Research Trends in Foreign Language Enjoyment

Review

Abstract

Research on foreign language enjoyment (FLE) tremendously increased after 2017, while no review studies appeared on research trends in enjoyment in a holistic and retrospective view. This study aims to explore research trends in enjoyment in the foreign language learning context. Within the scope of the retrospective scientometric approach, 175 research papers from the Web of Science (WOS) database were analyzed. The results showed that studies mainly focused on the relationship between enjoyment and anxiety in the foreign language learning context. It was also concluded that the trend topics were anxiety, enjoyment, achievement, and the validation of the tools used for the measurement of enjoyment. The study ends with implications regarding several critical points within the scope of research on foreign language enjoyment.