The Impact of Personality traits and Emotions on Motivation in Relation to Teacher-Student Rapport: The Case of Algerian EFL Undergraduate Students.

Building rapport is considered very crucial to maintain a good relationship between teachers and their students, especially if the primary goal is to boost students’ motivation. Some psychological features are also important considering such as students’ emotions and personality traits. Accordingly, this research aims at investigating the impact that teacher-student rapport can have on students’ motivation to learn English, taking into consideration their personality traits and emotions. The purpose is to unveil any possible interrelationship between students’ personality traits, motivation and emotions and the rapport they have with their teachers. A case study design has been selected for the purposes of this study. Participants are 203 undergraduate students and 15 English language teachers. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected through two sets of questionnaires chosen to identify students’ personalities (Big Five Inventory (BFI) developed by John and Benet-Martinez, 1998) and then their level of motivation (adapted version of Gardner’s AMTB (Attitudes/Motivation Test Battery) questionnaire, 1974). Qualitative data, on the other hand, were gathered through student interviews, classroom observations, fieldnotes and an open-ended questionnaire for teachers. The results showed that teachers play a prominent role in motivating their students through having a good rapport with them. Emotions have helped identify whether students were happy with their teachers in class, which in turn impacted upon students’ motivation. Results have also highlighted that motivated learners tended to show similarity on the following personality dimensions: Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness. However, it was difficult to detect an obvious link between students’ personality traits and teacher-students’ rapport. Finally, the majority of teachers believed that building rapport in class is essential for the process of teaching and learning.