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Cited by 532EFL/ESL Teaching and LearningEducation, Achievement, and GiftednessCommunication in Education and Healthcare

Teacher enthusiasm and students’ social-behavioral learning engagement: The mediating role of student enjoyment and boredom in Chinese EFL classes

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Dewaele, Jean-Marc, Li, Chengchen·2021·Language Teaching Research
DOI 10.1177/13621688211014538
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Abstract

Teacher enthusiasm is attracting growing attention in educational and learner psychology research. There is evidence that teacher enthusiasm is contagious in class and positively affects student emotions. Their fundamental role in shaping student engagement has also been well documented. However, the links – between teacher enthusiasm and student emotions, and between student emotions and engagement – remain underexplored in instructed second language acquisition. The present study adopted a mixed-method approach to examine the complex relationships between perceived teacher enthusiasm, emotions (enjoyment and boredom), and social-behavioral learning engagement among 2,002 learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) from 11 universities in China. Quantitative analyses showed small to large correlations between perceived teacher enthusiasm, enjoyment, boredom, and social-behavioral learning engagement. In addition, student enjoyment and boredom were found to co-mediate the relationship between perceptions of teacher enthusiasm and student social-behavioral engagement in English classes. Qualitative interviews with nine students provided insights into the potential causes of the statistical patterns. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed, followed by directions for future research.

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  • Dewaele and Li (2021) found that teacher enthusiasm strongly affected Chinese EFL learners' learning engagement, with direct and indirect effects on foreign language enjoyment and boredom, and that enjoyment and boredom mediated the effect of perceived teacher enthusiasm on engagement.

    “The importance of the teacher was further highlighted in Dewaele and Li (2021) where mediation analysis showed that teacher enthusiasm strongly affected the learning engagement of Chinese EFL learners.”

    From Sources and effects of foreign language enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom: A structural equation modeling approach (2023) · cites this paper as Dewaele and Li (2021)

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Cited by

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Authors
Dewaele, J.-M., & Li, C.
Affiliations
  • Birkbeck, University of London (GB)
  • Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
Corresponding author
Li, Chengchen
ORCID
Venue
Language Teaching Research
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2021-05-13
Volume
25
Issue
6
Pages
922-945
ISSN
  • 1362-1688 (ISSN-L)
  • 1477-0954
DOI
10.1177/13621688211014538
OpenAlex
W3163655275
Cited by
532
References
11
Citations by year
2026: 124 · 2025: 124 · 2024: 130 · 2023: 91 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 12
FWCI
280.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Language Teaching Research (publishedVersion)
  • BIROn (Birkbeck, University of London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Social Science Foundation (19CYY017)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Communication in Education and Healthcare
Keywords
teacher enthusiasm, student enjoyment, student boredom, student engagement, emotions in language learning, EFL learners, second language acquisition, mediating effect

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