The book focuses on boredom, a construct that has been explored in educational psychology but has received only scant attention from second language acquisition researchers. Although recent years have seen a growing interest in positive emotions in second or foreign language learning and teaching, negative emotions are always present in the classroom and they deserve to be investigated in their own right. The theoretical part provides an overview of the construct of boredom (e.g., definitions, types, empirical studies in the L2 classroom). The empirical part reports the findings of an empirical study which aimed to examine the changes in the levels of boredom experienced by a group of English majors in English classes and identify the factors accounting for such changes. The book closes with a discussion of directions for further research as well as some pedagogic implications.

This brief synthesizes current findings on the many aspects of chronic student boredom, its relationship with negative academic, emotional, and health outcomes, and what professionals can do to best address it. Citing the complexity of this common student emotion, the author spotlights boredom susceptibility during the critical K-12 years. The brief analyzes cognitive and emotional attributes of boredom and identifies emotional skills that can be strengthened to counteract it. In addition, the volume features strategies for educators and school counselors to reduce boredom, both internally and in class. This stimulating volume: Argues that boredom shouldn't be ignored or dismissed as a passing phase. Examines various types of boredom as well as gender and cultural differences. Explores boredom in the contexts of anxiety and depression and in non-school situations. Provides theory on causes of boredom in students. Details how student self-regulation, motivation, and engagement can be improved. Describes specific roles teachers and mental health professionals can play in controlling boredom. Boredom in the Classroom is an essential resource for researchers, scientist-practitioners, clinicians, and graduate students in the fields of child and school psychology, educational psychology, social work, and related disciplines.

This dissertation study investigates instances of boredom in the foreign language (German) classroom. The study was driven by the following three questions: (1) What features of the classroom environment tend to be associated with boredom in foreign language students?; (2) What beliefs and attitudes do foreign language students and teachers hold regarding the concept of boredom in the classroom, its causes, and its consequences?; and (3) How does boredom in foreign language class relate to other aspects of the language learning experience, e.g. attitude toward one's course and teacher, motivation to learn the language, anxiety when using the language in front of one's teacher and peers, as well as proneness to boredom in a more general sense? Participants were 57 university-level learners of German in their second semester of instruction, along with their three teachers. A mixed-methodology was used that included Likert-type questionnaires, field notes taken during class observations, as well as four formats of semi-structured interview with a total of 17 participants. Central to the study was the use of the "Real-Time Boredom Questionnaire" (RTBQ), an instrument designed by the researcher in order to capture students' in-the-moment feelings of boredom at several intervals during multiple 50-minute class meetings. Statistical analysis of the questionnaire data revealed that students interpret their feelings of boredom during class time in relation to their attitude toward their teacher, and that attitude toward the teacher is a more meaningful predictor of student boredom than are any particular classroom activities and their features.

Language Education and Emotions presents innovative, empirical research into the influence of emotions and affective factors in language education, both in L1 and in foreign language education. It offers a comprehensive overview of studies authored and co-authored by researchers from all over the world. The volume opens and ends with "backbone" contributions by two of the discipline’s most reputed scholars: Jane Arnold (Spain) and Jean-Marc Dewaele (United Kingdom). This book broadens our understanding of emotions, including well-known concepts such as foreign language anxiety as well as addressing the emotions that have only recently received scientific attention, driven by the positive psychology movement. Chapters explore emotions from the perspective of the language learner and the language teacher, and in relation to educational processes. A number of contributions deal with traditional, school-based contexts, whereas others study new settings of foreign language education such as migration. The book paints a picture of the broad scale of approaches used to study this topic and offers new and relevant insights for the field of language education and emotions. This book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the field of language education, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics.

This book investigates teacher and student boredom from the perspective of the teacher and illustrates how thinking about different aspects of this negative emotion might enhance reflective practices. It consists of seven chapters. The first four (Chapters 1-4) are devoted to the role of positive and negative emotions in L2 learning, conceptualizations of boredom, theories accounting for this negative emotion, and a brief overview of student and teacher boredom-related studies carried out in educational psychology and L2 education. The second part (Chapters 5-6) is empirical in nature. It reports on a mixed-methods investigation which tapped learner and teacher boredom from the perspective of EFL secondary school practitioners. It focused on: (1) teacher-perceived causes of learners' boredom, (2) causes of teachers' own boredom, (3) ways in which teachers confront student boredom in the classroom, (4) ways in which teachers deal with their own boredom, (5) factors that underpin teacher and student boredom, (6) ways of combating student and teacher boredom. The third part of the book (Chapters 6-7) integrates teachers' recommendations with outcomes of previous research to propose a reflective practice model of dealing with boredom in the classroom as well as strategies that can be employed to minimize teacher boredom.

Population diversity is becoming more prevalent globally with increasing immigration, emigration, and refugee placement. These circumstances increase the likelihood that a child will be raised speaking a different language in the home than the common language used in each country. This necessitates the development of comprehensive strategies that promote second language learning through the adoption of new technological advancements. New Technological Applications for Foreign and Second Language Learning and Teaching is a scholarly publication that explores how the latest technologies have the potential to engage foreign and second language learners both within and outside the language classroom and to facilitate language learning and teaching in the target language. Highlighting a range of topics such as learning analytics, digital games, and telecollaboration, this book is ideal for teachers, instructional designers, curriculum developers, IT consultants, educational software developers, language learning specialists, academicians, administrators, professionals, researchers, and students.

This accessible book offers a fresh perspective on engagement, with an emphasis on how teachers can create the conditions for active engagement and the role learners can play in shaping the way they learn. Drawing on extensive theoretical knowledge, the book takes an applied approach, providing clear principles and practical strategies for teachers.