Longitudinal Interactions Between Mindfulness, Foreign-Language Listening Anxiety, and Multilingualism Among EFL Learners in Tertiary Education

Aims and Objectives/Purpose/Research Questions: This study examines how active multilingual language use, socio-cognitive (Langerian) mindfulness, and foreign-language listening anxiety (FLLA) relate concurrently and prospectively among Bangladeshi EFL undergraduates. Design/Methodology/Approach: A three-wave longitudinal design (baseline, +3 months, +6 months) was used. Primary analyses employed a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) within the structural equation modelling (SEM) framework to estimate autoregressive and cross-lagged relations; sensitivity checks used a random-intercept decomposition (RI-CLPM approximation) to separate between-person from within-person dynamics. Data and Analysis: The sample comprised 145 EFL undergraduates (83 female) at a private university in Dhaka. Measures included the LMS-14 (Langer mindfulness), Kim’s FLLA scale, and a seven-item contextual language-use inventory. Data screening indicated nonnormality; models were estimated with robust maximum likelihood (MLR) in lavaan. Measurement invariance and reliability were assessed for the language-use inventory; multiple sensitivity analyses tested latent versus observed scoring and baseline covariates (years of English study; listening frequency). Findings/Conclusions: Concurrently, greater active multilingual use and higher mindfulness are associated with lower FLLA. The CLPM showed modest prospective links (e.g., mid-semester language use → later mindfulness), but RI-CLPM checks substantially attenuated these cross-lags, indicating effects largely reflect stable between-person differences rather than robust short-term within-person causal coupling. FLLA demonstrated short-term stability (Phase 1 → Phase 2) but less predictability by Phase 3. Originality: The study uniquely combines longitudinal modelling, measurement invariance testing of an active language-use inventory, and RI-CLPM sensitivity checks to examine the multilingualism-mindfulness-FLLA relationship in a South Asian EMI context. Significance/Implications: Results suggest that pedagogies that leverage students’ multilingual repertoires and sustained, scaffolded mindfulness-informed instruction, alongside institutional EMI transition supports and translanguaging-friendly practices, are more promising than brief interventions for reducing listening anxiety.