The role of enjoyment and boredom in shaping English language achievement among ethnic minority learners

Abstract

ABSTRACT Progress in the field of positive psychology has stimulated an increasing body of work that examines the role of various emotions and their influence on English learning attainment in the second and foreign language (L2/FL) learning context. The present study contributes to this new wave of research by investigating the complex relationship between two emotions, foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language learning boredom (FLLB), and English language achievement (ELA), and how L2 learners’ demographic factors affect learners’ FLE, FLLB, and ELA in a less-featured context of ethnic minority learners in China. Employing the pearson correlations analysis, t-test, and regression analysis, the current study analyzed the responses of 783 middle and high school students from western China. The results indicate that FLE and FLLB co-exist as twins with adverse natures regarding students’ language learning, with a high level of FLE and a low level of FLLB. Furthermore, that gender and educational background influence learners’ emotional perception and ELA. In addition, FLE significantly and negatively correlates with FLLB, and FLE and FLLB influence students’ ELA. However, of the two, FLE has the more substantial predictive power. Pedagogical implications are suggested to support learners’ achievements from a positive psychology perspective.