Jean-Marc Dewaele (University College Longon; Birkbeck University of London)

Prof. Dewaele will talk about an emerging area of research in the field of foreign language learning, which was triggered by the introduction of Positive Psychology (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; Dewaele et al., 2019). It has focused on the role of positive and negative foreign language learner emotions in the classroom and their effect on performance, beyond the traditional focus on foreign language anxiety and motivation. Positive emotions such as Foreign Language Enjoyment and Peace of Mind have been shown to be positively linked to Willingness to Communicate and academic achievement (Botes et al., 2022; Zhou et al., 2023) while Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety and Foreign Language Boredom have the opposite effect (Dewaele et al., 2023). Teacher behaviour in the FL class has been shown to shape learners’ emotions (Dewaele et al., 2022). Foreign Language Enjoyment and motivation are positively correlated but conceptually different (Dewaele & Meftah, 2024). Establishing a positive emotional atmosphere in the classroom has not only linguistic benefits for learners but can also boost their motivation and happiness.

Part 1 of 2 in a seminar series on Emotions in Second Language Acquisition