Agency, anxiety and activity: Understanding the classroom behavior of EFL learners

The prominence of learner-centered curricula and the focus on social constructivist views of language learning largely characterize current approaches to second language acquisition (SLA) theory, research and practice. In light of these developments, language learners are viewed as active agents, whose learning in classrooms is contextualized, and is both ecologically and dynamically influenced by their personal histories and by the range of settings in which they interact (Benson, 2005; Block, 2003; Lantolf and Pavlenko, 2001; Larsen-Freeman, 2001; Mercer, 2011a, 2011b; Mercer et al., 2012; Ushioda, 2009; Williams and Burden, 1997). Personal and socially constructed agency exert a significant influence on the control learners have over their own learning, and, ultimately, on the levels of attainment of proficiency in a second or foreign language.