The role of academic buoyancy and emotions in students' learning-related expectations and behaviours in primary school

The influence of enjoyment, boredom, and burnout on EFL achievement: Based on latent moderated structural equation modeling

In recent years, the boom in the field of positive psychology in second language acquisition research has seen an increasing number of scholars focusing on the individual well-being of second language learners alongside their learning effectiveness. Despite this growing interest, there is a need to further investigate the specific emotional factors influencing academic achievement in foreign language learning. This study investigates the impact of three emotions-enjoyment, boredom, and burnout-on academic achievement, and the moderating role of academic buoyancy. Data were collected from 563 college English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students from China's mainland using latent moderated structural equation modeling with Mplus. The results of the latent bivariate correlation analysis showed significant correlations between EFL learning emotions, academic buoyancy, and test performance. In the latent moderated structural equations model, enjoyment and burnout predicted test performance. Moreover, academic buoyancy moderated the relationships between enjoyment and test performance, and between burnout and test performance. EFL test performance was highest when enjoyment and buoyancy were both high, or when burnout and buoyancy were both low. These findings highlight the importance of fostering positive emotions and resilience in language learners to enhance their academic performance, offering valuable insights for educators and policymakers aiming to improve foreign language education.

Dropout intentions in secondary education: Student temperament and achievement motivation as antecedents

INTRODUCTION

As early school leaving and dropping out from education pose a challenge for later life adjustment, it is important to identify antecedent factors for the risk of school dropout to tailor individual support for adolescents. Consequently, this study examines the role of adolescents' motivational beliefs and behaviors (i.e., success expectations, planning, and task-avoidance) as well as their temperament (i.e., extraversion/surgency, negative affectivity, effortful control, and affiliativeness) in their dropout intentions in the first year of upper secondary education.

METHODS

Participants were Finnish adolescents' (n = 536; 57% girls, mean age 12.39 at outset, standard deviation = 0.35) and their motivational beliefs and behaviors were measured in Grades 6 and 9. Their temperament was also measured in Grade 9. As for dropout intentions, they were measured in upper secondary education. The effects of gender, academic achievement, task value, and educational track were controlled for in the analyses.

RESULTS

The results of latent growth modeling showed that, of motivational beliefs and behaviors, high success expectations and low task avoidance independently predicted lower dropout intentions. Success expectations in Grade 6 also mediated the effects of extraversion/surgency, negative affectivity and effortful control on subsequent school dropout intentions, whereas an increase in task avoidance in lower secondary school was a mediator between extraversion/surgency and dropout intentions.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study provides novel understanding about how temperament is linked with motivational beliefs and behaviors and what roles they together play in subsequent school dropout intentions. Supporting students with different temperaments and achievement motivations would be important to prevent adverse consequences for both the individual and society.

The mediating roles of buoyancy and boredom in the relationship between autonomous motivation and engagement among Chinese senior high school EFL learners

For several decades, there has been an increase in studies on second language motivation, one of the most salient topics in individual difference research in second language acquisition, guided by theories and methods from related fields. Self-determination theory (SDT) is one of the most influential theories to provide a comprehensive framework for investigating language learning motivation. To date, numerous SDT-related studies have been performed to explore ways to develop more self-determined types of motivation. However, research on the relationship between self-determined types of motivation and other psychological variables has been limited. To address this gap, the present study investigated the complex relationships between autonomous motivation, buoyancy, boredom, and engagement in a sample of 561 Chinese senior high school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Data were collected through a composite questionnaire measuring students’ autonomous motivation, buoyancy, boredom, and engagement in EFL learning. Chain mediation analysis was used to test the complex relationships among these variables. The results show that autonomous motivation directly affected student engagement in EFL learning and autonomous motivation also indirectly affected student engagement in EFL learning through the separate mediation of buoyancy and boredom in EFL learning as well as the chain mediation of both mediators. The results support SDT and offer some pedagogical implications for teachers and educators.

Linking academic buoyancy and math achievement in secondary school students: Does academic self-efficacy play a role?

Academic buoyancy describes the ability to successfully overcome and recover from setbacks in an academic context (e.g., a poor grade, motivational dips, stress due to upcoming performance exams). This day-to-day form of academic resilience has recently been defined in the context of positive psychology. The present study aimed to gain insights into the mechanisms of academic buoyancy by predicting math achievement. Since there is already evidence that this relationship is rather indirect than direct, we were particularly interested in investigating a potential actor of an indirect effect, namely academic self-efficacy. For this purpose, n = 974 students at eleven secondary schools in southwestern Germany were surveyed through a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using a latent variable approach. The results of the study show that academic buoyancy is a significant predictor of math achievement and that this relation is explained through academic self-efficacy, even when controlling for gender. Implications for practice and further research are also discussed.