A Systematic Literature Review of EFL/ESL Teachers' Emotional Experiences
Abstract
There is a growing body of literature regarding language teachers’ emotions and their impact on teaching practices. However, the connection between their emotional experiences and their impact on teaching remains substantial. Evidently, integrative research methods are necessary to provide a more dynamic perspective on this complex subject. Thus, this study is based on the concept that emotions are complex and dynamic aspects of language teachers and learners during the learning and teaching stages. It is also motivated by the interest in conducting systematic literature reviews, the dynamic shift in language teaching, and the focus on a complex research phenomenon. On this basis, this study builds on 14 research articles conducted over the last ten years concerning teacher emotions. The study also used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis checklist. The findings suggest that further research is needed to explore the variation among language teachers’ emotions in different contexts and their impact on teaching practice. This study also provides insights into professional identity, professional development, and fostering emotional connections between teachers and students.
Keywords
Language teachers’ emotions, complex perspective, systematic literature review, professional development.
References
- * The references of the studies included in the systematic literature review have been marked.
- *Acheson, K., Taylor, J., & Luna, K. (2016). The burnout spiral: The emotion labor of five rural US foreign language teachers. The Modern Language Journal, 100(2), 522-537. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12333
- *Agudo, M. J. D., & Azzaro, G. (2018). Emotions in learning to teach EFL in the practicum setting: Facing the emotional dilemmas and challenges associated with professional practice. In J. de D. Martínez Agudo (Ed.), Emotions in second language teaching (pp. 365–384). Springer.
- *Arizmendi Tejeda, S., Gillings de González, B. S., & López Martínez, C. L. D. J. (2016). How novice EFL teachers regulate their negative emotions. How, 23(1), 30-48.
- Barcelos, A. M. F., & Aragão, R. C. (2018). Emotions in language teaching: A review of studies on teacher emotions in Brazil. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 41(4), 506–531. https://doi.org/10.1515/cjal-2018-0036
- Benesch, S. (2017). Emotions and English language teaching: Exploring teachers’ emotion labor. Routledge.
- *Benesch, S. (2020). Emotions and activism: English language teachers’ emotion labor as responses to institutional power. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 17(1), 26-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2020.1716194
- *Cowie, N. (2011). Emotions that experienced English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers feel about their students, their colleagues, and their work. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(1), 235-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.08.006
- *Cuéllar, L., & Oxford, R. L. (2018). Language teachers’ emotions: Emerging from the shadows. In J. de Dios Martínez Agudo (Ed.), Emotions in second language teaching (pp. 53–72). Springer.
- De Costa, P. I., Rawal, H., & Li, W. (2018). L2 teachers’ emotions: A sociopolitical and ideological perspective. In J. de Dios Martínez Agudo (Ed.), Emotions in second language teaching (pp. 91–106). Springer.