A Comparative Study On Boredom Of College English Learners In Online And Offline Teaching Modes

As a common academic emotion in foreign language learning,boredom is a complex emotion characterizing disengagement,dissatisfaction,lack of attention,distorted perception of time,and decreased vitality,being defined as a negative,low arousal,activity-oriented academic emotion.In recent years,boredom in the traditional classroom has received widespread attention in the field of foreign language teaching and researching.In the current educational context of ‘Internet+’,the research into boredom of college English learners in the online teaching mode is still under-explored.And the comparative study on boredom in online and offline teaching modes is scarce.Based on the boredom-related theories,this study aims to investigate college English learners’ boredom in the online and offline teaching modes with the focus on the following three questions:(1)How is the state of the learners’ boredom in college English online and offline teaching modes at the beginning of the semester?(2)How does the learners’ boredom change over time in college English online and offline teaching modes? Is there any difference in the change of boredom?(3)What are the factors that influence learners’ boredom in college English online and offline teaching modes? What are the factors that generate the difference in boredom intensity between online and offline teaching modes?To answer the research questions above,this study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods,adopting a group sample survey and longitudinal case study.Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews served as the research instruments.The subjects of the study were 66 college English learners in a university of northeast China,and three of them were selected for the case study.The results were as follows:(1)At the beginning of the semester,college English learners had a low level of boredom in both online and offline teaching modes.At the end of the semester,college English learners had a moderate level of boredom in the online teaching mode and a low level of boredom in the offline teaching mode.The mean level of boredom in online teaching mode was significantly higher than that in offline teaching mode in two measurements.The discrepancy was more evident at the end of the semester.(2)While the boredom level in both teaching modes showed an increasing trend throughout the semester,the level of boredom was only significantly higher in the online teaching mode.The case study identified the following characteristics of the changes of college English learners’ boredom: all three participants’ levels of boredom changed with the passage of time in a non-linear way;the general rising patterns attributed to all the subjects’ boredom in two teaching modes were not fully reflected in the individual trajectories of this negative experience;three college English learners’ intrinsic inclination to boredom also exerted considerable effects on the fluctuation of it throughout the semester;a spectrum of factors,either inside or outside the learners,may play a role in shaping the trajectories of boredom.As regards to the difference in the change of boredom between two teaching modes,a more significant oscillation of boredom was discerned in the offline teaching mode with the exception of CS1,whose greater fluctuation in the online teaching mode may be caused by the alternation of web-based teaching platform.(3)The influencing factors of boredom in college English online and offline teaching modes consisted of tasks,teachers,learners and other factors.In terms of task factors,it included task difficulty,task repetitiveness,task monotony,task interest,task usefulness,task overload and task topic;From the perspective of teachers,it embraced teacher-student interaction,teacher’s oral speed,teacher’s monotonous talk and teacher’s substitution;Learner-related factors covered physical fatigue,unmotivated peers,peer’s long speech,and self-regulation;Other factors involved class pattern,long teaching hour,perceived ease of use and other attentional priority.Of all the factors,although task-related factors were most frequently-mentioned influencing factors,they were not identified as the root cause that led to the difference in boredom intensity between these two teaching modes.The qualitative analysis unveiled two factors that had a close link with higher level of boredom in the online teaching mode compared with that in the offline teaching mode,that is,interaction and class pattern.More specifically,the online teaching mode with a monotonous pattern often failed to achieve sufficient teacher-student interaction,and learners therefore suffered more boredom.On the basis of the results above,this study suggests that college English teachers grasp the characteristics and differences of college English learners’ boredom in online and offline teaching modes,and further create an attractive classroom environment in order to arouse learner autonomy and make them fully engage in English classes.In addition,when boredom is about to occur or has appeared,teachers should employ teaching interventions.For example,teachers ought to dynamically modify learning tasks and appropriately arrange the amount of instructions and break to ensure that learners have sufficient energy to participate into classroom teaching and learning with an understanding of college English learners’ expectations and needs.Finally,college English teachers should provide learners with knowledge of boredom as well as the strategies of dealing with boredom so as to resolve the negative emotion in college English classroom.