Measurement of engagement in the foreign language classroom and its effect on language achievement: the case of Chinese college EFL students

Abstract This study developed a comprehensive and domain-specific scale for foreign language classroom engagement (FLCE) and examined the effect of classroom engagement on foreign language achievement. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to gather a broad range of data, including an open-ended questionnaire at the early stage of engagement scale development, the scale itself for pilot study as well as a large-scale survey, and an open-ended questionnaire after the survey to gain further information. A total of 1929 college EFL students across China participated in the large-scale survey. The results revealed that the measurement of FLCE at two levels, one based on the learning context/mode (i.e. individual-based or interaction-based) and the other pertaining to engagement type (i.e. cognitive, behavioral, or emotional), proved to be feasible. While perceiving a moderate level of overall engagement, the students reported significantly higher levels of interaction-based conventional behavioral engagement and individual-based behavioral engagement among the extracted eight facets. Structural equation modelling using English achievement as measured by national proficiency test scores as the dependent variable and the eight engagement dimensions as the independent variables showed an acceptable fit. Among the eight dimensions, only individual-based cognitive engagement significantly predicted the test scores.