Teacher Emotional Support and Academic Engagement in University English Learning: The Mediating Effects of Self-Efficacy and Positive Emotions

Although academic engagement has received increasing attention in educational research, few have examined how teacher emotional support relates to students’ cognitive and emotional processes, particularly in college English learning settings. To fill this gap, the present study proposed a moderated chain mediation model, with teacher emotional support as the independent variable, academic engagement as the dependent variable, academic self-efficacy and positive academic emotions as mediators, and gender as the moderator. This study employed well-established measurement instruments, including the Teacher Emotional Support Scale, the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire, and the Student Academic Engagement Scale, to collect data from 794 students. The hypothesized model was developed and examined through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The results showed that teacher emotional support had a significant positive effect on academic engagement. Academic self-efficacy and positive academic emotions each served as mediators between teacher emotional support and academic engagement, both separately and in a sequential pathway. In addition, gender did not significantly moderate the paths in the model. This study integrates Self-Determination Theory, Control-Value Theory, and Social Role Theory to provide a refined theoretical foundation and empirical evidence for English instruction, thereby offering stronger support for students’ engagement in English learning.