Impact of Teenage EFL Learners’ Psychological Needs on Learning Engagement and Behavioral Intention in Synchronous Online English Courses

Sijing Zhou (), Huiling Zhu and Yu Zhou
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Sijing Zhou: College of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Huiling Zhu: College of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Yu Zhou: College of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: There is a relatively small body of literature that is concerned with the extent to which students are actively engaged in online English learning. To address this issue, the present study investigates 233 Chinese secondary school students attending online English courses during the pandemic and explores the degree to which learners are behaviorally, cognitively, emotionally, and socially engaged in synchronous online English courses. Three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) are examined as antecedents of learning engagement, and the behavioral intention is hypothesized as a learning outcome. This study takes a mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative data from questionnaires and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews. A partial least squares (PLS)-structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to test hypotheses and the proposed research model. The quantitative findings indicate that, firstly, whereas the basic psychological needs predict students’ four dimensions of online learning engagement, competence is confirmed to be the strongest predicting factor. Secondly, behavioral intention is significantly influenced by students’ cognitive engagement and emotional engagement. Thirdly, thematic analysis of the qualitative data shows that students tend to have a lower level of engagement compared with a face-to-face classroom learning enviroment, and a more interesting and interactive online course design is crucial to the fulfillment of learners’ psychological needs of autonomy and relatedness in synchronous online English learning.

Keywords: synchronous online English course; basic psychological needs; learning engagement; behavioral intention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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