ABSTRACT

The concept of learner engagement, widely researched in educational psychology, has recently gained attention of language acquisition researchers (cf. Mercer, S. and Z. Dörnyei. 2020. Engaging Students in Contemporary Classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Mercer, S. 2019. Language learner engagement: setting the scene. In International Handbook of English Language Teaching, ed. X. Gao, C. Davison and C. Leung. Cham: Springer; Philp, J. and S. Duchesne. 2016. Exploring engagement in tasks in the language classroom. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 36: 50–72. DOI:10.1017/S0267190515000094). The study of the construct in connection with language learning appears a promising line of enquiry since it might help teachers understand in greater depth how to promote engagement and prevent disaffection. The present study looks into learner engagement and the lack of it from the perspective of a language teacher. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight language teachers to establish descriptors of both states, possible causes, as well as steps teachers take to counteract disaffection and enhance involvement and agency. As the results suggest, teachers concentrate on the behavioural dimension and have little access to learners’ emotions and less concern for other components of the construct. Some teachers in the context studied (higher education in Poland) tended to believe that changing learners’ attitudes remains beyond their control as they are related to deeply ingrained beliefs and fixed general dispositions, whose origins can be traced back to early childhood, negative school experiences or lack of parental encouragement.

摘要

在教育心理学中广泛研究的学习者参与的概念最近引起了语言习得研究人员的关注（参见 Mercer, S. 和 Z. Dörnyei。2020。让学生参与当代课堂。剑桥：剑桥大学出版社；Mercer, S. 2019. 语言学习者参与：设置场景。在《国际英语语言教学手册》中，X. Gao、C. Davison 和 C. Leung. Cham: Springer; Philp, J. and S. Duchesne. 2016. 探索参与语言课堂的任务。应用语言学年度回顾36：50-72。DOI:10.1017/S0267190515000094)。与语言学习相关的结构研究似乎是一条有希望的探究路线，因为它可以帮助教师更深入地了解如何促进参与和防止不满。本研究从语言教师的角度探讨了学习者参与度和缺乏参与度。对八位语言教师进行了半结构化访谈，以确定两种状态的描述、可能的原因，以及教师为消除不满情绪和加强参与和代理所采取的步骤。结果表明，教师专注于行为维度，很少接触学习者的情绪，也不太关心结构的其他组成部分。