Activity-induced boredom in online EFL classes

Abstract

Abstract The concept of boredom has recently attracted the attention of researchers in L2 education. As most of the available literature has focused on traditional, in-person classes, very little is known about how L2 students experience this aversive emotion in online classes, especially those prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To fill this gap, this large-scale, qualitative study surveys the opinion of 240 demographically versatile English major students from twenty-five universities in Iran to identify the activity types that are more likely to induce boredom in online classes. Thematic analysis of data, collected through open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews and analysed through MAXQDA software, revealed ten different activity types which were boredom-inducing due to their non-engaging or cognitively (un)demanding nature. The findings are then discussed in light of relevant theories of boredom, and suggestions are given for making these activities less boring in online classes.