Social Enjoyment Research Articles

Developing foreign language teacher enjoyment among Iranian and Turkish EFL teachers: A cross-cultural study

With the burgeoning of positive psychology, foreign language teaching enjoyment (FLTE) was introduced as a combination of personal and social enjoyment and student appreciation. Despite its critical role in language teachers’ professional development and psychological growth, scant qualitative attention has been paid to clarify how it can be developed. Moreover, there needs to be more cross-cultural evidence to clarify the role of contextual and cultural factors in shaping teachers' FLTE. Therefore, this study explored how Iranian and Turkish EFL teachers experienced and developed enjoyment in their teaching careers. The study followed a cross-sectional and cross-cultural perspective as a research design. Purposeful and convenience sampling strategies were used to reach the target participants, and there were 24 Turkish EFL teachers and 22 Iranian EFL teachers in the study. An online survey method involving open-ended questions was employed to collect data. Thematic analysis was performed to interpret the data. The FLTE among Iranian and Turkish teachers were depicted under the main themes of feelings, enhancing factors, challenges, individual coping strategies, and suggested solutions. The findings implied the dynamic nature of FLTE. Based on the findings, several implications were highlighted to enhance the FLTE of Iranian and Turkish EFL teachers in educational contexts.

Unpacking the overlap between Autism and ADHD in adults: A multi-method approach

The overlap between Autism and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is widely observed in clinical settings, with growing interest in their co-occurrence in neurodiversity research. Until relatively recently, however, concurrent diagnoses of Autism and ADHD were not possible. This has limited the scope for large-scale research on their cross-condition associations, further stymied by a dearth of open science practices in the neurodiversity field. Additionally, almost all previous research linking Autism and ADHD has focused on children and adolescents, despite them being lifelong conditions. Tackling these limitations in previous research, 5504 adults – including a nationally representative sample of the UK (Study 1; n = 504) and a large pre-registered study (Study 2; n = 5000) – completed well-established self-report measures of Autism and ADHD traits. A series of network analyses unpacked the associations between Autism and ADHD at the individual trait level. Low inter-item connectivity was consistently found between conditions, supporting the distinction between Autism and ADHD as separable constructs. Subjective social enjoyment and hyperactivity-impulsivity traits were most condition-specific to Autism and ADHD, respectively. Traits related to attention control showed the greatest Bridge Expected Influence across conditions, revealing a potential transdiagnostic process underlying the overlap between Autism and ADHD. To investigate this further at the cognitive level, participants completed a large, well-powered, and pre-registered study measuring the relative contributions of Autism and ADHD traits to attention control (Study 3; n = 500). We detected age- and sex-related effects, however, attention control did not account for the covariance between Autism and ADHD traits. We situate our findings and discuss future directions in the cognitive science of Autism, ADHD, and neurodiversity, noting how our open datasets may be used in future research.

How teaching modality affects Foreign Language Enjoyment: a comparison of in-person and online English as a Foreign Language classes

Abstract The sudden shift to online foreign language (FL) learning due to the pandemic offered researchers the unique possibility to explore the role of learner emotions in different teaching modalities. This mixed methods paper investigates differences in 437 English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ levels of FL enjoyment (FLE) in pre-pandemic in-person EFL classes and their online classes after the switch to emergency remote teaching (ERT) based on a convergent research design. Statistical analysis of quantitative data gathered with a web survey showed a significant drop in learners’ FLE in ERT, based on a 9-item scale. The sharpest drop was observed for the scales’ subdimensions Personal and Social Enjoyment while Teacher appreciation decreased less. Qualitative content analysis of 21 in-depth interviews revealed that enjoyable aspects were mentioned more frequently for ERT than for in-person classes. The nature of FLE was found to shift with teaching modality: FLE was linked to rich social interactions in in-person classes, while it was linked to the convenience and comfort of working from home and an increase in learner autonomy in ERT. Additionally, learners reported that despite the physical isolation, they managed to establish good social connections in ERT classes. This shows that FLE can flourish in challenging circumstances. Its intensity might differ from in-person classes but it feeds generally on similar nutrients, namely interesting learning materials, friendly and professional teachers and stimulating interactions with peers in order to develop social bonds.

Reviewing the effect of teachers' resilience and wellbeing on their foreign language teaching enjoyment.

This paper reviews evidence on teachers' resilience (TR) and wellbeing (TWB) on foreign language teaching enjoyment (FLTE). This review improves the understanding of the multi-dimensional, dynamic and context-dependent structural attributes of TR and TWB, as well as the relationship between them and the FLTE. The literature review verifies the positive effects of teachers' positive optimism, self-efficacy, positive teacher-student relationship, teacher support and pro-social dynamic classroom environment on TR and TWB under person-context interaction, and also confirms that TR and TWB have predictive effect and significant impact on personal enjoyment, social enjoyment and student appreciation of FLTE three-factor structure. Some important findings from the review verifies the important role of teachers' social enjoyment in the three-factor structure and the dominant role of prosocial situational characteristics in predicting FLTE. This paper finally explains its pedagogical significance and provides some suggestions for expanding the research on antecedent variables related to FLTE.

Estimating Tertiary EFL Students’ Enjoyment During Online Language Classes

This study purposively conducted to investigate the EFL students’ feeling during online learning in the pandemic situation and confirm their assumption on their teachers’ approach providing the online classes. A survey to the seventy-seven students of STKIP Al Maksum Langkat was conducted. The psychometrically validated short form consists of nine positively-phrased items proposed by Resnik & Dewaele (2021) were distributed via Google Form which were classified in to three categories: ‘personal enjoyment’ (e.g., “In my online or ‘in-person’ English class, I feel proud of my accomplishments”), ‘social enjoyment’ (e.g., “We laugh a lot” in the online class) and ‘teacher appreciation’ (to what extent the teacher is perceived as encouraging, friendly and supportive). The result asserted that students mostly strongly agree that there was no boredom in their online learning due to their understanding about school-closure because of the pandemic. Further, online learning environment affecting students’ low participation so that their collaboration in the online classes straitened their feeling. Nevertheless, the perspectives of the teachers on the situation as well as their understanding of the advantages of online appliances have an effect on the enjoyment of the students.

Modeling the Association between EFL Instructors’ Foreign Language Teaching Enjoyment and Humor Styles

Background: Positive psychology in the field of applied linguistics has recently shifted its focus from L2 learners to L2 teachers as teachers have been revealed to be a pivotal external affordance for the emergence of learners’ positive emotions such as enjoyment. Exploring the link between teacher-related constructs can provide deep insights into L2 teachers’ emotional agency within L2 classroom context.
 Purpose: The current study seeks to examine the association between English as a foreign language (EFL) instructors’ enjoyment of foreign language teaching (i.e., personal enjoyment, student appreciation, and social enjoyment) and humor styles (i.e., self-enhancing, affiliative, aggressive, and self-defeating humor styles).
 Materials and Methods: In order to examine this association, 244 (151 males and 93 females) Turkish EFL instructors voluntarily completed self-report scales measuring their foreign language teaching enjoyment and humor styles.
 Results: Results of the structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that higher levels of student appreciation and social enjoyment are correlated with higher levels of affiliative and self-enhancing humor. In addition, greater degrees of personal enjoyment, student appreciation, and social enjoyment are correlated with lower levels of aggressive humor, while self-defeating humor was unrelated to any of the enjoyment indices. There was also no significant gender difference for any humor styles.
 Conclusion: The findings are discussed in view of implications for teacher well-being.

The Effects of Foreign Language Enjoyment and Future Selves on Learning English

Recently, there has been considerable academic interest in the positive emotions of language learners. As a contribution to this field, the aims of this study were to identify foreign language pleasure (FLE) patterns and their relations with language learning motivation. A total of 145 Korean university students joined the study and their responses to surveys related to the FLE and L2 future selves were analyzed. It was found, first, that there were three underlying FLE factors named Teacher-facilitator enjoyment, Private-internalized enjoyment, and Social enjoyment. Second, these factors were mostly correlated with L2 future selves. It also indicated that ought-to L2 self and the first and third FLE factors were not related to self-perceived proficiency, unlike ideal L2 self and the second FLE factor, that is, Private-internalized enjoyment. Lastly, the result of mediation analysis suggested that private-internalized enjoyment serves as a mediator in the way ideal L2 self affected self-perceived proficiency. The implications based on the findings were discussed.

Relations among and Predictive Effects of Anxiety, Enjoyment and Self-Efficacy on Chinese Interpreting Majors’ Self-Rated Interpreting Competence

It is generally acknowledged that emotions play important roles in second/foreign language learning. Nevertheless, though interpreting is highly stressful, not much research on emotions has been conducted is this area. Hence, this research investigated foreign language anxiety and enjoyment in interpreting class and self-efficacy in learning interpreting among Chinese university majors of interpreting. Analyses of 67 mixed-form questionnaires revealed the following major findings: (a) More than half of the participants felt anxious in the interpreting class, (highly) enjoyed the interpreting class and had (great) self-efficacy in learning interpreting well; (b) Interpreting classroom anxiety, enjoyment and self-efficacy were significantly related to one another and students’ self-rated interpreting competence; (c) Interpreting classroom anxiety negatively predicted students’ self-rated Chinese–English interpreting competence, while social enjoyment positively predicted students’ self-rated English–Chinese interpreting competence; and (d) A number of factors were reported for students’ anxiety and enjoyment in interpreting class and self-efficacy in learning interpreting. Based on these findings, some implications were discussed.

Development and validation of the Social Reward Questionnaire-Early Childhood.

Social interactions like group inclusion, receiving praise, or treating others kindly can be motivating and enjoyable. Social reward sensitivity, including motivation and enjoyment, varies between individuals. In early childhood, this variation may relate to differences in social experience and development. Social reward questionnaires have been developed to measure individual differences in social enjoyment for adolescents and adults, but no early childhood measure currently exists. Here, we describe the development and validation of the parent/caregiver report Social Reward Questionnaire-Early Childhood (SRQ-EC) for children aged 3-7 years. The SRQ-EC was developed to quantify both wanting (motivation) and liking (enjoyment) of social rewards, which were considered in separate factor models. For wanting and liking models, exploratory (N = 126) and confirmatory (N = 344) factor analyses identified that three subscales best represented early childhood social reward sensitivity, which were: Sociability (large groups), Admiration (praise and positive attention), and Prosocial Interactions and Compliance (kindness and rule following). SRQ-EC subscales were internally consistent (ω = 0.76-0.91, α = 0.75-0.88, mean interitem correlations = 0.38-0.60) with high test-retest reliability over 2-weeks (r = 0.66-0.85, all p < .001). Subscales differentially associated with other social behavior and personality measures, suggesting construct validity. SRQ-EC subscale scores further showed differential and significant associations with autistic-like traits in nonautistic children. These results suggest that SRQ-EC subscale scores are reliable for assessing social reward sensitivity during early childhood, which could offer key developmental insight regarding interindividual variation in early social behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Social-interactive reward elicits similar neural response in autism and typical development and predicts future social experiences

Challenges in initiating and responding to social-interactive exchanges are a key diagnostic feature of autism spectrum disorder, yet investigations into the underlying neural mechanisms of social interaction have been hampered by reliance on non-interactive approaches. Using an innovative social-interactive neuroscience approach, we investigated differences between youth with autism and youth with typical development in neural response to a chat-based social-interactive reward, as well as factors such as age and self-reported social enjoyment that may account for heterogeneity in that response. We found minimal group differences in neural and behavioral response to social-interactive reward, and variation within both groups was related to self-reported social enjoyment during the task. Furthermore, neural sensitivity to social-interactive reward predicted future enjoyment of a face-to-face social interaction with a novel peer. These findings have important implications for understanding the nature of social reward and peer interactions in typical development as well as for future research informing social interactions in individuals on the autism spectrum.

“You can get clarity that other students may feel the same way you do”: exploring students’ decision-making around and motivations for engaging in evaluative talk about instructors

ABSTRACT This multimethod study was conducted to explore students’ decision-making to approach or avoid interactions with peers about instructors and investigate motivations for instructional dissent. Participants (N = 124 college students) responded to measures of instructional dissent behavior and motivations for social gossip, then responded to an open-ended question about the risks and benefits of talking about instructors with other students. Quantitative results indicated that expressive and vengeful dissent were related to the following motives for gossiping about instructors: information gathering and validation, group protection, negative influence and social enjoyment. Regression analyses revealed negative influence and group protection account for unique variance in expressive dissent, while social enjoyment and negative influence account for unique variance in vengeful dissent. Qualitative results suggest students’ decision-making to engage in interactions with other students about instructors is informed by concerns for self and others, and reflects social motivations for gossip. The implications of these findings on instructor and student communication are discussed.

Foreign Language Enjoyment as a mediator between Informal Digital Learning of English and willingness to communicate: a sample of Hong Kong EFL secondary students

ABSTRACT Based on Fredrickson’s (2001) broaden-and-build theory, this study investigates how Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE; consisting of teacher appreciation, personal enjoyment, and social enjoyment) mediates the relationship between Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) and EFL secondary students’ willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) inside and outside the classroom. We collected survey data from 308 EFL Hong Kong secondary students who lacked any international experience (ages 12–18). After controlling for demographic data, the results show that teacher appreciation, personal enjoyment, and social enjoyment all mediate the relationship between IDLE and L2 WTC inside the classroom, while personal and social enjoyment mediate the link outside the classroom. A closer look reveals that personal enjoyment, rather than social enjoyment or teacher appreciation, plays a larger role in mediating the relationship. Practically, these findings shed light on the underlying mechanisms by which IDLE and different aspects of FLE can potentially improve the L2 WTC of Asian EFL learners who primarily learn and practice English in the classroom. These findings have implications for future interventions aimed at enhancing L2 WTC by increasing L2 enjoyment in EFL learners.

UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF POP CULTURE FANS

Popular culture (pop culture) events have the potential to promote tourist destinations and to generate tourism income. Travel motivation is a critical consideration for reaping these benefits since it serves as a stepping stone for event attendance and it initiates a desire to act. The purpose of this paper therefore is to determine the travel motivations of pop culture fans. Data was gathered from 576 pop culture fans attending a pop culture event in Gauteng, South Africa, using a structured questionnaire. The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis. The findings revealed nine travel motivations which were labelled brand visibility, event participation, acquire pop culture knowledge, escapism, celebrity fandom, value for money, exclusive merchandise, social enjoyment and novelty. The paper highlights novelty as the most important travel motivation for attending the specific pop culture event and it is therefore argued that pop culture fans attend these events to experience something new and different. In line with the findings of this research, it is recommended that pop culture event marketers pay close attention to all nine identified travel motivations to retain their current fans and to remain competitive.

Crossing unlikely paths in science.

Crossing unlikely paths in science.

The Importance Of Store Environment To Customer Satisfaction And Customer Loyalty Of Family Restaurant In Indonesia

The development of the food and beverage industry is still one of the drivers of the economy in Indonesia. The food and beverage industry sector contributed 2.03% in 2020 at which time all countries were affected by Covid-19. Despite the Covid-19 outbreak, this industrial sector is a sector that has the potential to continue to be stimulated because it also makes a significant contribution to the country's economy so that it can make the country survive and not cause a crisis impact for the Indonesian state. It can be said that Ayam bakar Primarasa and Resto also plays a role in developing the economy in Indonesia. This study aims to determine how the effect of service quality, social enjoyment, cleanness, aesthetics, cost, and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty. The expected benefit of this research is to increase knowledge in the field of management, especially how much influence customer satisfaction has so that it can increase customer loyalty which in turn will increase customers of Ayam Bakar Primarasa Restaurant in Surabaya. This research uses causal research. The method in this study used is a quantitative method with data processing using SPSS software. Data collection was carried out by distributing questionnaires with a total of 148 respondents with the characteristics of male and female respondents aged 18-60 years, who lived in Surabaya, had consumed food and drink at the Ayam Bakar Primarasa in Surabaya directly (dine in) at least twice in the past year, as well as buying and trying other seafood dishes other than the Ayam bakar Primarasa Restaurant in Surabaya in the last three months.

Gossip is distinct from other topics in spontaneous conversation

Gossip – talking about relevant others in their absence – is believed to constitute a large part of informal communication. The perception of the prevalence of gossip implies that it can be unambiguously identified and distinguished from other topics in spontaneous conversation. Its distinctiveness may be justified by multiple theoretical perspectives, including one that describes in-group gossip as an informal device for enforcing norms and punishing norm violators, and another that claims that gossip is used to release frustration and communicate envy. If the ultimate reason for gossip is to facilitate social bonding between the sender and the receiver, however, this would not differentiate gossip from other conversational topics that provide social enjoyment, such as entertainment and food. In a novel contribution, we explore the topics included in a corpus containing 550 hours of unfiltered spontaneous conversation and identify using LDA topic modeling whether some topics are unambiguously prominent in in-group gossip. The explorative approach is integrated with the manual annotation of instances of gossip across the entire corpus. We identified coherent topics of in-group gossip that are clearly different from those of small talk and storytelling. Our analysis finds that feelings, intentions, and opinions are frequently expressed in in-group gossip, more than habits, manners, and behavior. In-group gossip topics are characterized by more words associated with anger, in line with theoretical perspectives that attribute the motives of norm enhancement and punishment or frustration and envy to gossip.

The Development and Validation of the Short Form of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale

AbstractWe used a data set with n = 1,603 learners of foreign languages (FL) to develop and validate the short form of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (S‐FLES). The data was split into 2 groups, and we used the first sample to develop the short‐form measure. A 3‐factor hierarchical model of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) was uncovered, with FLE as a higher‐order factor and with teacher appreciation, personal enjoyment, and social enjoyment as 3 lower‐order factors. We selected 3 items for each of the 3 lower‐order factors of the S‐FLES. The proposed 9‐item S‐FLES was validated in the second sample, and the fit statistics for the factor structure indicated close fit. Further evidence was found to support the internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the S‐FLES. The S‐FLES provides a valid and reliable short‐form measure of FLE, which can easily be included in any battery of assessments examining individual differences in FL learning.

The Impact of Motivation on the Academic Performance of University Students: أثر التحفيز على الأداء الأكاديمي لطلبة الجامعة

This study evaluates how motivation influences the academic performances of university students. The sample includes 400 higher education students attending different universities in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was the data gathering method that was chosen by the researcher to complete this study. The study reveals that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations positively impact the academic performance of students. Academic performance increased by a percentage increase of between 23% and 34 %. Overall, the model showed a significant jump (p&lt;0,05). The researcher found that the individual elements associated with extrinsic motivation -- rejection of alternative options: increase by 17%; career and qualifications: increase by 9%; social enjoyment: increase by 7%; social pressure: increase by 4%. The researcher also found that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are critical elements in the academic success of students and student's performances that tend to consistently fluctuate between good and average/poor. Their performance seems to be guided by the presence of an external reward. Further studies are needed to determine if intrinsically motivated students can be further motivated.

Understanding Demographics Characteristics of E-Cigarette Users in California and the Need for Tailored Interventions

ABSTRACT Background: E-cigarette use has increased rapidly in the past decade despite studies showing their negative health outcomes. There is limited knowledge on the characteristics of users and possible interventions. Purpose: This study presents the demographic characteristics of e-cigarette users in California, propose tailored interventions, and advocate for policies changes. Methods: We used secondary data from the California Health Interview Survey 2018 with 925 participants ages 18–84. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-square cross-tabulations were conducted to determine if associations existed between demographics and other covariates. Results: Among participants, the majority were male (67.6%) and the largest age group was 18–25-year-olds (38.9%). Many participants had some college, vocational training, or an associate degree (56.4%), never married (59.4%), and earned below 300% the federal poverty level. Reasons identified for engaging in e-cigarette consumption were to quit tobacco cigarette smoking, the perception that e-cigarettes were healthier, to reduce tobacco cigarette smoking, for social enjoyment, and to satisfy curiosity. Discussion: These findings demonstrate is a difference in e-cigarette consumption depending on users’ demographic characteristics. Translation to Health Education Practice: Results support the need for tailored interventions that include school-based interventions, public education, community, provider interventions, advocacy, and policy restrictions to reduce e-cigarettes consumption. A AJHE Self-Study quiz is online for this article via the SHAPE America Online Institute (SAOI) http://portal.shapeamerica.org/trn-Webinars

The features of self-awareness and value orientations in agricultural workers with occupational diseases of the peripheral nervous system

The problem of preventing and reducing the level of occupational morbidity among agricultural workers is of particular importance, since occupational diseases are the cause of high disability and mortality rates of the working-age population all over the world. As a research task, the authors made an attempt to identify the features of the interdependence of the components of self-awareness and conflicts in value orientations for the manifestation of the phenomenology of disorders with further designation of the targets of psychotherapy. An experimental psychological study which included 40 agricultural workers with occupational diseases of the peripheral nervous system (experimental group) and without diseases (control group) was carried out using the multilevel personality questionnaire «Adaptability», the self-attitude test questionnaire by V.V. Stolin and S.R. Panteleev, and Schwartz's methodology «Value orientations». As a result of the study, it was found that in the subjects of the experimental group, in contrast to healthy individuals, the hyposthenic type of response prevails, there is the average level of neuropsychic tension, there is no tendency to reactions of the impulsive type, and a high negative and statistically significant relationship between the indicator of conflict in values and the level of personal adaptive potential is identified. The results of the study indicate that among agricultural workers with occupational diseases of the peripheral nervous system, accentuations of the character of the «inhibited» circle prevail, there is an increased level of anxiety and low tolerance to unfavorable factors of professional activity. The dominant personal values at the level of convictions are personal success in accordance with social standards and enjoyment of life, and at the level of behavior — understanding and protecting the well-being of all people and nature, preserving and increasing the well-being of loved ones. With an increase in conflict in value orientations, the adaptive potential of the respondents decreases, and a decrease in the level of self-attitude entails a decrease in adaptation.