EFL Teachers' Immediacy and Professional Commitment on Students' Boredom: A Review of Literature

The Interrelationships Between Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language Teachers' Immediacy and Clarity with Learners' Boredom

Since boredom significantly contributes to diminished motivation among learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), there is a need to identify factors that influence boredom. Amidst various elements that can precipitate students' boredom, educational-related concepts have garnered particular attention, with the learning environment emerging as a chief focal point due to its consequential importance to learners. Specifically, the role of teachers' clarity and immediacy in manipulating learners' performance, enthusiasm, and involvement has been widely recognized. Consequently, in this study, we scrutinized the impact of EFL teachers' immediacy and clarity in mitigating learners' boredom. To this end, we collected data from 383 Chinese students through the administration of three scales measuring their perceptions of teacher clarity, teacher immediacy, and learners' boredom. We identified significant associations between teachers' clarity and immediacy and learners' boredom. In Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis, both teacher immediacy and clarity were robust predictors of students' boredom, with about 48% of the variance in students' boredom accounted for by teachers' immediacy, and 53% of this variance attributed to teachers' clarity. We elaborate upon the implications of these findings in our discussion.

EFL learners' boredom coping strategies: the role of teacher-student rapport and support

BACKGROUND

A significant issue in the language education context is examining the coping strategies that learners apply to combat boredom in the class environment. As a significant contextual element affecting different dimensions of learners' acquisition, teacher support in general education has been extensively studied but widely neglected in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting. Also, having a relationship with a teacher can help a learner cope better with school challenges as the teacher can act as a reference for the learner.

METHODS

To this end, 268 EFL learners participated to fill out the three scales namely, Teacher Support, Teacher-Student Rapport (T-SR), and learners' Boredom Coping Strategies (BCS).

RESULTS

Using multiple regressions, the results revealed that there are constructive links between these concepts as they affect learners' BCS, and both T-SR and teacher support were predictors of learners' BCS while the better predictor was teacher support.

CONCLUSIONS

As a result, it can be assumed that these two elements can enhance the students' BCS in language acquisition which ends in declining boredom. Additionally, this research may have further implications for the team members of language teaching in academic environments.

The role of teacher empathy and immediacy in Chinese EFL students' affective learning outcomes: unveiling the associations

Introduction

The positive influences of teacher-student interpersonal communication skills on second language (L2) students have been considerably endorsed in the literature. However, the contribution of teacher empathy and immediacy behaviors, as realizations of such skills, to students' affective learning outcomes is unaddressed in L2 research.

Methods

To fill this gap, three scales were distributed among a sample of 350 Chinese EFL students to see if teachers' empathy and immediacy correlate with and predict students' affective learning outcomes.

Results

The results of correlation analysis revealed strong and positive relationships among teacher empathy, teacher immediacy, and learners' affective learning outcomes. Moreover, the results of multiple regression indicated that Chinese EFL teachers' empathy and immediacy could predict about 65 and 60% of changes in the learners' affective learning outcomes, respectively.

Discussion

Implications of the study for EFL teachers' interpersonal communication skills development and emotional literacy are discussed. Future research trends are also presented at the end of the article.

The predicting role of EFL teachers' immediacy behaviors in students' willingness to communicate and academic engagement

BACKGROUND

Teacher-student interactions and proximity have been shown influential in second/foreign (L2) education. However, the role of L2 teachers' immediacy behaviors on students' willingness to communicate (WTC) and academic engagement remains relatively unexamined in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL).

PURPOSE

This study intended to examine the association among EFL teachers' immediacy behaviors and students' WTC and engagement.

METHODS

In this quantitative study, three online questionnaires were completed by 400 Chinese EFL students in different universities out of which 364 were valid.

RESULTS

The results of statistical analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that teachers' immediacy behaviors (verbal, nonverbal) had a highly significant influence on EFL students' WTC (ß=0.89, p = .000) and academic engagement (ß=0.71, p = .000). It was also revealed that teachers' immediacy could predict 89% and 71% of variances in students' WTC academic engagement, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results, I could be concluded that EFL teachers' interpersonal communication abilities (e.g., immediacy) foster the establishment and growth of other positive outcomes among learners.

IMPLICATIONS

The study presents some conclusions and practical implications for EFL teachers, materials developers, and trainers to integrate the nonverbal cues of L2 communication into their practices. Such practices have the potential to enhance students' willingness to communicate (WTC) and improve academic engagement.

Perceived Teacher Enthusiasm and Professional Commitment: The Mediating Role of Boredom and Learning Engagement

Introduction

Some students in current society do not pursue careers related to their majors after graduation, which may be the result of low professional commitment of college students, and the teaching enthusiasm of college teachers presented in the classroom may influence students' professional commitment. This study considered the effect of teacher enthusiasm on students' emotional state of boredom during class and its effect on students' engagement in learning. This correlational study aims to explore the relationship between perceived teacher enthusiasm and professional commitment as mediated by class-related boredom and learning engagement.

Methods

This study is a correlational design and adopts regression analysis. The respondents were college students (n=358; 68% female, 22% male) of different grades and majors from universities in Wenzhou, China. Questionnaires about perceived teacher enthusiasm, professional commitment, class-related boredom and learning engagement were adopted to measure the study variables.

Results

The results reveal that although there is no significant direct influence between perceived teacher enthusiasm and professional commitment, perceived teacher enthusiasm affects students' professional commitment through students' class-related boredom and learning engagement, and there is an indirect and statistically significant correlation between them.

Conclusion

This study provides insight into the facilitative effect of teachers' increased enthusiasm on students' professional commitment and how this facilitative effect is triggered through the mediating role of class related boredom and learning engagement. Future research should explore the theoretical and teaching significance and how to guide and enhance students' professional commitment.

Toward the Impact of Job Satisfaction and Collective Efficacy on EFL Teachers’ Professional Commitment

Since the success of any educational system is tied to the teachers’ professional commitment, discovering the determinants of this construct seems vital. In line with this, a huge number of inquiries have evaluated the effects of personal, contextual, and professional variables on teachers’ professional commitment. However, the impacts of job satisfaction and collective efficacy have remained unclear. Against this backdrop, the current review article seeks to theoretically explain the impacts of these constructs on EFL teachers’ professional commitment using the available documents. The review findings illuminated that EFL teachers’ professional commitment heavily relies on their job satisfaction and collective efficacy beliefs. The implications for educational principals and teacher educators are finally discussed.