Profiling Teacher Support in Foreign Language Classroom: Associations With Student Emotions, Engagement, and Demographic Factors

This study explored the profiles of academic, instrumental, and emotional support provided by foreign language (FL) teachers using latent profile analysis (LPA), and further examined their associations with students' emotions and engagement in FL learning, as well as demographic variables (e.g., gender, age, SES). A total of 2610 secondary FL learners (46.1% male) in China, aged 13–18 years (M_age = 14.86, SD = 1.415), participated in the study. Data on FL enjoyment, anxiety, boredom and engagement were collected using student-reported scales. The LPA revealed three distinct teacher support profiles: high, moderate and low. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that the high teacher support group reported significantly greater enjoyment and engagement in FL learning, as well as lower levels of anxiety and boredom, compared to the other groups. Interestingly, the moderate teacher support group, not the low teacher support group, reported the highest levels of anxiety. Female students more often fell within the moderate-support group, whereas older students clustered in the low-support group. Students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds tended to cluster in the moderate-support group. These findings underscore the central role of teacher support in shaping emotional and behavioural outcomes in FL learning and highlight demographic patterns that may inform differentiated instructional and professional development practices.