Strategies for Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Foreign Language Classes under the “Double Reduction” Policy-Research on Foreign Language Arousal (FLE) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA)

Under China’s “double reduction” policy, foreign language teaching in compulsory education must reduce students’ extracurricular burdens while ensuring teaching quality, which makes it imperative to improve the quality and efficiency of classroom instruction. On the other hand, research indicates that second language learners experience unique emotional impacts during language learning: foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA). This paper focuses on the pathways to enhance the quality and efficiency of English classrooms in compulsory education under the “double reduction” policy and uses foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) as core emotional variables to explore their mechanisms of influence on classroom efficiency. Through Questionnaire Star surveys and stratified sampling, we conducted a questionnaire survey with 369 students from grades 7 to 9 across three junior high schools (using Dewaele and MacIntyre’s revised FLE scale and Horwitz’s FLCA scale), along with in-depth interviews with three teachers. Quantitative data analysis was performed via SPSS 26.0 (including correlation analysis, regression analysis, and moderated effect tests), and the interview transcripts were analyzed through three-level coding via NVivo 12. The research findings reveal the following: (1) students’ FLE (foreign language experience) generally scores at a moderate level (M=3.42, SD=0.71), whereas FLCA (foreign language competency assessment) is prevalent (M=3.68, SD=0.83), showing a significant negative correlation (r = -0.52, p <0.01); (2) teacher support behaviors and task engagement positively predict FLE (β=0.31,0.28), whereas excessive error correction and a competitive atmosphere significantly exacerbate FLCA (β=0.36,0.29); and (3) high-FLE students demonstrate significantly better classroom participation and academic performance than high-FLCA students do (p<0.001). On the basis of these findings, we propose the “PEAK” emotional enhancement model, which comprises four dimensions: creating positive contexts, high-engagement tasks, authentic language use, and knowledge structuring scaffolding. This model provides empirical evidence for implementing the “double reduction” policy through emotional optimization, aiming to alleviate students’ foreign language learning pressure, enable them to acquire linguistic knowledge in more efficient and structured environments, reduce extracurricular burdens, offer practical references for teachers’ instructional practices, achieve high-quality and efficient classroom outcomes, and promote the effective implementation of the “double reduction” policy.