Scaling the apex of engagement: Anxious language learners’ positive flow experiences during speaking tasks

Flow is a psychological state that represents high levels of positive emotional engagement in a single task. Fostering flow experiences could lead anxious learners to become fully immersed in the task, experience positive emotions, and temporarily set aside their anxiety during task performance. In the present exploratory study, we investigate anxious learners’ flow experiences over a series of carefully selected and adapted communicative speaking tasks that were implemented in an online Saudi EFL university classroom. Data were collected using open-response questionnaires (n = 127), stimulated recall interviews (n = 25), and a series of interviews with the teacher. The findings suggest that anxious learners can experience flow and that this positive state is sustained through certain conditions: authentic communication on interesting task topics, control in tailoring the task content, and a balance between challenge and skill. The study concludes with implications for teachers to design or adapt flow-enhancing classroom tasks.