How teacher support influences EFL learners’ emotions? A Latent Profile Transition Analysis

This study investigated the longitudinal relationship between teacher support and foreign language learners’ emotional experiences, focusing on enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom. Utilizing a two-wave longitudinal design with a sample of 440 Chinese university students at Wave 1 and 212 at Wave 2, the study employed latent profile analysis to identify emotional subgroups and latent transition analysis to examine changes in emotional profiles over time. Five distinct emotional profiles were identified—Happy, Apprehensive-Happy, Bored, Bored and Anxious, and Moderate—confirming the heterogeneity of learners’ emotion experiences (Hypothesis 1). Significant transitions between these profiles occurred over a six-month period, indicating dynamic changes in learners’ emotional states (Hypothesis 2). Crucially, teacher support significantly predicted emotion profile membership transitions between profiles (Hypothesis 3). Learners who perceived higher levels of teacher support were more likely to transition into, more adaptive emotional profiles characterized by higher enjoyment and lower anxiety or boredom. These findings highlight the pivotal role of teacher support in shaping the emotional development of foreign language learners and underscore the value of adopting longitudinal, person-centered approaches in educational psychology.