Annales Neophilologiarum

The paper presents the results of survey conducted among 220 Modern Languages students of the Szczecin University. The survey concerned the feelings and emotions that accompany students during language education process. It was demonstrated that negative emotions (threat-related emotions) occur primarily in situations when the students are being assessed, particularly of the oral speech. Approximately 40% of respondents felt then various anxiety states which hinder effective coping with situations related to testing knowledge and skills. The respondents also do not like public speaking because it is subject to an excessive stress being caused by various types of anxiety. A very positive image of the emotional and affective sphere refers to conversation classes where the student is not being assessed. During classes of this nature, the feeling of flow (pleasant state of rapture) appears. Positive emotions accompany students also during meetings and talks with native speakers. The survey also shows that feeling certain (pleasant or unpleasant) emotional states is individualised and may depend on personality type, gender, as well as the progress (grades) achieved in the student’s work on the language.