Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study investigates how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students’ emotional engagement develops over time across task-based reading lessons. Adopting a short-term longitudinal mixed-methods design, the data were collected from 66 Vietnamese EFL students over five task-based reading lessons within half a semester. The quantitative data were collected via repeated questionnaires administered after each reading task, while the qualitative data were obtained from follow-up interviews with ten selected students. The quantitative results revealed a significant change in emotional engagement across tasks, with engagement increasing after the initial task, peaking midway through the sequence, and declining slightly in the final task. The qualitative findings further showed that students’ emotional engagement was characterized by evolving patterns of enjoyment, enthusiasm, curiosity, and limited boredom, which were closely related to task design, topic relevance, interaction, and novelty. The findings indicate that emotional engagement in task-based reading lessons is dynamic and task-sensitive rather than stable over time. The study highlights the importance of sequencing and designing reading tasks that sustain positive emotional engagement throughout a task sequence in EFL classrooms.
Source: VNU Journal of Foreign Studies
Authors: Thi Minh Ngoc Nguyen, Ba Tien Tran
Institutions: Vinh University, Hue University
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7171614705
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