Positive Emotions and Learner Engagement: Insights from an Early FL Classroom

This paper aims at identifying the teacher-related factors which contribute to positive emotions and learner engagement in a young learners’ (6–12 years old) foreign language (FL) classroom. We are interested in the relationship between teacher and learner emotions and the way teacher behaviour, mindset and instructional practices contribute to learner engagement. The analysis is based on video recordings of 45 lessons conducted by trainee teachers. The data include teacher and learner verbal and non-verbal contributions to classroom interaction. To begin with, periods of heightened learner engagement (PHEs) are identified in the data basing on a list of descriptors of behavioural engagement identified in previous research. PHEs are then analysed from the teacher’s perspective. We seek to determine those teacher behaviours and instructional practices which coincide with the emergence of highest engagement. The results show that learner engagement and the emergence of positive emotions in children is contingent upon the teacher’s mindset and his/her pedagogic decisions and choices. Positively-oriented teachers who display positive emotions inspire a similar mindset in learners creating a positively charged learning environment. We also found that certain types of pedagogic intervention are inherently more substantively engaging than others. The characteristics of engagement-generating teacher instruction are discussed and instances of practices conducive to learner engagement are presented.