According to multiple studies, there are many factors which can impact foreign language learning (FLL) or second language acquisition (SLA), like motivation, learning strategies, attitude, aptitude, anxiety, and cognitive control ability and so on. Recent years, especially anxiety and cognitive control have gained more attention. A lot of findings indicate that anxiety which is an aversive emotional and motivational state in threatening conditions has negative impact on SLA/FLL. And many scholars propose that cognitive control which is the ability to direct attention and cognitive resources to achieve one’s goal has influence on SLA/FLL as well. More precisely, the relationship between cognitive control and FLL/SLA is bidirectional. What’s more, there is an interaction between anxiety and cognitive control. Therefore, this review mainly refers to literature considering anxiety, cognitive control and FLL/SLA in an attempt to interpret the relationship among them, summarize the current research status and put forward some recommendations for the future research.
 

anxiety;cognitive control;foreign language learning;second language acquisition