Following the recent shift from negative psychology to positive psychology, interest in foreign language enjoyment (FLE) has grown noticeably in second language acquisition. Given the fact that learners are "persons-in-context" and are not "ergodic ensembles," the particular learner-context ecosystem goes through ongoing momentary changes with respect to individual differences like FLE. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of this ecosystem in terms of the interaction between individual learners and their learning environments. In this study, using a time-based sampling scheme of EMA, we explored the dynamism of different facets of FLE across different timescales including seconds, minutes, weeks, and months in a course of intermediate English as a foreign language. To do this, we applied open-ended interviews with two intermediate English language learners in a private English language institute across months, journals across weeks, enjoymeters across minutes, and the idiodynamic approach across seconds. Findings indicated that enjoyment in foreign language fluctuates in terms of a hierarchy of temporal scales, from moment-to-moment changes to the ones over months. The emerging patterns of enjoyment across different timescales in terms of the tenets of complex dynamic systems theory are discussed.

In line with the dynamic shift in SLA domain and the need for the development of suitable methods to explore the dynamics of emerging concepts in the field such as grit and enjoyment, in the present research, we intended to investigate the growth of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and L2 grit over time. To do this, we used a bivariate latent growth curve model (LGCM) to examine the covariance between 437 EFL learners' initial and growth levels of L2 grit and FLE in four measurement occasions of 2 week intervals. The data were collected via the original foreign language enjoyment scale and the L2 grit scale. The model including the covariance between intercepts and slopes of FLE and L2 grit was tested via Mplus 7. The findings indicated an increasing trend in the association between the growth levels of both variables. That is, the means of both L2 grit and FLE were larger at their growth level than their initial level. Also, analyzing the co-variations in the model showed that the covariances between the intercepts and slopes of FLE and L2 grit were statistically significant. This would point to the existence of a parallel process (co-development) of FLE and L2 grit. This result also implied that an increase in the level of FLE among the participants was strongly correlated with an increase in the level of L2 grit during the whole course. The findings were discussed with reference to previous studies in the literature and the implications were also provided.

The Challenge COVID-19 pandemic is followed by an unprecedented popularity of online education. But, does online language learning create any particular source of boredom? What levels of boredom does an L3 learner experience in an online course and what are the underlying reasons? The present case study aims to unravel these causal mechanisms using process-tracing which is an innovative qualitative research method.

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The present research aimed to explore the dynamic growth of two emotional constructs: foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language learning boredom (FLLB) among L2 learners. To do so, we used a method that would capture the inherent dynamicity of L2 learners’ enjoyment and boredom during an EFL course. To this aim, a bivariate latent growth curve model (LGCM) was employed to examine the covariance between 412 EFL learners’ initial and growth levels of FLE and FLLB on four measurement occasions at two-week intervals. To collect the data, the original FLE scale and the newly developed FLLB scale were used. The model including the covariance between intercepts and slopes of FLE and FLLB was tested in Mplus 7. The analysis of the data revealed that the covariance between the intercept and slope of the FLE and FLLB was statistically significant and negative. This attests to the existence of a parallel process (co-variance) of FLE and FLLB, which indicates that an increase in the level of FLE among the participating L2 learners was strongly associated with a decrease in the level of FLLB during the whole course. The findings and implications are discussed in light of the existing literature.