Towards conceptualizing boredom as an emotion in the EFL academic context
Towards conceptualizing boredom as an emotion in the EFL academic context

Summary/Abstract: Boredom is one of the few learner factors that have not yet received due attention in foreign language pedagogy, although for decades it has been widely discussed from a psychological perspective. The main reason for underestimating boredom in language learning environments is that teachers usually associate it with laziness, anxiety or depression. Consequently, the present study aims at offering reflection on the concept of boredom grounded in applied linguistics with reference to its multidimensional character, cause-and-effect mechanisms as well as its context-dependent background. The authors intend to discuss the data obtained from qualitatively and quantitatively examined English philology students’ diaries revealing the participants’ judgments about situations in which they experienced involvement, self-encouragement or reluctance to do a particular task during different classes including the practical English language course and content subjects. Finally, general comments on the consequences of boredom for the quality of students’ work will be made and opportunities for adroitly tackling rather than combating this intriguing phenomenon will be considered.

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