What is Most and Least Enjoyable in the EFL Classroom? A Large-scale Inductive Qualitative Study

The growing emphasis on learner well-being and the flourishing of positive psychology in foreign language (FL) education have caused a recent upsurge of research into enjoyment in FL learning. However, most existing studies are quantitative in nature and many focus on tertiary-level/adult learners. Featuring an inductive qualitative design, the current study investigated what 486 grade 7 English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners perceived to be most and least enjoyable in class in the context of Hong Kong. In total, 1031 aspect responses together with 1086 reasons were collated. The responses were categorized into 36 groups, leading to the emergence of five themes (from most to least popular): activities, classroom characteristics, teachers, students, and materials. The most commonly mentioned areas of highest enjoyment were use of multimedia and speaking-related activities, while those of least enjoyment were class exercises and assessments. Teacher-centred instruction was a popular category in both aspects of enjoyment. Activities accounted for close to 90% of the responses, in both the most and least enjoyable categories. This is noteworthy as activities are not very clearly represented in many existing FL classroom enjoyment scales, hence suggesting a need to reconceptualize what enjoyment in the FL classroom means for learners from their perspectives.