Advanced learners’ foreign language-related emotions across the four skills
PDF

Keywords

emotions
language learning
foreign language classroom

How to Cite

Piniel, K., & Albert, Ágnes. (2018). Advanced learners’ foreign language-related emotions across the four skills. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8(1), 127–147. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.6

Number of views: 2494


Number of downloads: 1451

Abstract

Individual differences researchers have recently begun to investigate the concept of emotions and their role in language learning (MacIntyre, Gregersen, & Mercer, 2016). Our aim is to report on a project exploring English majors’ feelings related to their use of foreign languages. Using a qualitative research design, participants were asked to write a paragraph in their mother tongue (Hungarian) describing their emotional experiences in connection with foreign languages and one of the four language skills. Our database comprised altogether 166 paragraphs from 31 male and 135 female students, with 43 texts on listening, 35 on speaking, 47 on reading, and 41 on writing. With the help of content analytical techniques, the texts were divided into thematic units and coded by the two authors. A framework of academically-relevant emotions (Pekrun, 2014) was used to guide our initial coding and the categories were modified where it was felt necessary. Results indicate that the two emotions most frequently experienced by English majors are predominantly related to enjoyment and language anxiety, and these emotions vary not only according to the skill involved but also depending on the context of language use (in class or outside class).
https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.6
PDF

References

Cassady, J. C., & Johnson, R. E. (2002). Cognitive test anxiety and academic performance. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27(2), 270-295.

Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). Content and language integrated learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Council of Europe. (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Dewaele, J.-M. (2005). Investigating the psychological and emotional dimensions in instructed language learning: Obstacles and possibilities. Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 367-380.

Dewaele, J.-M. (2010). Emotions in multiple languages. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Dewaele, J.-M. (2016). Why do so many bi- and multilinguals feel different when switching languages? International Journal of Multilingualism, 13, 92-105.

Dewaele, J.-M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2014). The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 237-274.

Dewaele, J.-M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2016). Foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety: The right and left feet of FL learning? In P. MacIntyre, T. Gregersen, & S. Mercer (Eds.), Positive psychology in SLA (pp. 215-236). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Dewaele, J.-M., Witney, J., Saito, K., & Dewaele, L. (2017). Foreign language enjoyment and anxiety in the FL classroom: The effect of teacher and learner variables. Language Teaching Research. doi: 10.1177/1362168817692161

Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Elo, S., Kääriäinen, M., Kanste, O., Pölkki, T., Utriainen, K., & Kyngäs, H. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: A focus on trustworthiness. SAGE Open, 4(1), 1-10. doi: 10.1177/2158244014522633

Field, J. (2003). Psycholinguistics: A resource book for students. New York, NY: Routledge.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2003). The value of positive emotions. American Scientist, 91(4), 330-335.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2008). Promoting positive affect. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 449-468). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Updated thinking on positivity ratios. American Psychologist, 68(9), 814-822.

Frenzel, A. C., Thrash, T. M., Pekrun, R., & Goetz, T. (2007). Achievement emotions in Germany and China: A cross-cultural validation of the academic emotions questionnaire-mathematics. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38(3), 302-309.

Frijda, N. H. (1993). Moods, emotion episodes and emotions. In J. M. Haviland & M. Lewis (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 381-403). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Gabryś-Barker, D., & Gałajda, D. (Eds.). (2016). Positive psychology perspectives on foreign language learning and teaching. New York, NY: Springer.

Galmiche, D. (2017). Shame and SLA. Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies, 11(2), 25-53.

Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitude and motivation. Baltimore: Edward Arnold.

Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1959). Motivational variables in second-language acquisition. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 13, 266-272.

Gardner, R. C., & MacIntyre, P. D. (1993). A student’s contributions to second-language learning. Part II: Affective variables. Language Teaching, 26(1), 1-11.

Gkonou, C., Daubney, M., & Dewaele, J.-M. (Eds.). (2017). New Insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and educational implications. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Goetz, T., Frenzel, A. C., Hall, N. C., & Pekrun, R. (2008). Antecedents of academic emotions: Testing the internal/external frame of reference model for academic enjoyment. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(1), 9-33.

Hebb, D. (1949). The organization of behavior. New York, NY: Wiley.

Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. A. (1991). Foreign language classroom anxiety. In E. K. Horwitz & D. J. Young (Eds.), Language anxiety: From theory and research to classroom implications (pp. 27-36). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Izard, C. E. (2007). Basic emotions, natural kinds, emotion schemas, and a new paradigm. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2(3), 260-280.

Izard, C. E. (2010). The many meanings/aspects of emotion: Definitions, functions, activation, and regulation. Emotion Review, 2(4), 363-370.

Keltner, D., Oatley, K., & Jenkins, J. M. (2014). Understanding emotions (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Larsen, R., & Fredrickson, B. (1999). Measurement issues in emotion research. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: Foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 40-60). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

MacIntyre, P. D. (2002). Motivation, anxiety and emotion in second language acquisition. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Individual differences and instructed language learning (pp. 45-68). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.

MacIntyre, P.D., Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z., & Noels, K. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. Modern Language Journal, 82, 545-562.

MacIntyre, P., & Gregersen, T. (2012). Emotions that facilitate language learning: The positive-broadening power of the imagination. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2(2), 193-213.

MacIntyre, P. D., Gregersen, T., & Mercer, S. (Eds.) (2016). Positive psychology in SLA. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

MacIntyre, P. D., & Mercer, S. (2014). Introducing positive psychology to SLA. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 153-172.

MacIntyre, P. D., & Vincze, L. (2017). Positive and negative emotions underlie motivation for L2 learning. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 7(1), 61-88.

Mandler, G. (1984). Mind and body: Psychology of emotion and stress. New York, NY: Norton.

Manstead, A. S. (1991). Emotion in social life. Cognition & Emotion, 5(5-6), 353-362.

Nemzeti alaptanterv [National Core Curriculum]. (2012). Magyar Közlöny, 66, 10635-10848. Retrieved from http://www.ofi.hu/sites/default/files/attachments/mk_nat_20121.pdf

Oatley, K. (2004). Emotions: A brief history. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Oxford, R. L. (2015). Emotion as the amplifier and the primary motive: Some theories of emotion with relevance to language learning. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 5(3), 371-393.

Pae, T.-I. (2013). Skill-based L2 anxieties revisited: Their intra-relations and the inter-relations with general foreign language anxiety. Applied Linguistics 34(2), 232-252.

Pavlenko, A. (2012). Affective processing in bilingual speakers: Disembodied cognition? International Journal of Psychology, 47(6). 405-428.

Pekrun, R. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18(4), 315-341.

Pekrun, R. (2014). Emotions and learning (Educational Practices Series, Vol. 24). International Academy of Education (IAE) and International Bureau of Education (IBE) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Geneva, Switzerland.

Pekrun, R., Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2009). Achievement goals and achievement emotions: Testing a model of their joint relations with academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(1), 115-135.

Pekrun, R., Frenzel, A. C., Goetz, T., & Perry, R. P. (2007). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: An integrative approach to emotions in education. In P. A. Schutz & R. Pekrun (Eds.), Emotion in education (pp. 13-36). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Frenzel, A. C., Barchfeld, P., & Perry, R. P. (2011). Measuring emotions in students’ learning and performance: The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ). Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36(1), 36-48.

Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., & Perry, R. P. (2005). Achievement emotions questionnaire (AEQ): User’s manual (Unpublished manuscript). University of Munich, Munich.

Pekrun, R., Götz, T., Titz, W., & Perry, R. P. (2002a). Positive emotions in education. In E. Frydenberg (Ed.), Beyond coping: Meeting goals, visions, and challenges (pp. 149-173). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Pekrun, R., Götz, T., Titz, W., & Perry, R. P. (2002b). Academic emotions in students’ self- regulated learning and achievement: A program of quantitative and qualitative research. Educational Psychologist, 37, 91-106.

Pekrun, R., & Linnenbrink-Garcia, L. (Eds.). (2014). International handbook of emotions in education. New York, NY: Francis & Taylor/Routledge.

Pishghadam, R., Zabetipour, M., & Aminzadeh, A. (2016). Examining emotions in English language learning classes: A case of EFL emotions. Issues in Educational Research, 26(3), 508-527.

Plutchik, R. (1980). Emotion: A psychoevolutionary synthesis. New York, NY: Harpercollins College Division.

Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Ross, A. S., & Stracke, E. (2016). Learner perceptions and experiences of pride in second language education. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 39(3), 272-291.

Schutz, P. A., & Pekrun, R. (Eds.). (2007). Emotion in education. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Seligman, M. E. P., & Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14. doi: 10.1037//0003-066X.55.1.5

Spielberger, C. D., & Vagg, P. R. (Eds.). (1995). Test anxiety: Theory, assessment and treatment. Washington DC: Taylor & Francis.

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Stryker, S. B., & Leaver, B. L. (Eds.). (1997). Content-based instruction in foreign language education: Models and methods. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Ushioda, E. (2011). Why autonomy? Insights from motivation theory and research. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 5(2), 221-232. doi: 10.1080/17501229.2011.577536

Xiao, Y., & Wong, K. F. (2014). Exploring heritage language anxiety: A study of Chinese heritage language learners. The Modern Language Journal, 98(2), 589-611.

Zeidner, M. (1998). Test anxiety: The state of the art. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.