The choreography of engagement in the language classroom: Exploring the dynamic interplay between learner and teacher engagement

Abstract

While a growing body of research has focused on learner engagement, teacher engagement remains largely underresearched. The purpose of this study is to examine how the engagement of teachers and learners develops in real-time throughout three English language lessons, and how they interrelate over time. Participants in the study were six students from one fourth-year English class at an Austrian middle school and their teacher. Experience Sampling Method (ESM) data were collected through the M-Path app which prompted learners and their teacher to chart their real-time levels of behavioural, emotional, and cognitive engagement at 7-minute intervals throughout three English lessons. ESM data were complemented by classroom observations, video-audio recordings of the lessons, and stimulated recall interviews cued by ESM data for both teacher and learners. Findings revealed the dynamic and multifaceted nature of learner and teacher engagement, and their complex reciprocal interactions. • Learner and teacher engagement were highly dynamic over time. • The interplay of teacher and learner engagement varied across dimensions of engagement. • Teacher and student behavioural engagement often followed a seesaw trajectory. • There was a contagion effect between teacher and student emotional engagement. • The trajectories of cognitive engagement did not follow a recognisable pattern.

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