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

TLDR

Teacher enthusiasm has been increasingly studied for its contagious effect on student emotions and its documented role in shaping student engagement. This study aims to investigate the underexplored links between teacher enthusiasm, student emotions, and engagement in second language acquisition. The study used a mixed‑method design, surveying 2,002 Chinese EFL learners across 11 universities and conducting interviews with nine students to examine relationships among perceived teacher enthusiasm, emotions, and engagement. Quantitative results revealed correlations ranging from small to large among teacher enthusiasm, enjoyment, boredom, and engagement, with enjoyment and boredom jointly mediating the effect of teacher enthusiasm on engagement, and qualitative data provided explanatory insights.

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.