Multidimensional Analysis of Senior High School Student Engagement in English as a Second Language: Interplay of Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Factors

Abstract

The multidimensionality of student engagement in English as a Second Language (ESL) is examined across several dimensions among a sample of 347 Senior High School students in this study. The affective, behavioral, and cognitive (ABC) model serves as the framework for this quantitative research, which employs a descriptive, correlational research design to explore how each dimension of engagement interacts with one another and varies by sex, academic strand, and type of high school attended. Two statistical analyses show that, while students report high levels of cognitive and affective engagement, there is a significant “engagement gap” in behavioral engagement compared to cognitive and affective engagement. The data also indicate that females and students in private schools are more emotionally and strategically invested in learning ESL. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the affective dimension of engagement is the strongest predictor of overall engagement (R² = .517), indicating that students’ emotions, feelings, and motivations are the greatest influencers of success in learning ESL. Consequently, the authors recommend that educators focus on establishing emotionally supportive environments and on implementing experiential learning strategies, such as gamification and collaborative projects, to reduce the discrepancy between students’ internal readiness and their external competence in communicating.