Students’ Optimal Engagement in EFL Large Classes: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study in East Nusa Tenggara

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in researching students’ engagement in English as foreign language (EFL) classes as students’ language learning achievement is shaped by their engagement in class. Yet, the study of students’ engagement in EFL large classes has received relatively little empirical attention. This qualitative phenomenological study aims at exploring how teachers perceive the factors boosting students’ optimal engagement and what strategies they use to boost students’ optimal engagement in EFL large classes. Ten university teachers with adequate experience of teaching EFL large classes in East Nusa Tenggara-Indonesia participated in this study. Semi structured interviews were used to elicit the teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of students’ optimal engagement. The results revealed five factors affecting students’ optimal engagement in EFL large classes: teaching strategies, individual motivation, student-teacher relationship, students’ English proficiency, and teaching facilities. Additionally, the teachers applied instructional and affective strategies to boost students’ optimal engagement in EFL large classes. Based on the study results, we offered some pedagogical implications for the teachers and their institutions.