What Promotes and Enables EFL Classroom Engagement? Evidence From PLS ‐ SEM and Necessary Condition Analysis

Abstract

Classroom engagement is central to English as a foreign language (EFL) learning because many learners rely heavily on classroom instruction for language input, interaction, feedback and communicative practice. This study examined how teacher autonomy support, teacher clarity and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) are associated with EFL students' classroom engagement. A total of 487 undergraduate EFL learners in China completed a questionnaire measuring perceived autonomy support, teacher clarity, FLCA and classroom engagement. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM) was used to test the direct and indirect relationships among the variables, and necessary condition analysis (NCA) was conducted to identify whether autonomy support, teacher clarity and low FLCA were necessary conditions for achieving high classroom engagement. The PLS‐SEM results showed that autonomy support and teacher clarity were positively associated with classroom engagement and negatively associated with FLCA. FLCA was negatively associated with classroom engagement and mediated the relationships between both teaching‐related factors and engagement. Teacher clarity showed a relatively stronger direct and indirect role than autonomy support. The NCA results further indicated that autonomy support, teacher clarity and low FLCA were all necessary conditions for high classroom engagement. The bottleneck analysis showed that the required levels of these conditions generally increased as the target level of engagement became higher, with low FLCA becoming especially important at the highest engagement level. These findings highlight that EFL classroom engagement can be promoted through English teaching practices that combine autonomy‐supportive task design, explicit instructional guidance and anxiety‐sensitive support for classroom communication.