Boredom in the English language classroom: An investigation of three language learners
Boredom in the English language classroom: An investigation of three language learners

Summary/Abstract: Although boredom is among the most frequently experienced emotions in the L2 classroom, so far it has not received due attention on the part of researchers and teachers (Chapman, 2013; Malkovsky, Merrifield, Goldberg, & Danckert, 2012; Merrifield & Danckert, 2014). Consequently, the present paper seeks to investigate the reasons for student boredom and changes in its levels during four naturally occurring English lessons. It is divided into two parts, the first one provides a definition of boredom, its causes and typology followed by research overview, while the second one discusses the authors’ own study. Its participants were three students who scored the lowest, average and the highest on the English Classroom Boredom Scale. The data were gathered by a variety of research instruments (e.g., the English Classroom Boredom Scale, the English Classroom Boredom Grid, the Overall Assessment Scale) and analyzed quantitatively. The findings provided evidence that boredom reported by these individual students had changed both from one lesson to the next and within single classes. These fluctuations were related to such factors as language activities, organization of the lessons or their phases.

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