Mapping the research on foreign language boredom: A systematic literature review

Recent years have witnessed growing attention to foreign language boredom and its effects on language acquisition, but there still lacks a systematic review in this field. This paper aims to address this gap and presents a systematic review by synthesising general characteristics, methodological fea...

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Main Authors: Jing Zhang, Ruyang Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Acta Psychologica
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825007000
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author Jing Zhang
Ruyang Li
author_facet Jing Zhang
Ruyang Li
author_sort Jing Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Recent years have witnessed growing attention to foreign language boredom and its effects on language acquisition, but there still lacks a systematic review in this field. This paper aims to address this gap and presents a systematic review by synthesising general characteristics, methodological features and research foci of empirical studies on the foreign language boredom. A total of 111 peer-reviewed empirical studies were selected, coded and analyzed based on the PRISMA guidelines. The results revealed a surging focus on the foreign language boredom after 2018, the majority of which came from Chinese, Polish and Iranian researchers, and the foreign language boredom among university learners were well investigated. Methodologically, studies on foreign language boredom predominantly employed the observational design, cross-sectional data collection, questionnaire-based instruments, and the analysis method of structural equation modelling. Finally, the included studies put great focus on antecedents and effects of foreign language boredom, but its dimensions and measurement are rarely explored. Scarce explorations have been made in terms of instructional interventions to mitigate the effects of foreign language boredom. This systematic review provides an panoramic view of foreign language boredom for researchers and educators, and also underscores the need for more longitudinal and intervention-based studies on the foreign language boredom in the future studies.
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spelling doaj-art-5b34f78cbbd34d4a81b10dce58d402ed2025-08-20T04:02:26ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182025-09-0125910538710.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105387Mapping the research on foreign language boredom: A systematic literature reviewJing Zhang0Ruyang Li1School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, MalaysiaSchool of Marxism, Zhejiang College of Security Technology, Wenzhou, China; Corresponding author at: Wenzhou Road 2555, Ouhai District, Wenzhou 325018, Zhejiang, China.Recent years have witnessed growing attention to foreign language boredom and its effects on language acquisition, but there still lacks a systematic review in this field. This paper aims to address this gap and presents a systematic review by synthesising general characteristics, methodological features and research foci of empirical studies on the foreign language boredom. A total of 111 peer-reviewed empirical studies were selected, coded and analyzed based on the PRISMA guidelines. The results revealed a surging focus on the foreign language boredom after 2018, the majority of which came from Chinese, Polish and Iranian researchers, and the foreign language boredom among university learners were well investigated. Methodologically, studies on foreign language boredom predominantly employed the observational design, cross-sectional data collection, questionnaire-based instruments, and the analysis method of structural equation modelling. Finally, the included studies put great focus on antecedents and effects of foreign language boredom, but its dimensions and measurement are rarely explored. Scarce explorations have been made in terms of instructional interventions to mitigate the effects of foreign language boredom. This systematic review provides an panoramic view of foreign language boredom for researchers and educators, and also underscores the need for more longitudinal and intervention-based studies on the foreign language boredom in the future studies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825007000Foreign language boredomEmotionLanguage psychologySystematic review
spellingShingle Jing Zhang
Ruyang Li
Mapping the research on foreign language boredom: A systematic literature review
Acta Psychologica
Foreign language boredom
Emotion
Language psychology
Systematic review
title Mapping the research on foreign language boredom: A systematic literature review
title_full Mapping the research on foreign language boredom: A systematic literature review
title_fullStr Mapping the research on foreign language boredom: A systematic literature review
title_full_unstemmed Mapping the research on foreign language boredom: A systematic literature review
title_short Mapping the research on foreign language boredom: A systematic literature review
title_sort mapping the research on foreign language boredom a systematic literature review
topic Foreign language boredom
Emotion
Language psychology
Systematic review
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825007000
work_keys_str_mv AT jingzhang mappingtheresearchonforeignlanguageboredomasystematicliteraturereview
AT ruyangli mappingtheresearchonforeignlanguageboredomasystematicliteraturereview