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Learner psychology lies at the heart of second language acquisition (SLA) (Macintyre et al. 2019). Since the turn of the millennium, positive psychology has drawn growing attention in the fields of Educational psychology and SLA. Positive psychology is “the scientific study of ordinary human strengths and virtues” (Sheldon & King 2001:216). Researchers proposed positive language education which stems from the integration of positive psychology and language education (Mercer et al. 2018). A new wave of psychology studies in SLA has flourished in response to the “positive psychology turn” in SLA (MacIntyre et al. 2016; Xu 2020). Researchers have shifted their interest to the positive aspects of learner psychology, such as curiosity, engagement, and enjoyment. Applying constructs from positive psychology to SLA research “fits(fit) the zeitgeist of modern language pedagogy”, as positive psychology emphasizes “the development of the language learner as a person”(MacI ntyre 2016: 3). Positive language education aligns with the notion of quality education for promoting students’ academic performance and well-being which is the foundation for successful learning and good life (Mercer et al. 2018).

Curiosity as a positive personality trait or emotional state has received much attention in educational psychology research (e.g., Eren & Coskun 2016; Weible & Zimmerman 2016; Garrosa et al. 2017; Sternszus et al. 2017). Curiosity is an intrinsic desire for new knowledge and sensory experience that motivates individuals to engage in exploratory behavior (Litman & Spielberger 2003). Specifically, in SLA, Mahmoodzadeh and Khajavy (2019) conceptualized language learning curiosity (LLC) and defined it as “an affective-cognitive variable specific to language learning which reflects an inquiry-driven interest and desire to learn and use a foreign language” (p.336). As an essential source of motivation, curiosity can promote students’ development and facilitate their learning of new knowledge and skills (Kashdan et al. 2009; Kashdan & Silvia 2009). Empirical evidence has shown that curiosity contributes to a variety of positive learner factors, such as academic achievement (Eren & Coskun 2016), engagement (Vracheva et al. 2020), and positive emotion (Mahmoodzadeh & Khajavy 2019). In addition, a lack of curiosity may result in negative emotions, such as anxiety (Silvia 2006).

1.2 Research Significance

The theoretical significance of this study lied in that the study uncovered the relationships between dimensions of curiosity and engagement in Chinese EFL learning contexts. The relationship between curiosity and engagement in the language learning context has been relatively underexplored. Additionally, less attention has been directed to the relationships between curiosity and dimensions of engagement. Moreover, there is a scarcity of studies adopting Reeve and Tseng’s (2011) four-dimensional engagement model to explore the relationship between curiosity and engagement. Against this backdrop, the current study investigated the correlations between dimensions of English language learning curiosity and engagement among Chinese senior hig本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。