Stronger teacher expectation effects on foreign language learning: Student perceptions of the classroom environment as moderators

This study investigated whether teacher expectation effects on students' foreign language learning would be moderated by students' perceptions of the classroom environment. The participants were 28 teachers and 1030 first-year undergraduate students learning English as a foreign language from public universities in China. Data for teacher expectations of student future performance in the year-end standardised test, students' performance in the prior examination and year-end examination, and students' perceptions of the classroom environment (six factors) were collected. Structural equation modelling was run for data analysis. The results showed that, with students' prior achievement controlled, positive teacher-student relationships, innovative instruction, and clearly structured instruction strengthened the effects of teacher expectations on student year-end academic achievement but cooperative learning lessened the predictive power of teacher expectations. Further, peer relationships and learner autonomy did not significantly impact the magnitude of teacher expectation effects. The findings suggested a positive moderating role of teacher-led behaviours on teacher expectation effects but negative moderation effects of student-led behaviours in tertiary classrooms.