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Article History

Received: 16 December 2023

Accepted: 22 April 2025

First Online: 17 May 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved on December 1st, 2023 by Biomedical Ethics Committee of Qufu Normal University (No.: 2023161).

: Prior to data collection, written informed consent was obtained from participants and their legal guardians, with the process beginning on December 2nd, 2023. This study is related to English learning, and English teachers from the selected middle schools assisted in distributing and collecting the informed consent forms. Given the involvement of minors (ages 12–15), extra care was taken to ensure that consent was properly secured. Legal guardians were provided with clear and detailed information about the study’s objectives, procedures, participants’ rights, and the voluntary nature of participation, including the right to withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. Participants were assured that their anonymity and confidentiality would be strictly protected, with no personally identifiable information being collected. Additionally, minors received age-appropriate explanations to help them understand the study’s purpose and their role. Both legal guardians and minors signed the written consent forms to confirm their understanding and agreement. The informed consent form covered participation in the study, protection of personal information, information storage practices, the use of collected data solely for research purposes, and permission to publish anonymized findings.