Classroom participation among Chinese private college students: the role of teacher–student interaction, peer relationships, and learning motivation

Abstract

Introduction – Classroom participation is an important indicator of teaching effectiveness. However, limited research has simultaneously examined the roles of teacher–student interaction, peer relationships, and learning motivation in shaping classroom participation, particularly in private higher education contexts. This study aims to investigate the relationships among these variables among undergraduate students in a private university in Qingdao, China. Methods – A quantitative research design based on the positivist paradigm was adopted. Data were collected from a structured questionnaire from 534 undergraduate students. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results – The results indicate that classroom participation is positively associated with teacher–student interaction (r = 0.566, p < 0.01), peer relationships (r = 0.550, p < 0.01), and learning motivation (r = 0.618, p < 0.01). In addition, teacher–student interaction (r = 0.545, p < 0.01) and peer relationships (r = 0.544, p < 0.01) are positively associated with learning motivation. SEM results further show that learning motivation has the strongest effect on classroom participation (β = 0.364, p < 0.001), followed by teacher–student interaction (β = 0.252, p < 0.001)and peer relationships (β = 0.214, p < 0.001). Moreover, teacher–student interaction and peer relationships are indirectly associated with classroom participation through learning motivation. Discussion – Emotional valence exerts functionally different effects on L2 concrete/abstract word processing—concrete words benefit more from emotional facilitation via sensorimotor connections, while abstract words rely on emotional information to compensate for limited sensorimotor grounding.