Foreign Language Learning Burnout
Burnout was first proposed by psychologist Freudenberg (1974) to describe pressures in the working environment characterized by extreme exhaustion, indifference, and effortlessness. According to Pines & Aronson (1988), learning burnout is the negative performance of learning, such as low enthusiasm and indifference when faced with long-term learning pressures. More scholars have tried to define the concept of learning burnout from different perspectives (Neumann et al., 1990). In fact, the measurement of learning burnout had been established by many scholars. Among them, the Maslach and Jackson (1981) burnout inventory’s three-category division is the most adopted: (1) emotional exhaustion; (2) depersonalization; and (3) lack of personal accomplishment. To find a more suitable scale for foreign language learning burnout, the foreign language learning burnout inventory, coined by Yang (2010), was adopted. Yang (2010) then divided foreign language learning burnout into three additional types: (1) emotional exhaustion; (2) apathy; and (3) reduced self-efficacy.
Scholars have studied learning burnout through influencing factors, adverse effects, and effective interventions. Influencing factors include self-efficacy, self-esteem, and stress (Charkhabi et al., 2013; Rasheed-Karim, 2020; Sovitriana et al., 2019). Negative effects of learning burnout can impact a student’s negative psychology, mental health, academic performance, and interpersonal relationships. It can even include substance abuse and the increased possibility of suicidal thoughts (Jackson et al., 2016). The gamified approach is proven effective in alleviating students’ learning burnout and improving learning achievement (Mu & Guo, 2022).