Impact of foreign language anxiety and expectancy for success on English outcomes: Mediating role of self-regulated learning among university freshmen.

The transition from high school to university places high demands on students' ability to manage their learning in a more self-regulated environment, particularly in their first year. Identifying how classroom anxiety, expectancy for success, and self-regulated learning strategies interact to each other in the Vietnamese higher education context in this transition phase is of utmost importance. This study investigated the impact of language anxiety, expectancy for success, and self-regulated learning strategies on anticipated learning outcomes among 357 Vietnamese university students enrolling in their first English course at a private university in the Mekong Delta. Survey data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the relationships among these endogenous and exogenous variables. The results showed that expectancy for success strongly predicted both self-regulated learning strategies and English learning outcomes. Time management was a significant predictor of English proficiency and expected grades, whereas help-seeking did not show any effects on these outcomes. The findings showed that English skills expected outcomes significantly predicted expected grades. In addition, motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning appeared to contribute more strongly to first-year students' expected English outcomes than classroom anxiety. Pedagogically, the study suggests that interventions should prioritize enhancing expectancy for success and strengthening time management skills to facilitate effective self-regulated learning during the transition to university education.