Longitudinal Study of Foreign Language Boredom Experienced by English Major Students in a Blended English Reading Course

Abstract

Introduction: Boredom is a negative psychological and emotional experience prevalent in foreign language classrooms. However, it has long been neglected by researchers and foreign language teachers. In this context, the present study investigated boredom experienced by college English majors in a blended English reading course. Research efforts revolved around students’ overall boredom level, gender differences, and dynamic changes in boredom. Methodology: This study adopted a quantitative research method, and the instrument was a quantitative questionnaire adapted from the Foreign Language Learning Boredom Scale. A total of 174  EFL learners (60 males and 114 females) in the second year of English majors from a private university in Southwest China filled out the online version of FLLBS in weeks 3, 9, and 15 during the fall semester of 2022-2023 academic year. Results: The findings demonstrated that participants’boredom was at a moderate level. Moreover, except in foreign language class boredom at Time 2 and over-challenging or meaningless task boredom at Time 3, there existed no significant gender differences. Finally, a complicated picture was painted regarding the dynamic changes in boredom levels over time, and different patterns were found. Conclusion: College EFL learners do feel bored in the learning process, which should not be neglected by language teachers and researchers. This study enriched the research on foreign language boredom and can provide enlightenment to EFL teaching.