Introduction. Student engagement is widely recognized as a critical determinant of learning quality in higher education, particularly in language courses that rely heavily on interaction and sustained participation. Despite its acknowledged importance, insufficient engagement remains a persistent challenge in university language classrooms. This study aimed to systematically examine the direct and interactive effects of students’ traits, academic motivation, and student–teacher rapport on engagement in Chinese Language Courses, drawing on Big Five Personality Theory, Self-Determination Theory, and Teaching Communication Theory.
Study participants and methods. A mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 350 sophomore students enrolled in a compulsory Chinese Language Course at a public university through standardized questionnaires measuring personality traits, academic motivation, student–teacher rapport, and engagement. Qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with four high-performing students from different academic disciplines. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis, while qualitative data were examined using thematic analysis.
Results. The results indicated that conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, and agreeableness were significantly and positively correlated with engagement (p<0.01), whereas neuroticism showed no significant association (p>0.05). Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation demonstrated strong positive correlations with engagement (p<0.01), while amotivation was negatively associated with engagement (p<0.01). Student–teacher rapport exhibited an exceptionally strong positive correlation with engagement (r=0.801, p<0.01). Qualitative findings revealed that academic motivation played a dominant role in shaping engagement, while high conscientiousness and positive student–teacher rapport functioned as compensatory factors when motivation was insufficient.
Conclusion. This study demonstrates that student engagement in Chinese language courses is primarily driven by academic motivation, with personality traits and student–teacher rapport serving important compensatory roles. The findings provide empirical support for an integrated, motivation-dominated model of engagement and offer theoretical and practical implications for improving teaching strategies and learning environments in higher education language instruction.
Keywords: Chinese language course, engagement, student’s traits, academic motivation, teacher-student relationship, mixed research
For Citation: Luo, X., Ayob, A., Yaacob, Z., & Sodikin, R. A. (2026). Impact of Student’s Traits, Academic Motivation and Rapport on Engagement in Chinese Language Course. Perspektivy nauki i obrazovania = Perspectives of Science and Education, (3), 578–589. https://doi.org/10.32744/pse.2026.3.36
Authors:
Luo Xiaoqian (China, Guangdong) — Jiaying University. Email: sixicaoan@126.com
Adenan Ayob (Malaysia, Negeri Sembilan) — Alfa University College. Email: dr.adenan@alfa.edu.my
Zulkeflee Yaacob (Malaysia, Perak) — Faculty of Language and Communication. Sultan Idris Education University. Email: zulkefli@fbk.upsi.edu.my
Reisa Aulia Sodikin (Bandung, Indonesia) — Information Systems and Technology Education. Indonesia University of Education. Email: reisaaulias@upi.edu
© Luo Xiaoqian, Adenan Ayob, Zulkeflee Yaacob, Reisa Aulia Sodikin, 2026
The author’s declared no conflicts of interest
Received: 27 December 2025 | Approved: 11 March 2026 | Published: 30 June 2026
This is an open access article distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike International License (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal
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