Boredom as an Aversive Emotion Experienced by English Majors

Despite a growing focus on positive psychology in recent years, negative emotions have not ceased to play a crucial role in learning additional languages in the classroom. This paper reports a study that investigated one such negative emotion - boredom - as experienced by 115 advanced learners of English. They were asked to write a descriptive paragraph about boredom that they experienced during English classes. Qualitative analysis resulted in the identification of five broad categories of factors responsible for student boredom - namely, language tasks, the teacher, modes of class organization, class components and others. On that basis, some boredom-coping solutions are offered.

Automated summary

This study investigated the experience of boredom among 115 advanced learners of English. The findings revealed that language tasks, the teacher, modes of class organization, class components, and other factors were responsible for student boredom. Based on these findings, coping strategies for dealing with boredom were suggested.