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Corresponding author: Yajun Wu
Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0.
Academic boredom and foreign language proficiency: Elaboration strategies as the
mediator
Yajun Wu 1, * and Xia Kang 2, 3
1 School of Humanities and Education, Foshan University, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China.
2 School of Mathematics and Big Data, Foshan University, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China.
3 Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 2023, 08(02), 265–273
Publication history: Received on 14 February 2023; revised on 22 March 2023; accepted on 24 March 2023
Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/ijsra.2023.8.2.0251
Abstract
The objective of the present study was to explore the direct and indirect effects of academic boredom on foreign
language (FL) proficiency in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). As a prominent negative emotion, the
detrimental effect of FL boredom on FL proficiency has been verified. However, the mediating mechanism between FL
boredom and FL proficiency, especially the mediating effect of cognitive strategies, needs to be further explored. We
recruited 505 Chinese EFL learners (236 female, 46.73%) from one secondary school using convenience sampling to
verify the mediating role of elaboration strategies between FL boredom and FL proficiency. Structural equation
modelling (SEM) and mediation analysis yielded two major findings. First, FL boredom was negatively correlated with
FL proficiency. Second, after controlling for gender and age, FL boredom, mediated through elaboration strategies,
influenced FL proficiency. Third, elaboration strategies partially mediated the relationship between FL boredom and
proficiency. Implications and limitations are discussed.
Keywords: FL boredom; Elaboration strategies; FL proficiency; Mediating mechanism
1. Introduction
Achievement emotions are critical to educational outcomes, for they emerge in many academic scenarios (e.g.,
classroom, examination, and homework). However, traditional studies on academic emotions were limited to anxiety,
which somewhat ignored the importance of other types of emotions (e.g., academic boredom). Through qualitative and
quantitative studies, [1]found that there are many types of achievement emotions and identified that enjoyment, pride,
hope, boredom, anxiety, anger, shame, and hopelessness were the most experienced emotions in the learning context.
Agreat number of studies have been designed to explore the antecedents and consequences of achievement emotions
[2,3], which had beneficial implications for both educational intervention and teaching behavior strategies. Moreover,
existing studies have verified the significant correlation between achievement emotion and learning strategies [4] and
the correlation between learning strategies and academic proficiency [5]. However, the possible mediating effect of
learning strategies between achievement emotions and academic proficiency was seldom studied from a quantitative
approach, especially in the domain of EFL education. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the
mediating effect of elaboration strategies between FL boredom and FL proficiency in a sample of Chinese secondary EFL
learners.
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2. Literature review
2.1. Foreign Language Boredom
FL boredom is one of the common negative achievement emotions in the learning context [6]. The adverse effect of FL
boredom on FL proficiency has been unanimously recognized by researchers [7].The mediation between FL boredom
and FL proficiency has been discussed [7–10], however, existing studies have mainly focused on the mediating effects
of motivation [9] and academic engagement [7,8]. Furthermore, the known mediators partially mediate between FL
boredom and FL proficiency, suggesting that more indicators need to be unearthed. From the perspective of
participants, most of the existing research has been carried out in the western context [11] or the south Asian context
[12], and few studies have explored Chinese secondary school students greatly influenced by the Confucian heritage
culture. Echoingly, the present study endeavored to explore the possible mediating effect of elaboration strategies in
the relationship between FL boredom and FL proficiency among Chinese EFL learners
2.2. Elaboration strategies
Elaboration strategy is a kind of cognitive strategy, which refers to establishing internal connections between the
content being learned and previous knowledge [13].For students, elaboration strategies mean that students conduct a
complex and meaningful analysis of the learning material, which would help them to remember more information about
the learning material. More specifically, those students who adopt the elaboration strategies would add new content to
the information they have learned, including logical reasoning, expansion and extension of information, illustrating
more examples, and supplementing more details. The researcher also found that adopting elaboration strategies in the
process of foreign language learning could help EFL learners learn, master and retain new FL knowledge (e.g., grammar
knowledge), which would also positively affect EFL learners’ FL achievement[14].
Given the significance of elaboration strategies to academic achievement, some antecedents and consequences have
been explored [15–18].For example, in a study with Indonesian senior high school students, [15]explored the
relationship between elaboration strategies, critical thinking ability, and academic achievement and found that
elaboration strategies could promote both critical thinking ability and academic achievement. The relationship between
achievement emotions and cognitive strategies was also explored. For example, in a study with German
undergraduates,[10]found academic boredom was negatively related to the use of elaboration strategies. These
empirical studies [10,15]explored the correlation between academic boredom and elaboration strategies and between
elaboration strategies and academic achievement, respectively. However, to our best knowledge, no studies in the EFL
domain have examined whether elaboration strategies mediate the relationship between FL boredom and FL
proficiency. To fill this knowledge gap, the present study was designed to check the mediation model of “FL
boredom→elaboration strategies→FL proficiency” in a sample of Chinese secondary EFL learners.
2.3. The direct and indirect effects of FL boredom on FL proficiency
Based on the control-value theory [19], the predictive effects of achievement emotions on school outcomes have been
extensively studied. For instance, [20] documented that academic enjoyment and anxiety were significantly correlated
with English achievement in a sample of Chinese senior high school students, showing that achievement emotions could
directly affect academic achievement. Besides, the predictive effects of achievement emotions on cognitive strategies
were also confirmed. [21]found that academic boredom was negatively correlated with elaboration and metacognition.
In addition, as reviewed above, elaboration strategies were positively correlated with academic achievement [15].
Taken together, we made the hypothesis that achievement emotions (e.g., FL boredom) might indirectly affect academic
outcomes (e.g., FL proficiency) through the possible mediator of elaboration strategies.
2.4. The present study
Based on the literature review, the present study contributes to the literature by testing the following three hypotheses.
H1: FL boredom negatively affects the FL proficiency of Chinese secondary EFL learners.
H2: FL boredom is negatively correlated with Chinese secondary EFL learners’ use of elaboration strategies.
H3: FL boredom could indirectly affect FL proficiency via the mediator of Chinese secondary EFL learners’ use
of elaboration strategies.
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Figure 1 The proposed model
3. Methodology
3.1. Participants and procedure
The participants were five hundred and five students of seventh grade (209, accounting for 41.4%) and eighth-grade
students (296, accounting for 58.6%) from a secondary school in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China. The ages of
the participants ranged from twelve to fifteen, with an average age of 13.66 (SD = .61). In terms of gender, there were
two hundred and sixty-nine male students (53.3%) and two hundred and thirty-six female students (46.7%). Judging
by socioeconomic status, most of the participants were from middle-class families.
Participants’ written informed consent and their parents or legal guardians’ verbal consent was first obtained. The
questionnaire survey was conducted in an English class with the help of English teachers. Participants freely decided
whether to participate in the questionnaire survey, and they could abort the survey at any time during the survey.
English teachers helped the researchers to collect the questionnaires and check for missing items. The researchers for
the present study entered the data into a spreadsheet to confirm that there were no missing data for this survey.
3.2. Measures
3.2.1. Foreign language boredomscale
The five-item foreign language boredom scale adapted from the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire [22] was utilized
to measure participants’ perception of boredom experiences in learning English. Participants were required to rate their
agreement with the five items of the FL boredom scale on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree)
to 5 (strongly agree). One example of this scale is “I get bored in learning English”. The psychometric properties of this
scale have been examined in previous studies [7,23]. The psychometric data of the FL boredom scale are reported in
Table 1. The internal consistency of the FL boredom was good, with Cronbach’s alpha equal to 0.89.
3.2.2. Foreign language elaboration strategiesscale
To measure participants’ use of FL elaboration strategies, five items adapted from the goal orientation and learning
strategies survey[24] were applied (e.g., “I try to understand how the knowledge I learn in English class fit together with
each other”). Participants rated the five items of the FL boredom scale on a 5-point Likert scale. This FL boredom scale
demonstrated reliability and validity in previous studies [15,18]. The internal consistency of the FL boredom scale was
good (Cronbach’s α = 0.86) (see Table 1).
3.2.3. Foreign language achievement
English is a compulsory course from primary school to university in the Chinese context. Chinese students held an
instrumental view of English courses and believed that learning English well was an essential instrument for future
success [25]. Achieving examination success remains the primary motivation for Chinese primary and secondary school
students [26]. That is, the final examination scores are the primary indicators to measure a student’s mastery of subject
knowledge. In the present study, we collected participants’ English scores inthe final examination to represent their
foreign language achievement.
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3.2.4. Covariates
Gender and age were controlled as covariates while exploring the relationship between FL boredom, elaboration
strategies, and FL achievement. First, age differences in achievement emotions [27], cognitive strategies [28], and
academic achievement [29]suggested that age may affect the mediation model of “FL boredom→elaboration
strategies→FL achievement”. Second, gender variance in achievement emotions, cognitive strategies, and academic
achievement[30-32]indicated that age needs to be controlled while examining the proposed model (see Figure 1).
Therefore, gender and age were controlled as covariates.
3.3. Data analysis
The present study was based on self-reported data, and common method bias was first conducted to evaluate the
possible common method variance [33].Then the data were analyzed in three layers to the hypotheses. First, descriptive
statistics (i.e., mean, skewness, kurtosis, Cronbach’s α and factor loadings) of the studied variables (i.e., FL boredom,
elaboration strategies, and achievement) were given to provide preliminary information. Second, confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA) was conducted to evaluate the measurement model of the proposed structure (see Figure 1). Third,
structural equation modelling (SEM) was carried out to investigate the relationship between FL boredom, elaboration
strategies, and achievement. Besides, mediation analysis was conducted by using the bootstrap procedure with 5000
re-samples and 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals (BCa 95% CIs).
4. Results
4.1. Common method bias
Harman’s single-factor test was applied to evaluate the possibility of the common method variance in the present study
[33,34]. Results of Harman’s single-factor test demonstrated that the single-factor model fit was poor, with 2(35) =
692.453, p< 0.001, CFI = 0.752, TLI = 0.681, RMSEA = 0.193, 90% CIs [0.180, 0.206], SRMR = 0.113. Therefore, the
problem of common method bias was not serious in the data of the present study.
4.2. Descriptive statistics
Descriptive statistics of the studied variables are demonstrated in Table 1. According to the standard proposed by [35],
the absolute value of skewness and kurtosis is less than or equal to 2, indicating that the normality of all the studied
variables was satisfactory for the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation. The mean scores of FL boredom (Mean =
1.99/5.00, SD = 0.77) show that the FL boredom experienced by the participants was at a low level, while the use of
elaboration strategies was at a moderate level (Mean = 2.93/5.00, SD = 0.52).
[36]proposed that the factor loading for every item should exceed .55. The factor loadings of FL boredom and
elaboration strategies ranged from 0.61 to 0.88, indicating that all factors extracted sufficient variance from these two
variables. This study converted FL achievement into standardized z-scores for conducting mediation analysis.
Table 1 Descriptive statistics of the studied variables
Mean
SD
Skewness
Kurtosis
Cronbach’s α
Factor loadings
FLboredom
1.99
0.77
0.57
0.09
0.89
0.68-0.88
Elaboration strategies
2.93
0.52
-0.21
1.03
0.86
0.61-0.80
FL achievement
0.00
0.99
-0.87
-0.09
-
-
4.3. Measurement models and latent bivariate correlations
CFA, SEM, and mediation analysis were carried out using Mplus 8.3 [37]. Model fit criteria proposed by [38, 39] were
adopted, which include the comparative fit index (CFI ≥ 0.95), the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI ≥ 0.95), root mean square
error of approximation (RMSEA ≤ 0.06), and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR ≤ 0.08). According to this
criteria, the measurement model demonstrated an excellent fit, with2(34) = 81.650, p< 0.001, CFI = 0.982, TLI = 0.976,
RMSEA = 0.053, 90% CI [0.038, 0.067], SRMR = 0.028.
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Table 2 Results of correlations matrix for the studied variables
1
2
3
4
5
1 FL boredom
-
2 Elaboration strategies
-0.58***
-
3 FL achievement
-0.41***
0.39***
-
4 Gender
-0.05
0.06
0.10*
-
5 Age
-0.04
0.03
-0.09*
-0.07
-
*p< 0.05; ***p< 0.001.
Next, gender, age, and FL achievement were added to the measurement model, and an excellent fit was also
obtained:2(58) = 112.703, p< 0.001, CFI = 0.980, TLI = 0.973, RMSEA = 0.043, 90% CI [0.031, 0.055], SRMR = 0.027.The
results of latent bivariate correlations are reported in Table 2. We found that FL boredom was negatively correlated
with elaboration strategies and FL achievement. Besides, the positive correlation between elaboration strategies and
FL achievement was confirmed. The correlation between gender and FL achievement and the correlation between age
and FL achievement was significant.
4.4. Structural equation modelling
The proposed model presented in Figure 1 (gender and age were treated as covariates) was examined using SEM. The
fit of the proposed model was good, with 2(60) = 114.414, p< 0.001, CFI = 0.980, TLI = 0.975, RMSEA = 0.042, 90% CI
[0.030, 0.054], SRMR = 0.030. The standardized regression weights of the proposed model are presented in Figure 2. In
this phase, we had five findings. (1) FL boredom negatively affected elaboration strategies (β= -0.58, SE = 0.04, p< 0.001)
and FL achievement (β= -0.28, SE= 0.06, p< 0.001). (2) Elaboration strategies were positively correlated with FL
achievement (β= 0.23, SE = 0.06, p< 0.001). (3) Gender (male =0 and female =1) was positively correlated with FL
achievement (β= 0.08, SE = 0.04, p< 0.05), showing that female learners have higher FL proficiency than male learners.
(4) Age was negatively correlated with FL achievement (β= -0.11, SE = 0.04, p< 0.01), demonstrating that the older the
secondary EFL learners, the worse their English proficiency. (5) FL boredom explained significant proportions of
variance in elaboration strategies (33.7%) and FL achievement (21.9%).
Figure 2 The relationship between FL boredom, elaboration strategies, and FL achievement.All the correlations and
path coefficients are standardized, and ‘ns’ denotes insignificant coefficients.*** p< 0.001; ** p< 0.01; * p< 0.05
The mediating effect of elaboration strategies between FL boredom and achievement was explored using a bootstrap
procedure with 5000 re-samples. The results of BCa 95% CIs are shown in Table 3. For the lower and upper bounds of
the BCa 95% CIs ([-0.21, -0.07]) exclude zero for the model path of “FL boredom→elaboration strategies→FL
achievement”, indicating that the mediating effect of elaboration strategies was significant. Besides, the direct effect of
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FL boredom on FL achievement was significant (BCa 95% CIs [-0.39, -0.16]), indicating that elaboration strategies
partially mediated the relationship between FL boredom and achievement.
Table 3 Results of mediation analysis
Model path
Effect
SE
Bias-corrected CIs 95%
Lower
Upper
Total effect
-0.41
0.05
-0.49
-0.32
Indirect effect: Boreodm →Elaboration strategies→ Achievement
-0.13
0.04
-0.21
-0.07
Direct effect
-0.28
0.06
-0.39
-0.16
5. Discussion
Achievement emotions and cognitive strategies are the prominent antecedents of school education. However, few
studies have investigated the relationship between achievement emotions and cognitive strategies, and even fewer
studies have explored the link between achievement emotions, cognitive strategies, and academic achievement. In light
of this, the present study was designed to explore the possible relationship between achievement emotions (e.g., FL
boredom), cognitive strategies (e.g., elaboration strategies), and academic achievement (i.e., FL proficiency) with 505
Chinese secondary EFL learners.
First, the present study found that FL boredom was negatively correlated with FL proficiency, indicating that H1 was
supported. This finding is consistent with the theoretical hypothesis of the control-value theory [19]. This finding
provides empirical evidence for the validity of the control-value theory, that is, in a cohort of Chinese secondary EFL
learners, negative achievement emotions (e.g., FL boredom) adversely affect academic achievement (e.g., FL
achievement). Also, these findings are consistent with existing empirical studies [7,40].However, some research show
that boredom is not always bad for academic achievement [41,42], which prompted us to take participants’ cultural
backgrounds into account.The present study contributes to the literature by confirming that FL boredom could
adversely affect FL achievement in the Confucian heritage cultural context.
Second, we found that FL boredom was negatively correlated with elaboration strategies, showing that H2 was
supported. On the one hand, this finding provides empirical evidence for the resource limitation theory[43] in thatan
individual’s cognitive resources are limited, and high-arousal boredom would occupy part of cognitive resources,
thereby reducing his or her application of cognitive strategies (e.g., elaboration strategies) in the learning context. On
the other hand, this finding is consistent with some previous studies [4] and inconsistent with others [44]. Previous
studies have found a negative correlation between academic boredom and learning strategies [4,44]. However, prior
research on the causal link between academic boredom and learning strategies has not been consistent. The present
study contributes to the literature by identifying that FL boredom negatively affects elaboration strategies.
Third, elaboration strategies mediated the association between FL boredom and EFL proficiency, suggesting that H3 was
supported. Achievement emotions and cognitive strategies are important antecedents of school outcomes
[45,46].However, to our best knowledge, few studies have explored the relationship between achievement emotions,
cognitive strategies, and academic achievement. The present study contributes to the literature by documenting that FL
boredom could affect FL proficiency through elaboration strategies. Besides, this study corroborated the mediation
model of “FL boredom→elaboration strategies→FL achievement”, indicating that academic boredom was an antecedent
of cognitive strategies (e.g., elaboration strategies), not the other way around.
6. Implications, limitation and directions for future research
The findings have theoretical and practical implications.First, this study provides empirical evidence for the control-
value theory [19] and the resource limitation theory [43]. More specifically, the negative correlation between FL
boredom and FL proficiency was confirmed, which supports the control-value theory: negative emotions would
adversely affect academic achievement. Also, the finding that FL boredom adversely affects elaboration strategies is
consistent with the resource limitation theory, showing that FL boredom would occupy the limited cognitive resources
of a student and thus hinder his or her application of cognitive strategies (e.g., elaboration strategies). Second, the
findings that FL boredom could directly or indirectly affect FL proficiency, suggesting that EFL educators and teachers
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need to take actions (e.g., providing teacher support, showing more teacher enthusiasm to students, and setting
appropriate achievement goals) to reduce EFL learners’ boredom levels in learning English[2,47,48].
There are three deficiencies in the present studythat need to be further explored. First, this study found that elaboration
strategies partially mediated between FL boredom and proficiency, suggesting that there are other mediators besides
elaboration strategies. Thus, future research is recommended to take more mediators (e.g., academic engagement) into
consideration to have a more comprehensive understanding of the mediating mechanisms between FL boredom and
proficiency. Second, this study confirmed the mediation model of “FL boredom→elaboration strategies→FL
achievement”, which partially reflects that FL boredom affect elaboration strategies rather than elaboration strategies
affect FL boredom. However, the causal relationship between FL boredom and elaboration strategies could not be drawn
because the present adopted a cross-sectional design. Future studies are suggested to explore the potential causal
relationship between FL boredom and elaboration strategies with longitudinal data. Third, this study only sampled
Chinese Han students. In addition to the Han nationality influenced by Confucian heritage culture, there are fifty-five
ethnic minorities in Mainland China. Therefore, there is a need to sample participants from more diverse cultural
regions to represent Chinese secondary school students.
7. Conclusion
The present research explored the relationship between FL boredom, elaboration strategies, and FL proficiency in the
Chinese EFL learning context and found that FL boredom could directly affect FL proficiency or indirectly through
elaboration strategies. Given the negative effect of FL boredom on elaboration strategies and FL proficiencies, EFL
teachers and educators are expected to take measures to alleviate their students’ FL boredom levels.
Compliance with ethical standards
Acknowledgments
Authors thank the principals and English teachers of the participating schools for their help, and the students for their
active participation in the questionnaire survey.
Disclosure of conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no potential conflict of interest.
Statement of informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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