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Chapter Five CONCLUSION

5.1 Major Findings

Engagement is crucial to successful learning in language learning in particular. Learning cannot occur if learners are not paying attention or engaged. Most existing studies have focused on students’ engagement in the classroom in primary, junior high, and senior high school contexts. However, little attention has been paid to the experiences and perspectives of students’ states of engagement in College English classrooms in Chinese universities. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate students’ perceived levels of engagement in eleven College English classrooms at a first-tier regular university in southwest China. It also explores differences in students’ perceived engagement in the eleven College English courses, and students are also allowed to share what engaged them in the classroom. In general, the findings of this study suggest that student’s engagement in the College English classroom is not determined by the teaching of College English but rather by the achievement of the CET-4 and CET-6 certificates, the small class size in the classroom, and the translanguaging practices in the classroom.

The study employed mixed-method case study, i.e., combining quantitative and qualitative research methods, using questionnaire surveys, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews. A total of 224 questionnaires were collected to explore student engagement in College English courses, and the students completed all the questionnaires. Eleven College English courses were selected for classroom observation, using the FIAC system (N.A.Flanders, the 1970s) and recording students’ seats in class to examine students’ behavioural and emotional engagement. Students and teachers were interviewed about the students’ intensive engagement in the classroom and the factors affecting students’ engagement through semi-structured interviews. The study recruited four students and three teachers as participants. Individual and focus group interviews lasted at least half an hour each. 

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