The Role of Teacher-Student Relatedness and Teachers' Engagement on Students' Engagement in EFL Classrooms

Abstract

Relationships in language contexts or interactions between teachers and learners might play an eminent role in EFL learners' language ability development. The current review brings to the fore an overview of teacher-student relationships and factors that contribute to this interaction. It has been revealed that EFL teachers' and learners' expectations, beliefs, personality, knowledge, and the language teaching context all play a role in creating an adequate relationship among teachers and learners. This overview suggests several practical tasks to develop a positive relationship between teachers and learners in EFL classrooms.

Classroom Management and Leadership among EFL instructors: Self-Efficacy, Strengths, and Improvement Areas

“…The findings are significant because, supporting previous studies, the reporting by the EFL instructors indicates their awareness of learners' needs and the importance of wellplanned and engaging lessons (Gan, 2021;Jiang & Zhang, 2021;Levin & Nolan, 2022;Merç & Subaşı, 2015) that incorporates humor as a strategy to effectively manage the classroom (St-Amand, Smith, & Goulet, 2023).…”

“…The relationships between the teacher and students, and among students, form "the most powerful variable in influencing appropriate student behavior and academic learning" (Levin & Nolan, 2022, pp. 127-128), and in EFL classrooms, those relationships and interactions play a vital role in language ability development (Gan, 2021;Zhang, 2022).…”

“…That is, the way an EFL teacher creates a climate in the classroom by considering the essential elements of classroom management influences relationships, motivation, and engagement in language learning, learners' self-regulation and goal orientation, participation and cooperation in-class activities, commitment in dealing with problems through friendly help and support, and positive interpersonal communication processes (Gan, 2021;Jiang & Zhang, 2021;Merç & Subaşı, 2015;Wang, Derakhshan, & Zhang, 2021).…”

The Struggling English Language Learners: Case Studies of English Language Learning Difficulties in EFL Context

“…This kind of collaborative and of self-directed language learning provides learners with a substantial impetus and motivation to involve themselves in the language classrooms. Stressing on the importance of collaboration and teacher-student interaction in language learning contexts, Gan (2021), in his research on the language problems faced by the Chinese students, observes that it is inevitable for teachers to understand the learners' expectations, beliefs, personality, and knowledge, and the learners to realize the reasons behind their weaknesses. This would motivate the learners and equip the teachers with the knowledge without which language teaching can never be successful.…”

Social relationships and grit in English as a foreign language learning among high school students: A three-wave longitudinal study

“…In the EFL learning context, bonding with significant others has been noted as essential in promoting grit ( Shen and Guo, 2022 ; Yuan, 2022 ). Positive interpersonal interactions with teachers in the EFL context can lead to high motivation and positive emotions with more willingness to engage in language learning ( Gan, 2021 ; Karimi and Fallah, 2021 ; Pishghadam et al, 2021 ; Sadoughi and Hejazi, 2021 , 2022 ). Such relations can become protective factors in response to adversities and enable students to remain persistent in learning settings, promoting gritty features in EFL learning ( Shen and Guo, 2022 ; Yuan, 2022 ).…”