Students’ motivation and engagement as two prime instances of positive academic behaviors serve a facilitative function in their learning success (Martin et al., 2017). Accordingly, raising students’ academic motivation and engagement has been among the top priorities of all effective instructors. However, many instructors, notably English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers are still unaware of how to considerably enhance their students’ academic motivation and engagement. In fact, how EFL and ESL students’ academic motivation and engagement can be improved is not widely recognized (Henry and Thorsen, 2018). Students’ academic motivation or motivation to learn generally refers to “their primary impetus for initiating learning as well as the reason for continuing the prolonged and tedious process of learning” (Ushioda, 2008, p. 21). More specifically, conceptualized language learners’ academic motivation as the degree to which they strive to acquire a new language out of a desire to do so and the enjoyment they experienced in the process of learning. Besides, student academic engagement as another example of desirable academic behaviors pertains to “students’ active, goal-directed, flexible, constructive, persistent, focused interactions with the learning environment” (Furrer and Skinner, 2003, p. 149). In the domain of language education, students’ academic engagement refers to their active participation in learning and mastering a new language (Hiver et al., 2021).

As Irvin et al. (2007) noted academic motivation and engagement as two related constructs are of high importance for students’ increased achievement, advancement, and academic success. Concerning the value of student academic motivation in instructional-learning environments, Froiland and Oros (2014) postulated that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of pupils can favorably influence their academic performance. In a similar vein, Martin (2013) also stated that the sense of enjoyment that highly motivated students experience in classroom contexts encourages them to enthusiastically pursue different stages of learning. This, in turn, contributes to desirable learning outcomes. In this regard, Howard et al. (2021) also illustrated the importance of motivation by referring to its positive effect on students’ level of perseverance. They articulated that academic motives can empower students to resist the difficulties that they may experience during the learning process.

To shed light on the significance of student academic engagement, Skinner and Pitzer (2012) mentioned that students’ active membership in instructional-learning contexts enables them to gain higher academic grades. Similarly, Finn and Zimmer (2012) submitted that students’ degree of participation in educational contexts is closely related to their academic growth. To them, nothing like active participation in classrooms can facilitate students’ educational advancement. Additionally, Philp and Duchesne (2016) also postulated that students’ academic engagement can remarkably increase the likelihood of their academic success. Drawing on what has been mentioned regarding the centrality of academic motivation and engagement in students’ educational success, investigating the determinants and predictors of these variables seems crucial.

Against this backdrop, numerous studies have inspected the impact of students’ personality traits on their academic motivation (e.g., Komarraju et al., 2009; De Feyter et al., 2012; Hazrati-Viari et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2013; Guo, 2021) and engagement (e.g., Linvill, 2014; Kahu et al., 2015; Qureshi et al., 2016; Rostami et al., 2017). Several studies have also been conducted to examine the effects of teachers’ personality traits on students’ motivation and engagement (e.g., Gibbs and Powell, 2012; Sabet et al., 2018; Khalilzadeh and Khodi, 2021). Additionally, many empirical and theoretical studies have probed into the role of teachers’ positive communication behaviors, including credibility (e.g., Imlawi et al., 2015; Derakhshan, 2021), immediacy (e.g., Dixson et al., 2017; Liu, 2021; Zheng, 2021), and confirmation (e.g., Shen and Croucher, 2018; LaBelle and Johnson, 2020; Gao, 2021), in promoting student academic motivation and engagement. Nonetheless, teacher praise as one of the most influential communication behaviors has received scant attention (Downs, 2017; Caldarella et al., 2021).

The concept of praise generally refers to “verbal or nonverbal actions indicating the positive quality of a behavior over and above the evaluation of accuracy” (Kalis et al., 2007, p. 23). Similarly, teacher praise pertains to any gesture or statement that instructors employ to admire their students’ appropriate and favorable behaviors (Reinke et al., 2008). Jenkins et al. (2015) postulated that teacher praise is a “feasible, nonintrusive classroom strategy” that can be easily utilized by teachers in any instructional-learning environment. As Marchant and Anderson (2012) noted, the verbal or nonverbal action used by teachers to applaud their pupils’ positive behaviors may work as a stimulator, encouraging students to repeat the desired actions. They also suggested that teachers can inspire a feeling of mastery and accomplishment in their pupils by acknowledging their satisfactory behaviors. These positive feelings contribute to increased student motivation (Titsworth, 2000). According to Richard (2012), students’ willingness to participate in classroom activities also improves when instructors praise their academic performance.

Despite the importance of teachers’ verbal and nonverbal admiration in increasing student’ academic motivation and engagement (Marchant and Anderson, 2012; Richard, 2012), a few scholars (Downs, 2017; Caldarella et al., 2021) have studied teacher praise in relation to these positive academic behaviors. Furthermore, no theoretical or systematic review has been carried out in this regard. Thus, to narrow the existing gaps, the current review study aims to provide a detailed description of these variables (i.e., teacher praise, student motivation, and student engagement), their theoretical foundations, and the existing association among them.

So far, various definitions of student academic motivation, academic engagement, and teacher praise, along with their theoretical foundations, were illustrated. Building upon emotional response theory and the positive psychology movement, the association between these variables was also explained. Additionally, a summary of the previous related studies was provided. Based on what has been reviewed in the current study, it is fair to conclude that teacher praise (verbal or nonverbal) is a strong antecedent of EFL students’ academic motivation and engagement. This finding can be highly beneficial for all EFL teachers who struggle with their students’ insufficient motivation and engagement. As noted by Mottet et al. (2006) and Xie and Derakhshan (2021), through admiring students’ behaviors, teacher can dramatically enhance student’ engagement and motivation to learn. The review’s finding has an important implication for teacher trainers as well. An important reason underlying EFL students’ lack of motivation and engagement is teachers’ disability to praise students’ behaviors (Duchaine et al., 2011). Thus, to improve EFL students’ motivation and engagement, teachers should receive adequate instructions on how to praise their students’ academic performances. Put it simply, teacher trainers should teach EFL instructors all they need to know regarding this positive communication behavior.

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

This paper is a special subject of Hainan Philosophy and Social Sciences Foreign Language Application Research Base “Study on Cultivation of Intercultural Communication Competence of College Students in Hainan Medical College under the Background of Free Trade Port” (grant no. HNWYJD18-05).

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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