Factors Influencing EFL Learners’Satisfaction in Ideological and Po-litical College English Language Courses

Abstract

In the contemporary higher education, English language courses are recognized as foundational subjects. They are entrusted with not only nurturing students' lin-guistic competencies but also integrating elements of ideological and political ed-ucation (IPE) to fulfill the essential mission of moral cultivation. This study is grounded in the practical demands of IPE in English language courses. Employing a mixed-methods approach that combines questionnaires and in-depth interviews, a comprehensive investigation was conducted involving 213 students from four majors at a university in Eastern China. The objective was to explore students' current levels of satisfaction with IPE in English language courses and to identify the underlying influencing factors. The research utilized statistical analysis tech-niques to examine the impact of personal attributes (encompassing major, and po-litical affiliation) and course implementation aspects (including teachers' ideolog-ical and political literacy, instructional design, and classroom interaction modes) on students' satisfaction with IPE in English language courses. The results reveal that teachers' ideological and political literacy, along with the relevance of the teaching content, exert a significant positive influence on student satisfaction. Furthermore, the diversity of classroom interaction strategies and students' sub-jective engagement play an indispensable positive role in their satisfaction with IPE. Notably, the study uncovered variations in expectations regarding the ideo-logical and political content of foreign language courses among students from dif-ferent majors, prompting the suggestion of differentiated teaching strategies for IPE.