What is the role and meaning of affect in second language acquisition (SLA)? Language practitioners have tackled this important question by exploring various affective factors, such as language anxiety, second language (L2) motivation, and the neurobiological mechanism. Nevertheless, serious discussions of the integral component of affect, emotions, have been rarity. This scholarly attitude reflects particular assumptions to conceive affect and learning, which can be characterized as individualistic, cognitive, dichotomous, and product-oriented.
While acknowledging the contribution made by the previous research paradigm, I propose a complementary perspective that calls for more substantial attention to the wide range of emotions in language learning. I take a particular view that emotions are not just a learner's inner, private workings that merely filter cognitive functioning. Rather, emotions--in any forms--can mediate development, especially when learning is considered a fundamentally interpersonal transaction.
By presenting actual data from a study, I illustrate how a group of learners discursively manifested, shared, and co-constructed their emotional attitudes toward their group work and how such emotional intersubjectivity pushed the group, in their knowledge co-construction, to challenge assigned tasks and materials. Finally, implications of the proposed perspective will be considered.
Biostatements:
Yasuhiro Imai is Lecturer at the Centre for the Teaching of Foreign Languages in General Education of Sophia University. His interests include emotions in second language learning, collaborative learning, and discourse analysis. He has taught EFL to Japanese university students.
