Engagement as a Dynamic but Perceivable Variable in Language Classroom Interactions

A Master of Arts thesis in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Lydia Shepherd entitled, “Engagement as a Dynamic but Perceivable Variable in Language Classroom Interactions”, submitted in May 2022. Thesis advisor is Dr. Tammy Gregersen. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).

Abstract

Engagement is understood as a multifaceted concept comprising behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement. These three dimensions are not always synchronized, and teachers may find students highly cognitively engaged, but not emotionally. Therefore, students can be engaged at varying degrees with some not engaged at all, and this disengagement can lead to decreased motivation and achievement. Keeping this in mind, it becomes critical that teachers understand what engages their students in the classroom. For this reason, the following study was conducted in order to find out whether or not teachers are aware of what engages their students, when their students are engaged, and if so, how? Over the span of a semester, researchers recorded two classrooms, over several lessons. Each video was displayed to the student represented in the video, and their respective teacher. The learners were then asked to self-rate their engagement as they watched themselves. Subsequently, the teacher was asked to watch the same video and, using the verbal and nonverbal cues of the learner, rank their judgment of the learner’s engagement. Upon completion of the learner’s and teacher’s idiodynamic responses, they underwent an interview to explain the dips and spikes from the response graphs produced by the software. After careful analysis of the graphs and verbal responses from both parties, the research revealed that the teachers were unable to identify if and when students were faking engagement, and on average assumed higher engagement throughout the class then the students had self-reported. In other words, teachers had a harder time perceiving the differences between engagement and disengagement in their students. Using the consistencies found in both the teacher and student responses, this paper aims to highlight the common patterns of learner engagement, disengagement, and fake engagement.