. Teacher enthusiasm, rapport, and mastery‐oriented feedback were negatively related to anxiety, whereas clarity did not significantly affect these associations. In addition, perceived control was negatively related to anxiety, whereas perceived intrinsic value was not. These findings reveal the nuanced mechanisms that link the classroom environment with student anxiety in the EFL context and provide actionable insights that can support efforts to reduce student anxiety in the context of EFL learning.