Emotions in Second/Foreign Language Teaching and Learning: Applications, Implications, and Impacts

Dear Colleagues,

Emotions are an integral part of all educational contexts, including language education contexts. The countless hours students spend attending class, doing assignments, taking exams, and establishing social relationships translate into progress toward crucial life objectives—holding a degree in education has never been of more personal, social, or financial significance than it is today. Thus, it is no wonder that educational contexts abound with emotions.

In educational contexts, positive emotions such as enjoyment, interest, hope, happiness, and pride, as well as negative emotions, including anger, anxiety, apprehension, aggression, stress, frustration, and boredom, are common, prevalent, and often intense. Positive emotions seem to be beneficial for students’ learning outcomes, academic growth, and academic success. Negative emotions, on the other hand, appear to be detrimental in that they may impede students’ academic performance, compel them to drop out of school, and negatively influence their psychological and physical health. The value of emotions in education equally extends to teachers as well. They are not only in charge of transmitting knowledge but also of inspiring passion for the discipline and excitement about learning. If they succeed at inspiring excitement about the course content, the motivational benefits should extend far beyond the course itself. If they fail, however, the ensuing negative emotions can quickly undermine motivation and the will to remain in the class.   

Despite the value of emotions in instructional-learning contexts, the role of positive and negative emotions in language education has been somehow neglected. Against this backdrop, the present Special Issue seeks to bring together research studies investigating the applications, implications, and impacts of emotions in second/foreign language teaching and learning. We welcome original research, systematic reviews, mini reviews, book reviews, and meta-analyses. In terms of research design, we are looking for in-depth qualitative studies, large-scale quantitative investigations, and mixed methods research. To gather data for empirical articles, researchers may employ data collection instruments such as questionnaires, interviews, journal writing, narrative writing, diary writing, and observation checklists.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Applications of positive and negative emotions in EFL/ESL classes
• Impact of EFL/ESL students’ positive emotions on their language achievement
• Effects of EFL/ESL students’ positive emotions on their L2 success
• Influences of positive and negative emotions on EFL/ESL students’ academic engagement
• Impact of EFL/ESL students’ emotions on their classroom involvement
• Role of teachers’ positive and negative emotions in their professional commitment
• Impact of positive and negative emotions on EFL/ESL teachers’ professional success
• Associations between EFL/ESL teachers’ negative emotions and their intention to leave the profession   

Dr. Ali Derakhshan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• EFL/ESL classes
• positive/negative emotions
• enjoyment
• interest
• stress
• apprehension
• job satisfaction
• academic engagement
• language achievement
• professional success
• teaching effectiveness