Foreign language learning boredom and enjoyment
The effects of learner variables and teacher variables
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23319601 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chengchen Li (0000-0002-7262-3309, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1499-1524 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language Teaching Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1362-1688 • E-ISSN: 1477-0954 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/13621688221090324 |
| OpenAlex | W4280601804 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 67 |
| References cited | 57 |
The past decade has witnessed a surge of research interest in diverse emotions that foreign/second language (L2) learners experience. However, research on L2 boredom is just starting. The current study focuses on foreign language learning boredom (FLLB) and foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and examines how they are associated with a wide range of learner-internal variables and teacher-centered variables. A total of 868 current university students in China studying English as a foreign language (FL) participated in a questionnaire survey. Correlation results show the following: (1) there was a strong negative correlation between FLE and FLLB; (2) FLE was positively linked to multiple learner-internal variables (self-perceived FL proficiency, relative standing among peers, attitudes towards the FL, the teacher, and FL-related culture) and teacher-related variables (the use of FL in class, enthusiasm, predictability, and friendliness), while negatively linked to learner age and onset age of FL learning; (3) these significant correlates of FLE were linked to FLLB in an opposite way. When the significant variables were entered into the regression models, attitudes toward the FL stood out as the strongest learner-internal predictor of both FLE and FLLB, while teacher friendliness was shown to be the strongest teacher-related predictor of both emotions. The findings show that FL emotions are contingent on the interplay between learners and teachers. In accordance with the findings, I recommend that enjoyment-boosting and boredom-reducing activities be incorporated into FL classrooms.
Boredom · Enthusiasm · Foreign language · Mathematics education · Education Practices and Challenges · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Mind wandering and attention · Psychology · Social Psychology
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The relationship between enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom and intrinsic motivation for Spanish language skills in after-class learning
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Effect of Perceived Teacher Support on Foreign Language Emotions in Primary School Students
The effects of perceived teacher support on college students’ online learning engagement
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How teacher characteristics shape Chinese undergraduate EFL learners’ enjoyment and anxiety
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Revisiting after-class boredom via exploratory structural equation modeling
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The effect of L2 grit on willingness to communicate
Portraying higher education students' accounts of foreign language classroom enjoyment and its effects
Anxiety, enjoyment and boredom in online foreign language learning
The impact of teachers' emotional support on EFL learners' online learning engagement
The predictive effect of language achievement on multiple emotions in languages other than English
Learner-internal and learner-external factors for boredom amongst Chinese university EFL students
Exploring the impact of AI-enhanced language tools on multilingual learners’ grit, enjoyment, anxiety, and emotional disengagement
The effects of student and teacher variables on anxiety, enjoyment, and boredom among Chinese high school EFL learners
Emotional dynamics in L3 Japanese learning
How the Effects of Foreign Language Enjoyment, Anxiety, Boredom and Peace of Mind on Attitude/Motivation Change With Skill Level, Academic Achievement and Age
Foreign language enjoyment overcomes anxiety and boredom to boost oral proficiency in the first year of English foreign language learning
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Does the attractiveness of K‐culture shape the enjoyment of foreign language learners of Korean
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Validating the short-form of foreign language classroom burnout, boredom and anxiety scales in online Chinese learning
The enactment of positive emotions via teacher scaffolding
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The Role of Learner Variables in Pragmatic Development during Study Abroad
Foreign Language Enjoyment and Anxiety of Chinese EFL Learners at the Tertiary Level
Effects of Strategy-based Instruction on Chinese EFL Learners’ Writing Enjoyment
Positive and Negative Emotions of Chinese as a Second Language Learners and the Influencing Factors
Replication research in L2 collaborative writing
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Foreign Language Enjoyment as a mediator between Informal Digital Learning of English and willingness to communicate
Understanding pre-adolescent learners’ foreign language enjoyment
New wine in new bottles? L2 Grit in comparison to domain-general Grit, Conscientiousness, and Cognitive Ability as a predictor of language learning
Self-guides, enjoyment, gender, and achievement
The contribution of informal digital learning of English (Idle) to achievement emotions and willingness to communicate
Language attitudes
Do shyness and emotions matter in shaping classroom engagement? A study of multilingual learners of Chinese in Thailand
The role of enjoyment and boredom in shaping English language achievement among ethnic minority learners
Testing associations between global and specific levels of foreign language enjoyment and foreign language boredom
Investigating metaemotions as the predictors of willingness to communicate, anxiety, and enjoyment among EFL learners
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Designing authentic language learning simulations to support student engagement
Explaining the penetrating role of technology in online foreign language learning achievement
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Exploring the antecedents, manifestations and coping strategies of boredom in the language classroom
International Handbook of Emotions in Education
The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited
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A Person-in-Context Relational View of Emergent Motivation, Self and Identity
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An Overview of Language Anxiety Research and Trends in its Development
Differential Roles of Shame and Guilt in L2 Learning
The Effect of Perception of Teacher Characteristics on Spanish EFL Learners’ Anxiety and Enjoyment
Role of the Emotions and Classroom Environment in Willingness to Communicate
Flow
Foreign Language Enjoyment and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety
The Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions
Anxiety, enjoyment, and boredom in language learning amongst junior secondary students in rural China
The Development and Validation of the Short Form of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale
A Control–Value Theory Approach to Boredom in English Classes Among University Students in China
The complex relationship between classroom emotions and EFL achievement in China
Foreign language learning boredom
Longitudinal examination of university students’ foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety in the course of general English
Effects of Trait Emotional Intelligence and Sociobiographical Variables on Communicative Anxiety and Foreign Language Anxiety Among Adult Multilinguals
Investigating factors responsible for boredom in English classes
The antecedents of boredom in L2 classroom learning
How unique is the foreign language classroom enjoyment and anxiety of Chinese EFL learners
The predictive effects of classroom environment and trait emotional intelligence on Foreign Language Enjoyment and Anxiety
Understanding Chinese high school students’ Foreign Language Enjoyment
Boredom in online classes in the Iranian EFL context
Learning Chinese as a second language in China
Trait emotional intelligence, positive and negative emotions in first and foreign language classes
Introduction to personality and assessment at age 40
On the Measurement of Affective Variables in Second Language Learning
Foreign-Language Education
Motivation, Emotion, Learning Experience, and Second Language Comprehensibility Development in Classroom Settings
| Unique citing works | 67 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 16,75 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 59 |