Boredom – The Silent Enemy in the Foreign Language Classroom

The affective component of foreign language learning has long been one of the most important research interests in the field of applied linguistics. Since it is assumed that emotions that language learners may experience have a considerable effect on the learning process and performance, studies so far have investigated a wide range of emotions in order to capture their diversity. The new wave of emotion research has shifted its interest towards academic boredom which has only recently attracted the attention of applied research studies as well. Boredom is referred to as a multifaceted negative emotion that negatively affects students’ motivation, engagement, and perceived value of classroom-related tasks and, as such, has a strong impact on students’ ultimate level of attainment. Although it is one of the most commonly experienced emotions in the educational setting, its inconspicuousness compared to other negative emotions, such as foreign language anxiety, resulted in negligence in the field of education in general. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the research on boredom in foreign language teaching in learning. The paper addresses both theoretical frameworks and the empirical research on this topic as well as provides implications of this negative emotion on both teaching and learning in contemporary foreign language classrooms. Finally, guidelines and recommendations for eliminating boredom, and thus improving the quality of teaching are outlined.