Adverse Effects of Cyber-Psychological Variables on the Productive Academic Behavior of Iranian EFL Learners with Xenoglossophobia Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examined the possible adverse effects of cyber-psychological variables on the productive academic behavior of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners with Xenoglossophobia in E-learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a sequential exploratory mixed-method design, in the qualitative phase, a comprehensive meta-integration was conducted for 573 related studies to determine the possible influencing cyber-psychological variables. In the quantitative phase, to measure the adverse effects of the determined Abstract. This study examined the possible adverse effects of cyber-psychological variables on the productive academic behavior of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners with Xenoglossophobia in E-learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a sequential exploratory mixed-method design, in the qualitative phase, a comprehensive meta-integration was conducted for 573 related studies to determine the possible influencing cyber-psychological variables. In the quantitative phase, to measure the adverse effects of the determined 43 44 M. Mahmoudi-Dehaki, A. Chalak and H. Heidari Tabrizi cyber-psychological variables, a valid and reliable questionnaire was generated to be filled by 249 conveniently selected male and female Iranian EFL learners who suffered from moderate to high levels of Xenoglosso-phobia. The results indicated the significant adverse effects of Techno-phobia (fear of technology), Technostress (E-learning stress), identity trauma (conflict of online identity and real-world self-identity), COVID-19 news (infodemic or disinfodemic), Coronaphobia (fear of COVID-19 pandemic), and Atychiphobia (fear of failure) on the productive academic behavior of Iranian EFL learners with Xenoglossophobia. As an interdisciplinary study, the results may benefit different fields of science such as TEFL, cyber-psychology, and educational technology by shedding light on the ramified negative behavioral effects exposed by the cyber-psychological variables that not only affected the performance of EFL learners but also their perceptions toward E-learning.