Boredom is the only achievement emotion predicting English vocabulary growth in primary school L2 learners; enjoyment and anxiety show no significant effect¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In the multilevel model, boredom predicted English vocabulary from T0 to T1, while enjoyment and anxiety showed no significant fixed effects. → Palladino 2025

Evidence¶

Palladino 2025¶

Palladino, P., Trotta, E., Bonvino, A., Carlucci, L., & Cottini, M. (2025). How do you feel during English class? Emotions and metacognition in primary school children learning English as a second language. Metacognition and Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-025-09414-4

q3 · i? · associational · r2

The final multilevel model on repeated vocabulary measures included enjoyment, boredom and anxiety as covariates. Only boredom was a significant predictor (estimate 0.36); the null results for enjoyment and anxiety were reported with test statistics but no effect sizes.

"Among achievement emotions, boredom was also found to predict English vocabulary ( t(415) = 2.69, p =.007). No significant fixed effect included enjoyment (t(415) = 0.504, p =.614) or anxiety (t(415) = − 1.37, p =.170)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Academic Anxiety — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Achievement Emotions — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Over six months, English vocabulary, relative monitoring accuracy and metacognitive control improved, and boredom increased, while enjoyment and anxiety showed no significant change — related
• English vocabulary correlates with confidence and metacognitive control at both time points but with monitoring accuracy only at T0, and with only the negative emotions boredom and anxiety at T1 — related
• Better metacognitive monitoring and control at the start of the year are correlated with lower boredom and anxiety about English at year's end — related
• Academic emotions—enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom—mediate the association between perceived AI-adaptive environments and SRL, accounting for 54.8% of the total effect — related
• Metacognitive confidence judgments and control predict English vocabulary performance from the beginning to the end of the school year in primary school children — related
• During the course, curiosity, enjoyment, confusion and anxiety decreased over time, boredom increased, and surprise and frustration remained stationary. — related
• Anxiety, enjoyment and boredom are three critical emotions in language learning that affect outcomes and engagement — related
• In the Forward temporal model, initial enjoyment predicted later engagement, while initial boredom did not and emotions were unrelated to later raw performance — related