Abstract
Shao et al. (2023) make a number of critical comments on our previous research on foreign language (FL) emotions, but also add debatable claims, present an inaccurate view of existing research and present an instrument, the Achievement Emotion Questionnaire – Second Language Learning (AEQ-L2L), that does not capture the full range of habitual positive and negative emotions in regular FL classrooms by focusing exclusively on learner emotions during exams. We agree with the authors that some early scales had unclear factor structures but claiming that therefore these scales are invalid and unreliable is unjustified. We do not deny that the AEQ can provide a comprehensive measure of emotion, but it does not prioritize the context which is fundamental in research on FL learners’ classroom emotions. Moreover, the AEQ-L2L is too long to be reasonably included in complex studies.
References
Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. Modern Language Journal, 78(2), 155-168. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1994.tb02026.x
Barrett, L. F., Atzil, S., Bliss-Moreau, E., Chanes, L., Gendron, M., Hoemann, K., . . . &. Westlin, C. (2025). The theory of constructed emotion: More than a feeling. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 20(3), 392-420. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916251319045
Bigelow, M. (2019). (Re) considering the role of emotion in language teaching and learning. Modern Language Journal, 103, 515-516. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12569
Botes, E., Dewaele, J.-M., & Greiff, S. (2021). The development and validation of the Short-form Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (S-FLES). Modern Language Journal, 105(4), 858-876. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12741
Botes, E., van der Westhuizen, L., Dewaele, J.-M., MacIntyre, P. D., & Greiff, S. (2022). Validating the Short-form Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Applied Linguistics, 43(5), 1006-1033. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amac018
Carey, E., Hill, F., Devine, A., & Szücs, D. (2016). The chicken or the egg? The direction of the relationship between mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1987. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01987
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper Collins.
Derakhshan, A., Doliński, D., Wang, Y., & Fan, Z. (2025). An introduction to the special issue on the applications of positive psychology in educational environments: Teachers’ and students’ psychological states in the spotlight. Learning and Motivation, 85, 102116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2025.102116
Dewaele, J.-M., & Botes, E. (2025). How the effects of foreign language enjoyment, anxiety, boredom and peace of mind on attitude/motivation change with skill level, academic achievement and age: A moderated mediation model. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12749
Dewaele, J.-M., Botes, E., & Meftah, R. (2023). A three-body problem: The effects of foreign language anxiety, enjoyment, and boredom on academic achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 43, 7-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190523000016
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, 237-274. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.5
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. D. MacIntyre, T. Gregersen, & S. Mercer (Eds.), Positive Psychology in SLA (pp. 215-236). Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.30945667.12
Dewaele, J.-M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2024). “You can’t start a fire without a spark.” Enjoyment and the emergence of flow in foreign language classrooms. Applied Linguistics Review, 15(2), 403-426. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2021-0123
Dewaele, J.-M., MacIntyre, P. D., Albakistani, A. & Kamal Ahmed, I. (2025). Emotional, attitudinal and sociobiographical sources of flow in online and in-person EFL classrooms. Applied Linguistics, 46, 91-109.
Dewaele, J.-M., & Meftah, R. (2025). The emotional profiles of self-perceived “good” foreign language learners. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2025.2508809
Elahi Shirvan, M., & Barabadi, E. (Eds.) (2024). Special Issue. Innovation in Positive Psychology in Applied Linguistics. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 9(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-024-00174-1
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218-226. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.56.3.218
Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical transactions of the royal society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 359(1449), 1367-1377. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1512
Fredrickson, B. L., & Joiner, T. (2002). Positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being. Psychological Science, 13(2), 172-175. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00431
Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. Edward Arnold.
Gregersen, T., MacIntyre, P. D., & Meza, M. D. (2014). The motion of emotion: Idiodynamic case studies of learners’ foreign language anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 98, 574-588. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12084
He, N., Cao, R., & Mou, C. (2024). Exploring the relationship between emotions and FLL achievement: A meta-analysis. Asia-Pacific Education Research, 34, 253-268. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-024-00850-5
Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: A compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1073-1082. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00213-6
Horwitz, E. K. (2017). On the misreading of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) and the need to balance anxiety research and the experiences of anxious language learners. In C. Gkonou, M. Daubney & J.-M. Dewaele (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and educational implications (pp. 31-47). Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.22730706.6
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125-132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1986.tb05256.x
Li, C., Dewaele, J.-M. & Hu, Y. (2023). Foreign language learning boredom: Conceptualization and measurement. Applied Linguistics Review, 14(2), 223-249. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2020-0124
Li, C., Dewaele, J.-M., Pawlak, M., & Kruk, M. (2022). Classroom environment and willingness to communicate in English: The mediating role of emotions experienced by university students in China. Language Teaching Research, 29(5), 2140-2160. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688221111623
Li, C., Feng, E., & Li, S. (2025). Boredom and achievement in L2 learning: A meta-analysis. Applied Linguistics Review. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2024-0266
Li, C., Jiang, G., & Dewaele, J.-M. (2018). Understanding Chinese high school students’ foreign language enjoyment: Validation of the Chinese version of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale. System, 76, 183-196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.06.004
MacIntyre, P. D. (1992). Anxiety and language learning from a stages of processing perspective [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada]. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/2155
MacIntyre, P. D. (2017). An overview of language anxiety research and trends in its development. In C. Gkonou, M. Daubney & J.-M. Dewaele (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and edu-cational implications (pp. 11-30). Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.22730706.5
MacIntyre, P. D., & Ducker, N. (2022). The idiodynamic method: A practical guide for researchers. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 100007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmal.2022.100007
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gregersen, T. (2012). Emotions that facilitate language learning: The positive broadening power of the imagination. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2, 193-213. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2012.2.2.4
Morin, A. J. S., Marsh, H. W., Nagengast, B., & Scalas, L. F. (2014). Doubly latent multilevel analyses of classroom climate: An illustration. Journal of Experimental Education, 82(2), 143-167. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2013.769412
Pawlak, M., & Derakhshan, A. (2024). Examining interfaces between advances in positive psychology and L2 learning and teaching: Introduction. Porta Linguarum, IX, 7-12. https://revistaseug.ugr.es/index.php/portalin/article/view/29918 DOI: https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.viIX.29918
Pawlak, M., Kruk, M., Zawodniak, J., & Pasikowski, S. (2020). Investigating factors responsible for boredom in English classes: The case of advanced learners. System, 91, 102259. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102259
Pekrun, R. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18, 315-341. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-006-9029-9
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, 36-48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2010.10.002
Prior, M. T. (2019). Elephants in the room: An “affective turn,” or just feeling our way? Modern Language Journal, 103, 516-527. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12573
Resnik, P., Dewaele, J.-M., & Knechtelsdorfer, E. (2023). Differences in foreign language anxiety in regular and online EFL classes during the pandemic: A mixed-methods study. TESOL Quarterly, 57(2), 618-642. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3177
Resnik, P., Dewaele, J.-M., & Knechtelsdorfer, E. (2025). How teaching modality affects foreign language enjoyment: A comparison of in-person and online English foreign language classes. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 63(1), 685-707. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2023-0076
Ryan, R. M., Connell, J. P., & Plant, R. W. (1990). Emotions in non-directed text learning. Learning and Individual Differences, 2(1), 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/1041-6080(90)90014-8
Saito, K., Dewaele, J.-M., In’nami, Y., & Abe, N. (2025). Disentangling the causal role of motivation, enjoyment, and anxiety in second language speech learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263125000038
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.55.1.5
Shao, K., Stockinger, K., Marsh, H. W., & Pekrun, R. (2023). Applying control-value theory for examining multiple emotions in L2 classrooms: Validating the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire – Second Language Learning. Language Teaching Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688221144497
Sudina, E. (2021). Study and scale quality in second language survey research, 2009-2019: The case of anxiety and motivation. Language Learning, 71(4), 1149-1193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12468
Yan, J. X., & Horwitz, E. K. (2008). Learners’ perceptions of how anxiety interacts with personal and instructional factors to influence their achievement in English: A qualitative analysis of EFL learners in China. Language Learning, 58, 151-183. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2007.00437.x
Zuniga, M., & Simard, D. (2024). Special issue. Promoting flourishing and well-being in second language learning: A positive psychology perspective. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 80(4), 249-254. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr_80.4_Intro_EN
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Jean-Marc Dewaele, Elouise Botes, Pia Resnik, Peter MacIntyre, Samuel Greiff

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.
