Abstract

The scientific community claims that there is a connection between affective and cognitive factors in a second language learning. This is a non-experimental, quantitative, ex post facto, cross-sectional and explanatory research study carried out with a sample of 861 students, which consisted of 306 males and 625 females, at a public university in Colombia. The cause and effect relationships between foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and willingness to communicate (WTC), test anxiety (TA), communication strategies (CS) and learning strategies (LS) were examined using the structural equation modeling (SEM). The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, the Willingness to Communicate Questionnaire, the Oral Communication Strategy Inventory, the Test Anxiety Inventory, and the Strategy Inventory of Language Learning tools were distributed to collect the data. The SEM showed that FLCA negatively affects WTC and LS, and positively affects TA. Socio-affective strategies have a negative effect on FLCA and a positive effect on WTC. This study provides empirical evidence that shows that anxiety is an aspect that affects the development of communicative competence of English as a foreign language.