Frustration of basic psychological needs and emotions in communicative intent in English as a foreign language

Despite educational policies that have promoted multilingualism in schools, the English language proficiency levels of young Spanish people are still below those of OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries. This is despite the appearance of multiple studies that have addressed communicative competence and its intentionality from a positive perspective. However, there are hardly any studies that analyze the problems or blockages that may be causing the lack of communicative skills and competences of our young people. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the correlation between psychological needs frustration with embarrassment, anxiety and hopelessness, motivation and communicative intentionality in English. The sample of participants is 786 high school students. The analyses employed are reliability analysis, mean, standard deviation, bivariate correlations and a structural equation model. The results showed that frustration of psychological needs positively predicted anxiety, embarrassment and hopelessness, and in turn, each of these emotions negatively predicted motivation and communicative intention. However, motivation positively predicted communicative intention. These findings provide insight into students' English language failure and could support the use of classroom interventions, such as gamification, and teaching strategies, such as game-based learning, that strengthen students' confidence in using English both in the classroom and in other contexts.