Understanding burnout and engagement profiles in EFL context: the role of teacher support and self-determined motivation

Purpose Although burnout and engagement are central to EFL learners’ academic well-being, little is known about how they combine among Chinese university learners and how teacher support and motivation distinguish different profiles. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study identifies burnout-engagement profiles and examines direct and indirect associations of perceived teacher support and self-determined motivation with profile membership.Design Questionnaire data were collected from 381 Chinese university EFL students. Latent profile analysis identified burnout-engagement profiles, and a manual three-step latent-variable mediation model in Mplus examined associations while accounting for classification uncertainty.Findings Three profiles emerged: Highly Engaged (38.06%), Moderate (52.49%), and Highly Burnout (9.45%). Perceived teacher support was negatively associated with amotivation and positively associated with autonomous motivation. Amotivation distinguished Highly Engaged students from Highly Burnout students, whereas lower amotivation and higher autonomous motivation distinguished Highly Engaged students from Moderate students. Controlled motivation showed no significant mediating role.Originality/value By integrating SDT with a person-centered approach, this study shows that teacher support relates to EFL learners’ well-being profiles through profile-specific differentiated motivational pathways, offering valuable implications for fostering need-supportive classroom environments.