The impact of learners’ learning enjoyment on their academic reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition

Abstract

the present study aimed to investigate the impact of learners’ learning enjoyment, as compared to anxiety, on their academic reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. A mixed-methods approach was employed, which included administering questionnaires to 155 participants and conducting 21 semi-structured interviews, all of whom were students in 12 English Preparatory classes at a Vietnamese university. The findings indicated that there was no significant impact of enjoyment and anxiety on reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition over time at three different intervals: Time 1 (in the middle of Week 4), Time 2 (at the beginning of Week 7), and Time 3 (at the end of Week 7). Limitations of the study as well as salient implications for teachers and learners were also presented in a detailed manner.