Language Learner Engagement During Speaking Tasks: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Learner engagement is crucial for ensuring the quality of learning experiences, and yet the study of ‘task engagement’ has received relatively little empirical attention in the language education domain. This article reports on a study exploring the factors contributing to learners’ engagement and disengagement during task performance in an English as a foreign language classroom. Thirty-seven learners performed 10 different speaking tasks implemented over a 10-week period in a Japanese university task-supported classroom. The participants’ engagement was measured using a post-task questionnaire on perceived levels of anxiety, confidence, focus and desire to speak. Learners’ written self-report reflections revealed complementary in-depth qualitative data about the underlying factors behind their engagement or otherwise during speaking tasks. The results revealed a variety of learner-level, lesson-level, task-level and post-task-level factors contributing to learners’ engagement and disengagement in tasks. Findings indicate that certain task features such as the nature and purpose of the tasks, task repetition, familiar and easier task topics led to successful engagement. On the other hand, lack of social cohesion and motivational baggage were reported as primary factors in determining learners’ silences and disengagement in tasks. The authors offer pedagogical implications for teachers on how speaking tasks can be better implemented to enhance engagement in foreign language classrooms.

Anatomizing Students’ Task Engagement in Pair Work in the Language Classroom

“…The authors pointed out that such changes can be influenced by many factors, including the perceived value of peer assistance and students' beliefs about collaborative tasks and experiences. Aubrey et al (2020) explored the factors contributing to students' engagement and disengagement during task performance in a language classroom. The results of 10 different speaking tasks over a 10-week period revealed that various factors, at learner-level (e.g., perceptions about language skills), lesson-level (e.g., preparation for the lesson), task-level (e.g., task design), and post-task-level (e.g., evaluation of performance), influenced the students' (dis-)engagement in task.…”

“…As another feature, this study incorporates a temporal aspect into its research design to determine how students' task engagement changes (or not) over time. The few studies that have addressed related issues (e.g., Aubrey et al, 2020;Chen & Yu, 2019;Yashima et al, 2016) have examined peer interaction within different tasks and different lessons. However, little research has been carried out about how the students interact with their partners within the same task and how they change (or do not change) their task engagement within a single lesson.…”

The Role of Teacher-Student Relatedness and Teachers' Engagement on Students' Engagement in EFL Classrooms

“…EFL researchers have conducted numerous studies and focused on various aspects of the classrooms and teaching contexts to find out the factors that improve the quality of students' educational paths (Reyes et al, 2012;Ryan and Deci, 2017;Dao et al, 2019;Aubrey et al, 2020). Studies have shown that the general policies of any educational system, the perceived social expectation of teacher-student interactions, and teacher-student biological experiences all affect the dimensions of the teacherstudent relationship in EFL contexts (Jang et al, 2010).…”

Teaching and learning through Moodle, Google Doc and Zoom: Fostering student engagement in (a)synchronous learning environments

“…Google Docs are working documents to which all students in the class have simultaneous access. Items in the scale testing Engagement were formulated based on Aubrey et al (2020), Dörnyei (2019) and Lopez (2011. The scale included statements such as: "The online learning environment provided me with opportunity to engage with my peers", or "[…] to engage with my teacher", which the respondents rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 -I completely disagree, to 5 -I completely agree.…”