Self-esteem and Language Learning: empirical evidences from the past two decades

Self-esteem is among the well-researched emotional variables in any field of study. Language learning is a specific domain at which self-esteem plays an important role and where it is particularly endangered because of the unique nature of the language classroom. While there is an abundance of studies regarding self-esteem in educational psychology, few have focused on its effect on language learning. This study aimed to present an overview of the current developments and trends in the studies regarding self-esteem and language learning in the past two decades. Employing keyword search collocations of self-esteem and language learning, self-esteem and second language, self-esteem and foreign language, this review utilized 20 articles for full-text analysis after elimination of other variables. The results, divided into three trends, consistently show that there exist relationships between self-esteem and language skills, self-esteem and second or foreign language proficiency, as well as self-esteem and other emotional variables within the language classroom. Keywords: self-esteem, language learning, second language, language proficiency, correlation