The antecedents of boredom in L2 classroom learning

Abstract

This classroom-based study investigated the antecedents of boredom among Thai university students enrolled in an English oral communication course. The primary data collection tool was a whole-class survey (n = 25) eliciting the learners’ boredom experiences in a particular class over the course of seven weeks. Concurrently, focus group interviews (n = 5) were conducted five times to gain in-depth views about boredom and its antecedents in the L2 learning context in general, as well as the learners’ boredom experiences in the class. A modified version of constant comparative analysis of the survey data yielded nine thematic factors as the antecedents of boredom, which were supported by the interview findings. Activity mismatch, lack of comprehension, insufficient L2 skills, task difficulty, input overload, and lack of ideas were shown to create conditions under which internal learner factors and external classroom factors were ill-balanced or mismatched, resulting in the emergence of boredom. Learners’ physical fatigue, unfavorable appraisals of classroom tasks, and negative behaviors of classmates were also identified as the antecedents of boredom. Adopting a situated approach to exploring L2 learners’ boredom, this study sheds light on the context-dependent view of how and why learners experience boredom through an emic perspective.