A Study Of Teacher Factors Influencing Senior High School Students’ Foreign Language Enjoyment

With the introduction of positive psychology into second language acquisition research,there has been a surge of research interest in the academic community.Among the positive emotions that have received the most attention from researchers is foreign language enjoyment,and the academic community has made significant research progress in this field.Based on the current state of research at home and abroad,current research on foreign language enjoyment is predominantly quantitative,with limited qualitative research and mixed-methods studies.College students are the primary research subjects,with insufficient attention given to high school students.Previous research has focused more on exploring the factors that influence high school students’ foreign language enjoyment,while there has been relatively less discussion on teacher factors..To address this gap in research,this study employs the narrative frame as an instrument to explore the teacher factors that influence senior high school students’ foreign language enjoyment.The aim is to supplement the deficiencies of previous studies and provide constructive suggestions for future research.This study recruited 458 first-year students from three four-star high schools in a provincial capital city in East China,all of whom learn English as a foreign language.The study addresses the following two research questions:(1)What categories do the teacher factors influencing senior high school students’ foreign language enjoyment fall into?(2)How does each category influence senior high school students’ foreign language enjoyment?To begin with,through open coding and categorization of qualitative data,this study identified twenty-two teacher factors that influence high school students’ foreign language enjoyment,which are categorized into six categories: the teacher’s selection life-related teaching content,the teacher’s student-centered organization of teaching activity,the teacher’s genuine support,the teacher’s distinctive personality,the teacher’s professional teaching skill,and the teacher’s appropriate use of new media technology.Additionally,the author has explored how each category of teacher factor influences high school students’ foreign language enjoyment.Teacher’s selection of life-related teaching content narrows the gap between students and teachers.Teacher’s student-centered organization of teaching activity satisfies students’ desire to perform and improve their classroom participation,while teacher’s genuine support helps students feel recognized and valued.Teachers’ distinctive personality and professional teaching skill set a good example for students and increase students’ recognition of teachers.Teacher’s appropriate use of new media technology greatly satisfies students’ interests and curiosity.Through these approaches,students’ foreign language enjoyment is satisfied and enhanced during the process of learning English.Based on the study’s findings,the author provides recommendations to improve senior high school students’ foreign language enjoyment and to assist teachers in enhancing their teaching.Finally,the author identifies the limitations of the study and proposes future research directions.