Boredom in Virtual Environments: Arbitrating Factors and Managing Strategies

Background: Boredom has recently attracted increasing attention in second (L2) or foreign language learning (EFL), but little is known about how this feeling affects student and teacher engagement in virtual English learning. The present study aims to determine the arbitrary factors and strategies for managing boredom in virtual learning. Method: The current study conducted a qualitative survey on 14 teachers and 126 students from a public university in Saudi Arabia. Results: The study found that students and teachers considered virtual classes to be more boring than face-to-face classes. However, teachers considered skill sets and content-related classes of virtual classes boring, while students only considered content-related virtual classes boring. Conclusions: The results exhibited that most students and teachers perceived virtual learning as more tedious than face-to-face classes.