Fereshteh Alishahi

An Investigation into the Relationship between Teacher Care and Student Engagement: Iranian High School EFL Learners during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Focus

This research was an attempt to investigate the relationship between teacher care and four dimensions of student engagement (i.e., emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and social) in online EFL classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. The participants of the current study were 58 female high school EFL learners from 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, according to the centralized K–12 education system in Iran. Two different raters observed online EFL classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to collect the data. The researcher codified data based on two checklists to find the frequencies of each behavior in online EFL classrooms. Then, through correlation tests and multiple regression, the association between teacher care and student engagement was measured. The results of the study indicated that there was a relationship between teacher care and student engagement among Iranian high school EFL learners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers who assist students, care about their presence, respond to their inquiries, provide feedback, and interact positively with students are influential in raising students' engagement. Teachers who care about students' mental and physical health are more successful in increasing student engagement in online EFL classrooms. The results of this study can be helpful for teachers, material developers, and students.