Chinese EFL Learners’ Task Control-Value Appraisals, Emotions and Behavioral Engagement During After-Class App-Assisted Vocabulary Learning

Banban Li, Wenhan Shen, Yue Ding, Mirosław Pawlak, Mariusz Kruk

doi:10.32038/ltrq.2025.48.13

European KnowledgeDevelopment Institute

Original Research

Chinese EFL Learners’ Task Control-Value Appraisals, Emotions and Behavioral Engagement During After-Class App-Assisted Vocabulary Learning

Language Teaching Research Quarterly, Volume 48, Pages 216-235, https://doi.org/10.32038/ltrq.2025.48.13

Abstract
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Mobile apps have surged in popularity, enhancing the effectiveness of more traditional second or foreign language (L2) teaching and enabling independent L2 learning. Drawing on control-value theory, the present research examined the role of students’ control-value appraisals in enhancing behavioral engagement via enjoyment and boredom in specific app-assisted vocabulary learning tasks. Analyzing questionnaire responses from 98 college students, the results showed that learners’ task control-value appraisals impacted their behavioral engagement in multiple ways, both directly and indirectly, with task-related enjoyment and boredom serving as key mediators in these relationships. Specifically, intrinsic task value positively affected learners’ behavioral engagement directly and indirectly through enjoyment and boredom; extrinsic task value promoted behavioral engagement directly, but undermined it indirectly through boredom; task control appraisal did not significantly affect behavioral engagement directly but had a positive impact through task enjoyment. The findings offer important theoretical insights and practical applications for L2 education.

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Keywords

App-Assisted Vocabulary Learning; Behavioral Engagement; Task Boredom; Task Enjoyment; Task Control-Value Appraisals

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Author(s) Information

Banban Li

Banban Li is an Associate Professor in the School of Foreign Studies, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. Her main research interests are motivational and emotional factors in language learning, positive psychology of language learners, feedback seeking, and EFL teacher well-being. Her recent work has appeared in Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, Learning and Individual Differences, System, etc. She has published a monograph Research on Chinese EFL Teachers’ Occupational Well-being (2018, China Social Sciences Publishing House).

Wenhan Shen

Wenhan Shen is a MA student at School of Foreign Studies, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. Her main research interests are motivational and emotional factors in language learning.

Yue Ding

Yue Ding is a MA student at School of Foreign Studies, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. Her main research interests are motivational and emotional factors in language learning.

Mirosław Pawlak

Mirosław Pawlak is Professor of English at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland, and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Applied Sciences, Konin, Poland. His research interests include form-focused instruction, corrective feedback, learner autonomy, learning strategies, motivation, willingness to communicate, emotions in L2 learning and teaching, grit, study abroad and pronunciation teaching. Mirosław Pawlak is Editor-in-Chief of journals Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching and Konin Language Studies, and the book series Second Language Learning and Teaching (Springer).

Mariusz Kruk

Mariusz Kruk is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Zielona Góra, Poland, and the Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland. His main areas of interest include individual difference variables and the application of technology in foreign language learning and teaching. His publications have appeared in various journals, including Applied Linguistics Review, Computer Assisted Language Learning, ELT Journal, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Language Teaching Research, Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, and System.

Acknowledgments

Not applicable.

Funding

This work is supported by the Undergraduate Education and Teaching Reform Project “Dynamic Mechanisms and Influencing Factors of University Students’ L2 Engagement in Blended Learning Environments” from the University of Science and Technology, Beijing 2024 (No. JG2024M50) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (FRF-BRA-25-010) awarded to the first author.

Conflict of Interests

No, there are no conflicting interests.

Open Access

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. You may view a copy of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/