Introduction

In an era marked by the intersection of modern technology, evolving educational paradigms, and an emphasis on holistic well-being, the role of positive emotions in education has gained substantial recognition and prominence. International bodies, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), have underscored the critical importance of cultivating positive emotions within educational contexts (OECD, n.d.; Pekrun, 2014). This recognition has led to the integration of principles derived from the field of positive psychology into the landscape of education, emphasizing the value of nurturing emotional well-being in tandem with cognitive development (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Positive psychology, a discipline devoted to enhancing human well-being, has emerged as a transformative force in educational practices, highlighting the role of positive emotions in fostering effective learning and overall student success (MacIntyre et al., 2019; Seligman, 2011). The shift toward understanding the connection between emotions and education has significantly enriched pedagogical approaches, aiming not only to equip learners with knowledge and skills but also to promote their emotional well-being (Fredrickson, 2003, 2013).

Within the domain of foreign language (FL) education, this emphasis on positive emotions is especially pertinent, as learners engage in activities that often challenge their linguistic capabilities and cultural awareness (Dewaele et al., 2017; Oxford, 2016). The study of positive emotions in FL learning can shed light on how factors such as classroom social climate and FL enjoyment contribute to student engagement, illuminating the role of emotional well-being in the language learning process (Mohammad Hosseini et al., 2022; MacIntyre & Vincze, 2017; Pekrun, 2014; Tsang & Dewaele, 2023). Much research in this domain underscores the significance of cultivating positive emotional experiences as an end itself, and also as a means to improving the overall FL learning experience and potentially facilitating learners’ mastery of the FL.

However, a noticeable gap exists in the current research landscape regarding young learners’ perceptions of FL classroom activities and, more critically, their emotional experiences associated with different FL activities in class. While the advantages of positive emotions in education have been widely acknowledged (Dewaele & Alfawzan, 2018; Fredrickson, 2013), there have been limited studies exploring how learners, especially young ones, perceive FL classes and activities, particularly in relation to the emotions they encounter. The gap in the literature is of significance. First, an exploration of learners’ perceptions of FL activities in relation to their emotions is imperative, as it offers insights into the emotional landscape of FL classrooms (MacIntyre et al., 2019). These emotional experiences are not peripheral but rather integral to the language learning process. Positive emotions, such as enjoyment, hold the potential to significantly enhance learners’ motivation and engagement, contributing to more effective language learning and improved performance (MacIntyre & Vincze, 2017). Conversely, negative emotions, including boredom, can act as obstacles to learning, impeding progress and generating aversion to language acquisition (Dewaele & Alfawzan, 2018; Dewaele et al., 2022, 2023; Horwitz, 1995). Unveiling how learners perceive their FL classes and activities can aid educators in designing more effective and emotionally supportive learning environments (MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012).

Addressing this research gap is also imperative to ensure that educational practices are in alignment with the evolving demands and expectations of learners in the twenty-first century. The global educational landscape is continually evolving, necessitating the adaptation and customization of pedagogical approaches to cater to the ever-changing needs of learners (Park & Lee, 2019; Savignon, 2005). By investigating the emotional dimensions of FL education, educators can refine their teaching methodologies and curricula, ultimately creating a more positive and effective learning experience.

In light of these considerations, the present study set out to bridge the research gap by exploring FL learners’ perceptions of class activities that were associated with positive and negative emotions. Through an examination of the role of two common positive and negative classroom emotions: enjoyment and boredom, we hoped to unearth invaluable insights that could inform pedagogical practices, contribute to the study of positive psychology in education, and improve our understanding of the interplay between emotions and FL learning. Importantly, this research aspires to underscore the significance of investigating learners’ emotional experiences in FL classrooms, paving the way for more emotionally inclusive and effective FL education.

Foreign Language Class Activities

In the FL classroom, the design and implementation of class activities play a pivotal role in shaping the linguistic and communicative competence of learners. Despite the evolution of language teaching methodologies, traditional class activities seem to continue to occupy a significant place in FL classrooms. Grammar drills and exercises serve as foundational practices for reinforcing grammatical structures and syntax, contributing to the development of accurate language usage. Translation exercises remain an enduring tool for enhancing vocabulary and comprehension skills. Reading and comprehension tasks offer learners exposure to authentic texts, fostering both linguistic proficiency and cultural understanding. Additionally, rote memorization exercises, while often considered old-fashioned, can be effective in reinforcing vocabulary and essential language elements (Rao, 2002).

However, drawing on communicative language teaching principles advocated by scholars like Savignon (2005) and Littlewood (2011), educators can employ a variety of interactive activities to create an immersive and dynamic learning environment, where learners engage in real-life scenarios to apply language skills. For instance, in information gap tasks, learners exchange information to complete a task, stimulate authentic communication and foster the development of listening and speaking skills. Role-playing activities provide students with opportunities to engage in contextually relevant scenarios, promoting practical language use in real-life situations. Problem-solving tasks, inspired by Littlewood’s (2011) emphasis on language learning through task-based activities, encourage collaboration and language use in the resolution of real-world challenges. Additionally, project-based language learning, as proposed by Stoller (2006), involves collaborative projects that integrate language skills into meaningful tasks, promoting a holistic language learning experience.

In recent years, entertainment-oriented language education including the use of games and videos has emerged as an innovative approach to enhance FL learning, gaining attention for its potential to motivate learners and address various linguistic skills (Dehghanzadeh et al., 2021; Yuruk, 2019). Scholars such as Ranalli (2008) and Bruton (2005) have highlighted the motivational impact of television, movies and video games that create immersive and enjoyable environments that contribute to positive attitudes toward language learning. These activities effectively target skills such as speaking, listening, vocabulary acquisition, grammar reinforcement, and cultural understanding (Dehaan, 2011). Class activities serve as practical tools for enhancing language proficiency, cultural awareness, and overall engagement in the FL learning process (Butler, 2011; Littlewood, 2011; Savignon, 2005). As the field of language education continues to evolve, understanding how various activities are perceived emotionally by learners provides useful insights into their relevance and effectiveness in FL classrooms, informing stakeholders in education about possible directions for revamping or fine-tuning activities, lesson plans, materials, and teaching approaches.

Learners’ Perceptions of Class Activities

Learners’ perceptions of foreign language (FL) class activities, particularly within the framework of positive psychology and broaden-and-build theory, have gained attention in recent literature. Positive psychology emphasizes the significance of positive emotions in learning environments, and its application to FL education suggests that activities fostering a positive emotional climate can enhance language learning (Frederickson, 2003; MacIntyre et al., 2019; Seligman, 2011, Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory (2004) posits that positive emotions broaden individuals’ cognitive capacities and encourage the development of diverse skills. Research suggests that incorporating engaging and enjoyable tasks generates positive emotions and creates a more conducive learning environment (Guz & Tetiurka, 2016; MacIntyre & Gregerson, 2012; Pekrun, 2014). For example, Mohammad Hosseini et al. (2022) investigated the impact of classroom social climate (CSC) and foreign language enjoyment (FLE) on student engagement among 386 intermediate EFL learners in Iran, revealing that both CSC and FLE significantly predict student engagement, with FLE being a stronger predictor. Researchers have also focused on learners’ perceptions of negative emotions in FL learning contexts. Kruk et al. (2022), for example, examined 37 Iranian EFL learners’ views of sources of boredom in the classroom. The researchers found that classroom activities were deemed potentially boring when they were unchallenging, uninteresting, useless, repetitive, and individual (i.e. without the need to work with peers), among others.

In particular, understanding learners’ perceptions of both traditional and innovative pedagogical approaches is crucial. For example, Brown’s (2009) qualitative study of teachers’ and students’ views of effective FL teaching revealed significant discrepancies, particularly in preferences for instructional approaches; while students leaned towards a grammar-based method, teachers favoured a more communicative classroom. The study emphasizes the importance of teachers actively seeking out and discussing students’ perspectives to enhance instructional effectiveness (see also Author 1). Furthermore, research has shown that learners’ experiences with activities such as role-playing, group discussions, and experiential learning significantly shape their engagement and language learning (Brown, 2009; Butler, 2011; Dewaele & Li, 2022; Park & Lee, 2019; Rao, 2002). These studies underscore the importance of considering a spectrum of class activities to cater to diverse learner preferences and optimize instructional outcomes.

Building on this theme, a number of recent studies have focused on learner’s perceptions of digital technology in FL classrooms (Alyaz & Genc, 2016; Coyne & McCoy, 2020; DeHaan, 2011; Ranalli, 2008; Waddington & Bannikova Charikova, 2022; Yuruk, 2019). Nugroho and Atmojo’s (2022) study revealed students’ positive attitudes toward digital technology utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic, notably platforms such as YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, Google Classroom, and Facebook. Chen’s (2022) study on Chinese university students’ perspectives on the integration of mobile learning tools for assessment and collaboration in EFL lessons highlighted how employing non-traditional learning tools could increase learner’s positive perceptions of a lesson. A qualitative study by Dewaele, Albakistani and Ahmed (2022) also investigated various aspects of technological integration in FL learning and teaching, including the role of emotions such as enjoyment and anxiety and a comparison of student and teacher perceptions.

The Study

Despite the increasing number of studies and publications related to investigations of FL boredom and enjoyment, relatively little is known about what exactly learners consider to be boring or enjoyable in FL classrooms, or about the reasons behind the causes of these emotions. One primary reason for the gap is that most studies have been quantitative in orientation; there has generally been a paucity of qualitative inquiries. Among the few studies which incorporated qualitative approaches, Li et al., (2023, p.231), for instance, asked FL participants to respond to “Could you describe the feeling of boredom in detail?”. A wide array of expressions were elicited that depicted the feeling of FL boredom in greater detail than, for instance, merely average scores and other statistics from many of the quantitative studies. Jiang and Dewaele (2019) also incorporated qualitative items in their questionnaire to collate in-depth data. They asked the participants to “Describe one of the most enjoyable learning experiences in your English Listening and Speaking class and how you felt about it” (p.17). The data shed much light on our understanding of what FL learners find enjoyable. For instance, class activities that were deemed enjoyable included “watching a TED talk, role play, and finding the differences between two pictures” (p.20). Therefore, to advance our understanding of the emotional experiences of FL learners, qualitative inquiry, which is currently overshadowed by quantitative approaches, warrants more attention.

This study investigated what learners specifically find boring or enjoyable in FL classes and elicited the reasons behind their perceptions, contributing to a deeper understanding of the emotional dimensions of FL education. The emotional experiences of learners are not peripheral but integral to the language learning process, influencing motivation, engagement, and overall language learning (MacIntyre & Gregerson, 2012). Unveiling how learners perceive their FL classes and activities can aid educators in designing more effective and emotionally supportive learning environments (MacIntyre et al., 2019).

This study was part of a larger project on primary-level EFL learners’ classroom emotions, perceptions, and proficiency in Hong Kong. The research question we are addressing in this paper was: What activities in EFL classrooms do children find most enjoyable and what do they find most boring? Why?

Methods

Participants

Ninety-eight Grade-5 EFL children (Mage = 10.510, SDage = 0.569, six did not say; Males = 50, females = 45; three did not say) from Hong Kong took part voluntarily in this study. They were studying at three typical primary schools in Hong Kong (e.g. EFL taught as a compulsory subject; most EFL teachers being non-native-English speakers). Children in Hong Kong start learning English formally at kindergarten. English is one of the core subjects starting from Grade-1. At the time of the study, their English proficiency was around A1/A2 (i.e. beginners) in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR; see Council of Europe 2020). Ethical approval was granted by the institution with which the first author is affiliated, and consent to participate was obtained from the school management, the children’s parents/guardians, and the children themselves.

Questionnaire Items

Two open-ended questions were asked in the questionnaire. (1a) What activities are the most enjoyable in English lessons? (1b) Why? (2a) What activities are the most boring in English lessons? (2b) Why? These open-ended items were piloted and examined by primary-school EFL teachers; they were regarded as appropriate for the participants in this study.

Procedure

Considering the participants’ limited English proficiency, the questionnaire items were translated from English into Chinese and checked by two highly proficient Chinese-English bilinguals. The paper-and-pencil questionnaires were administered to the participants in group settings. The administrators explained the items in Chinese, addressed questions, and checked the questionnaires when collecting them. The participants were encouraged to provide at least one response for each of the open-ended items. They could write in either Chinese or English.

Analysis

The open responses were typed verbatim onto a spreadsheet. To analyse the qualitative data, the first author made reference to inductive thematic analytic approaches (e.g. Boyatzis, 1998; Braun & Clarke, 2006). First, he immersed in the dataset by reading and re-reading it multiple times. Then, in a bottom-up manner, similar responses were grouped together. For example, cartoons, movies, and watching English videos were classified under the videos group. Some were further combined to form a broader category. For example, the videos and games subcategories were classified as entertainment-oriented activities. The reasons given by the participants were not analysed specifically for each activity, as there were many that had exceptionally low counts (see Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4). Instead, the reasons were analysed collectively to unveil the participants’ holistic views of what gave rise to enjoyment or boredom. An inter-coder with experience in qualitative social science research was invited to code 25% of all the responses. The inter-coder agreement was 93.333%. Discrepancies were discussed and resolved.

Table 1 The most enjoyable activities in EFL lessons
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Table 2 Reasons for the activities being enjoyable
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Table 3 The most boring activities in EFL lessons
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Table 4 Reasons for the activities being boring
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Results

Most Enjoyable Activities

In total, 144 responses on the most enjoyable activities in EFL lessons were collated. As shown in Table 1, over 50% of the comments were related to entertainment-oriented activities. This was followed by language-skill-related activities (e.g. speaking) and general activities in lessons (e.g. classwork/exercises). Around 10% of the comments were on materials and tools, the most popular being the use of iPads.

Altogether, there were 134 responses to the question of why the participants found the activities in Table 1 most enjoyable. These responses could be classified into ten groups, as shown in Table 2. The most common reason was that the activity was fun/interesting/exciting (around 40%), followed by the fact that knowledge (especially English-related) was gained from the activity (around 20%). The third most popular reason (about 10%) was personal, which reflected individual preferences (e.g. I like reading). Opportunities for interaction (about 10%) and using English (about 5%) were also mentioned by some participants.

Most Boring Activities

There were 119 responses about the most boring activities in EFL lessons. The results are shown in Table 3. Most of the responses (slightly more than 65%) were language-skill-related activities, especially writing (almost 30%) and spelling (slightly more than 15%). Around one-tenth of the total responses were about classwork/exercises, and another one-tenth were about teachers lecturing.

Finally, 99 responses were elicited about why the activities in Table 3 were considered most boring. They could be classified into 12 groups. The most common reason was that the activities were difficult (not knowing how; not being able to understand; slightly more than 35%), followed by troublesome/annoying (about 15%). Some participants also stated tiring (about 10%) and assessment-related (slightly less than 10%) as the reasons for boredom.

Discussion and Conclusion

The study set out to examine lesson activities that FL children found most enjoyable and most boring. Overall, entertainment-oriented activities such as playing games and listening to songs were the most common types of enjoyable events in the EFL classroom. This finding corroborates to some extent what has been reported by Jiang and Dewaele (2019), even though the undergraduate participants in their study were much older than the primary-school children in the current study. The most popular activities found by Jiang and Dewaele (2019), such as spotting differences between two pictures and watching videos, were also largely entertainment-oriented. The use of pedagogical tools and platforms, especially iPads, was also popular. This echoes previous studies which have reported that learners found technology made (FL) learning more enjoyable, either directly or indirectly (e.g. Coyne & McCoy, 2020; Waddington & Bannikova Charikova, 2022). The rest of the categories mostly reflected idiosyncratic perceptions; for example, some enjoyed speaking, while others enjoyed writing activities. The most common reason for enjoyment was the activity being fun/interesting/exciting, which is not surprising given the preference for activities with entertainment orientations. Interestingly, the participants also mentioned enjoying activities in which they would gain knowledge, especially about English. This is quite contrary to what might have been expected, since for children, enjoyment may be equated with sheer fun and excitement. However, the young participants showed us that acquiring new knowledge was in fact the second most common of the 10 reasons why they enjoyed activities. Waddington and Bannikova Charikova (2022) shed some light on this surprising finding. In contrast to the teacher participants, who chose student motivation as the most important element to consider in English teaching, the child participants instead chose understanding the content taught as the most important area of English learning. This leads to two interesting points to highlight. First, educators’ and learners’ views may not always coincide, as discussed and found in previous studies (e.g. Tsang & Paran, 2021). Second, even young children themselves emphasize knowledge acquisition in EFL learning rather than focusing just on fun. The other reasons show that the participants enjoyed activities that enabled them to interact with others and use English. Activities that are simple/easy, free/relaxed, and different from the usual were also deemed enjoyable.

Regarding the most boring activities, writing and dictation emerged at the top of the list. Teachers commonly observe that writing and dictation are generally boring tasks for learners, and there has been research evidence that supports this (e.g. Alghasab, 2020; Kruk et al., 2022). The other common categories included activities that target various linguistic areas (e.g. listening; reading), classwork/exercises, teacher lecturing, and assessments. Various reasons have been put forward by individual participants and scholars to explain boredom. For example, writing is mostly a silent and non-cooperative endeavour (Kruk et al., 2022), which can be boring unless there is preparation work beforehand as a part of flipped learning (Alghasab, 2020). However, for the children in the current study, the primary reason for boredom was not being able to understand (how to do) the activities and finding them difficult. This concurs with part of the findings of Nakamura et al. (2021), who investigated the antecedents of boredom among university students in Thailand. Various antecedents reported by these researchers were found to be relevant here: lack of comprehension (e.g. about an exercise), insufficient L2, and task difficulty (Nakamura et al., 2021). When these three items were combined, they became the most common reason for boredom in Nakamura et al.’s study. Factors also causing boredom included the activities being troublesome/annoying (especially the need to think and write), tiring, and assessment-related. In general, the young EFL learners in this study found tasks to be most boring when they were difficult, when they were required to think (including recall in the case of dictation and assessments), and when they were asked to pick up a pencil/pen and write.

The discussion above highlighted some useful implications for teachers, curriculum and material designers, and researchers. It is important to maximize learners’ positive emotions in light of their well-being and considering the effectiveness this potentially has for mastering a FL. Educators and teachers are encouraged to pay closer attention to what learners enjoy in their specific classrooms through, for example, fine-tuning lesson plans and curricula. In the current study, the activities that were deemed most enjoyable and the reasons concerned seem to be the exact opposites of what was perceived to be boring FL activities in Kruk et al. (2022) study (e.g. unchallenging, uninteresting, repetitive ones). This corroborates the strong negative correlations between enjoyment and boredom reported previously (e.g. Li & Li, 2023; Tsang & Dewaele, 2023). Practically, it would suggest that by focusing on activities that are potentially more enjoyable, learners’ levels of boredom should also decrease simultaneously. Although the past decade has seen a substantial increase in discussion and empirical studies that illuminate our understanding of various emotions, researchers and teachers in the future can consider exploring the actual effects of frequent implementation of enjoyable activities on learners’ perceptions, emotions, and achievements. Such meaningful interventions or action research are largely lacking in the literature.

Several limitations of this part of the study should be noted. First, only open-ended items in questionnaires were used, leading to a lack of elaboration. Given sufficient resources, post-questionnaire interviews could be administered so that participants can elaborate on their perceptions and emotional experiences with various activities in FL lessons. Second, although activities comprise a large portion of what learners engage in in FL lessons, other factors such as how teachers exactly deliver an activity and how certain technology (e.g. iPads) was specifically employed could well have influenced learners’ views and emotions. If possible, observations and interviews with teachers can shed further light on the topic being investigated, illuminating more clearly what elements of activities are more closely related to greater enjoyment or boredom. Due to the limited number of participants and the fact that they were from a particular FL context (i.e. EFL in Hong Kong), generalizability (if considering the quantitative aspect such as percentages) is limited. However, as a qualitative study, the findings shed light on our understanding of activities that can potentially be deemed enjoyable and boring by young FL learners.