PERFECTIONISM AND ANXIETY IN JAPANESE EFL CLASSROOMS: A CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATION

Abstract

Perfectionism is a pervasive affective factor that influences Japanese learners’ willingness to engage in spoken English, despite extensive exposure to English in university programs. Although foreign language anxiety (FLA) and willingness to communicate (WTC) have been widely examined, the specific role of perfectionism as a precursor to anxiety and communication avoidance remains underexplored in the Japanese EFL context. This conceptual paper addresses this gap by synthesizing theories of perfectionism, language anxiety, and WTC to propose the Perfectionism–Anxiety–Communication (PAC) model. The PAC model explains how socially prescribed perfectionistic standards, reinforced by Japan’s accuracy-oriented instructional culture, trigger anxiety, erode self-efficacy, and suppress learners’ oral participation. The model further highlights classroom-level and sociocultural amplifiers such as fear of negative evaluation, test-driven pedagogy, and face-saving norms that intensify the cycle of communication avoidance. By clarifying the mechanisms by which perfectionism shapes affective responses and communicative behavior, this study offers a theoretically grounded lens for understanding persistent silence and limited speaking performance among Japanese EFL learners. The paper concludes with pedagogical recommendations and research directions to create psychologically safe, confidence-building classrooms that normalize errors and promote communication over linguistic perfection.