Multidimensional sense of belonging to a non-state language school in Iran: EFL learners’ competencies, opportunities, motivations, and perceptions

This study investigated Iranian English learners’ sense of belonging at a non-state language school, exploring how this construct manifests across different proficiency levels through the lens of Allen et al.'s (Allen, K., M. L. Kern, C. S. Rozek, D. M. McInerney, and G. M. Slavich. 2021. “Belonging: A review of conceptual issues, an integrative framework, and directions for future research.” Australian Journal of Psychology 73 (1): 87–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1883409) integrative framework. Employing a phenomenological design, the study examined 30 learners at novice (A1), intermediate (B1/B2), and advanced (C2) levels using a multi-method sequential strategy incorporating focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and narrative inquiries. Thematic analysis revealed that sense of belonging constitutes a dynamic, developmental construct shaped by three interconnected spheres: course-based dynamics (evolving teacher roles, peer interactions, and engagement with teaching materials), out-of-class dynamics (cross-level relationships, supervisor support, supplementary courses, and institutional events), and meta-institutional dynamics (family influence, validation from public educators, and digital transnationalism). Critically, proficiency emerged as a key axis of differentiation, enabling fuller participation and progressively more complex forms of belonging as learners advanced from dependance to autonomy and from peripheral to central community membership. This study extends Allen et al.'s (Allen, K., M. L. Kern, C. S. Rozek, D. M. McInerney, and G. M. Slavich. 2021. “Belonging: Aa Rreview of Cconceptual Iissues, an Iintegrative Fframework, and Ddirections for Ffuture Rresearch.” Australian Journal of Psychology 73 (1): 87–102. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1883409) framework in three novel directions: (1) introducing proficiency as a developmental axis that systematically reconfigures the dynamics among competencies, opportunities, motivations, and perceptions; (2) incorporating contextual dimensions, including family capital, state-private sector tensions, and digital belonging infrastructures, absent from the original model; and (3) generating proficiency-sensitive pedagogical principles for language teaching practice. The findings illuminate the tension between globalized educational trends and Iran's localized socio-political structures, urging curriculum developers in Iran to reevaluate state-mandated standards to meet learners’ demands for transnational competencies while attending to developmental trajectories of sense of belonging.