Individual trajectories of boredom in learning English as a foreign language at the university level: insights from three students' self-reported experience

Boredom is one of the most pervasive and unpleasant emotions in school settings, yet it still remains a neglected and underappreciated research area (Daschmann, Goetz, and Stupnisky, 2011. Testing the predictors of boredom at school: Development and validation of the precursors to boredom scales.British Journal of Educational Psychology81: 421-440), especially in relation to the language classroom. The present study set out to fill this gap by investigating the role of boredom in the process of learning a foreign language (L2) approached from the perspective of three advanced students' individual trajectories of this experience, using data from self-ratings. They were collected by means of the Boredom in Practical English Language Classes Questionnaire (Kruk, and Zawodniak, 2017. Nuda a praktyczna nauka jezyka angielskiego [Boredom in Practical English Language Classes].Neofilolog49 (1): 115-131) and an in-class boredom questionnaire, encompassing a self-reported boredom grid, a semantic differential scale-based evaluation of classes and a description of experienced boredom. A combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis revealed the patterns of boredom manifested by the participants, the connection between general boredom proneness and individual trajectories, as well as factors likely to influence fluctuations in the experience of boredom.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the role of boredom in learning a foreign language by analyzing data from self-ratings of three advanced students' individual trajectories. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis using boredom questionnaires, it revealed patterns of boredom, the connection between general boredom proneness and individual trajectories, and factors influencing fluctuations in boredom experience.