Can teacher-student relationships alleviate the influence of anxiety and boredom on subjective well-being of foreign language learners?

This study illuminated the association between negative emotions such as anxiety and boredom and subjective well-being among foreign language (FL) learners and further examined the moderation of teacher-student relationships (TSR) in these associations, as conceptualised within attachment theory, control-value theory, and self-determination theory. The study involved 4,900 secondary school students from China, of whom 54.3% were male. Data on FL anxiety, FL boredom, subjective well-being, and TSR were collected using student self-report measures. Linear regression analysis indicated that anxiety and boredom were negatively correlated with subjective well-being of FL learners. Moderation analysis further revealed that supportive TSR mitigated these correlations. That is, supportive TSR acts as a buffer, reducing the adverse effects of anxiety and boredom on subjective well-being of FL learners. This research emphasises the crucial necessity of diminishing anxiety and boredom and cultivating supportive TSR in FL learning, with the goal of enhancing the well-being of FL learners.