Can Teacher Support Alleviate Academic Anxiety in Chinese as a Foreign Language Learners? The Chain Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy and Academic Emotions

Academic anxiety is a negative emotional state experienced by learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) during their Chinese language learning process. To explore the mediating mechanisms of positive and negative emotions and academic self-efficacy between teacher support and academic anxiety, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 1047 CFL learners, and a structural equation model was established to test the mediating effects. The study found that teacher support helps alleviate academic anxiety among CFL learners; teacher support exerts a certain inhibitory effect on learners’ academic anxiety. However, teacher support does not directly reduce academic anxiety but indirectly influences it through the independent mediating roles of self-efficacy and academic emotions, as well as through the chain mediating effect of both. Based on these findings, the paper provides recommendations for maintaining positive emotions, enhancing self-efficacy, implementing tailored teacher support, and constructing comprehensive motivational mechanisms for CFL learners.