From Punitive to Supportive: Exploring the Role of Positive Reinforcement in Student Engagement among Junior High School Students

Lubna Iasya, Eliasanti Agustina, Rahmat Setiawan — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In many educational contexts, classroom disciplinary practices are often dominated by punitive approaches, in which mistakes are responded to criticism or punishment in the name of maintaining order and discipline. Such practices may discourage participation, reduce students’ confidence, and limit meaningful engagement, particularly in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning where students are already vulnerable to anxiety and fear of making mistakes. However, alternative approaches that emphasize support rather than punishment remain underexplored, especially in relation to their broader impact on classroom dynamics. Grounded in Behaviourist theory by Skinner, this study investigates whether and how Positive Reinforcement enhances student engagement in EFL classrooms. A sequential explanatory mixed-method design was employed involving 105 junior high school students in Indonesia. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-surveys, followed by qualitative interviews with five students to further explain the statistical findings. The quantitative results showed a statistically significant improvement in students’ engagement (p < .001) after the implementation of Positive Reinforcement, with a large effect size (r = 0.86), indicating a strong practical impact. The qualitative findings further revealed improvements in five major areas: (1) behavioural engagement, (2) cognitive engagement, (3) emotional safety and confidence, (4) peer interaction and communication, and (5) student-teacher relationships. These findings suggest that shifting from punitive to supportive practices not only enhances individual student engagement but also contributes to the development of more positive and supportive classroom dynamics in EFL learning environments.

Emotional Roller Coaster: Phenomenological Lived Experiences of EFL Students’ Emotional Reminiscence and Trajectory in Writing Class

Ariyanti Ariyanti, Rafidah Amat, Elok Putri Nimasari — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Indonesian EFL university students experiencing as well as regulating emotions in EFL writing tasks are the topic of this phenomenological study. Although language education traditionally highlights cognitive and linguistic aspects, the emotional struggle in EFL writing e.g., anxiety, frustration, and burnout, has received less attention, partly because this work might not translate in non-Western contexts and because cultural attitudes to emotion expression or emotion regulation might vary. Using reflective journals, which consisted of two stages, i.e., pre- or before writing and during or drafting process, seven Indonesian students from different academic levels reported negative emotional reactions at the beginning of writing, emotional fluctuation from negative to positive, positive to negative, negative to positive like an emotional roller coaster, and direct emotional alteration from negative to positive during the drafting process. Furthermore, there were efforts done by students to solve their negative emotional experiences indicated after the students expressed their emotional experiences. Therefore, this implies that further research on students’ emotion regulation strategies has potential to be explored in the future. Sequential instructions, from the simple to complex task is recommended to by apply in the teaching and learning of writing since it will also have direct effect on the students’ emotions.

IJELTAL (Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics)

From Punitive to Supportive: Exploring the Role of Positive Reinforcement in Student Engagement among Junior High School Students

Emotional Roller Coaster: Phenomenological Lived Experiences of EFL Students’ Emotional Reminiscence and Trajectory in Writing Class