نسیم قنبری

The integration of technology in language curriculum has grown widely during the past decades (White, 2003). As a result, educators and researchers have begun to take advantage of the benefits of digital sources to both keep up with this rapid development and also enrich the language learning experience. Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has been a persistent concern among educationists since technology, if used wisely, can play a major role in enhancing L2 learning outcomes. Whether technology fulfills this promise depends on how it is used in the curriculum. The interactive nature of language learning requires a sound integration of different technological devices with the learners’ characteristics such as technological literacy, psychological states, etc. Despite many studies which have investigated the benefits of CALL for foreign language pedagogy (Blake, 2009; Cummins & Davesne, 2009; Hafner & Miller, 2011; Kárpáti, 2009; Laborda, 2009; Mompean, 2010), few studies have investigated the anxiety caused by the application of technology in language learning contexts. Anxiety has always been considered as an important factor in the teaching and learning of foreign languages (Huang & Hwang, 2013; Kim, 2018). Its effect on the learners’ motivation and performance is undeniable (Ahmetović et al., 2020; Dervić & Bećirović, 2019; Horwitz et al., 1986; Jones, 2004). During the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all educational activities including teaching and learning foreign languages shifted to the online mode. Such an abrupt shift occurred while teachers and students were not prepared. The present study reports on an attempt to compare two common online modes (i.e. LMS & WhatsApp) in the Iranian EFL context to discover which mode caused more anxiety for the student