Love and enjoyment in context: four case studies of adolescent EFL learners

“In sum, then, the findings have revealed the social construction of positive emotions in language learning, confirming previous research such as Imai’s (2010), which has emphasized that “emotions .”

“Dewaele and MacIntyre (2014, 2016) highlight the role of the positive emotion of enjoyment by showing that anxiety can be experienced together with enjoyment in the foreign language classroom.”

“…research, inspired by positive psychology, has shifted its focus to positive emotions, shown to facilitate and enhance the language learning process (e.g., Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012a; Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014; MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014; Oxford, 2014; Murphey, 2014).”

“This complex, multidimensional nature of emotions as subjective feelings and social phenomena has also been highlighted in psychology by Reeve (2009). Drawing on definitions of love in education and the social sciences, Barcelos and Coelho (2016) argued that love represents one of the most important emotions that can…”

“Dewaele and MacIntyre (2014, 2016) highlighted the role of the positive emotion of enjoyment by showing that anxiety can be experienced together with enjoyment in the foreign language classroom.”

“The study draws on sociocultural theory, which views emotions as being socially mediated, and on previous research which has shown the relational nature of emotions (e.g., Imai, 2010; Mahn & John-Steiner, 2002; Swain, 2013).”

“…research, inspired by positive psychology, has shifted its focus to positive emotions, shown to facilitate and enhance the language learning process (e.g., Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012a; Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014; MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014; Oxford, 2014; Murphey, 2014).”

“Although the findings about the role of love in L2 learning are in line with Reschly et al (2008), who found a link between positive emotions and engagement in the learning process, in the cases of Andrea and Addison, who experienced positive emotions of a more fleeting and less intensive kind,…”

“Recent research in psychology (e.g., Mesquita, 2010; Boiger & Mesquita, 2012) similarly stresses the social, contextualized nature of emotion, and Pavlenko (2005) argues that emotions are not only inner states but also relational processes.”

“…investigation of the dynamic interactions between enjoyment and anxiety in the foreign language classroom in 12 to 18 year-old learners, Dewaele and Dewaele (2017) found that, over time, the teacher’s effect became a strong predictor of the positive emotion of enjoyment, but not of the…”

“…research, inspired by positive psychology, has shifted its focus to positive emotions, shown to facilitate and enhance the language learning process (e.g., Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012a; Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014; MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014; Oxford, 2014; Murphey, 2014).”

“More specifically, given the power of school to create the context for various emotional experiences which can influence learning (Schutz & DeCuir, 2002), the aim of the present study is to gain insights into adolescent students’ English language learning emotions and into the ways in which…”

“As Oxford (2016) pointed out, studies focusing on positive emotions in language learning tended to lack contextualization.”

“The study draws on sociocultural theory, which views emotions as being socially mediated, and on previous research which has shown the relational nature of emotions (e.g., Imai, 2010; Mahn & John-Steiner, 2002; Swain, 2013).”

“The study draws on sociocultural theory, which views emotions as being socially mediated, and on previous research which has shown the relational nature of emotions (e.g., Imai, 2010; Mahn & John-Steiner, 2002; Swain, 2013).”

“The findings have emphasized the “positivebroadening” (see MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012a; Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014) power of love in teenagers’ language learning process, namely its power to facilitate learning when there was a perceived lack of enjoyment of certain classroom tasks or to broaden cognitive resources…”

“…roles) which include an individual’s appraisal of the situation and which are interpreted as passions rather than as actions” (Averill, 1982, p. 6), play a crucial role in language learning (e.g., Dewaele, 2011; Dewaele, 2015; Murphy & Dörnyei, 2010; Garrett & Young, 2009; Swain, 2013; Imai, 2010).”

“…is an established body of research on negative emotions such as language learning anxiety (e.g. Horwitz et al.,1986; Gknou, Daubney & Dewaele, 2017; Gregersen, 2005; Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014; Oxford, 1999; Marcos-Llinás & Juan Garau, 2009; Tóth, 2011), it is only recently that SLA research,…”

“Language learning histories were included in the study since “writing language learning histories gives learners the opportunity to describe their own language learning experiences and express their feelings about those experiences” (Oxford, 1995, p. 581).”

“The study has shown that learners are holistic individuals whose emotional universes are highly rich and complex, raising awareness that “what we see are fragments and only a partial description of the bigger picture” (Mercer, 2011a, p. 74).”

“While there is an established body of research on negative emotions such as language learning anxiety (e.g., Gkonou, Daubney, & Dewaele, 2017; Gregersen, 2005; Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; Marcos-Llinás & Juan Garau, 2009; Oxford, 1999; Tóth, 2011), it is only recently that SLA research…”

“…are linked to their interests, teachers should find effective ways to bridge the gap between students’ in-school and out-of-school learning (see Pitkänen-Huhta & Nikula, 2013) to enhance learners’ positive emotions and what Oxford (2014) calls “meaningful engagement” in the learning process.”

“…are linked to their interests, teachers should find effective ways to bridge the gap between students’ in-school and out-of-school learning (see Pitkänen-Huhta & Nikula, 2013) to enhance learners’ positive emotions and what Oxford (2014) calls “meaningful engagement” in the learning process.”

“…research, inspired by positive psychology, has shifted its focus to positive emotions, shown to facilitate and enhance the language learning process (e.g., Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012a; Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014; MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014; Oxford, 2014; Murphey, 2014).”

“Focusing on positive emotions as experienced by the learner, Lake (2016) discussed “passion” for L2 learning, defined it as “a strong inclination toward activities that are liked or loved” (p. 241), and argued that it was one of the three elements of the positive L2 self, together with interest and…”

“…roles) which include an individual’s appraisal of the situation and which are interpreted as passions rather than as actions” (Averill, 1982, p. 6), play a crucial role in language learning (e.g., Dewaele, 2011; Dewaele, 2015; Murphy & Dörnyei, 2010; Garrett & Young, 2009; Swain, 2013; Imai, 2010).”

“Lesson observations were used since “for the majority of foreign language learners, the classroom is the primary site for learning” (Lamb, 2013, p. 38), and “researchers may be able to gain an understanding of some behaviors only through observation: (…) participants themselves may not be aware of…”

“A loving instructor has this ability to strengthen students’ functioning and potentials Love can also potentially create effective coping mechanisms, motivate learners, and be the driving force in language learning (Pavelescu and Petrić, 2018).”

“, Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) namely positive emotions and positive character traits have bloomed. Variables such as empathy, selves, flow, perseverance, motivation, engagement, perseverance, love, and passion have attracted widespread attention. One vibrant area that has expanded geographically and methodolo…”

“Interest moved beyond foreign language (classroom) anxiety to include a wider spectrum of emotions including enjoyment, love, pride, hope, shame, guilt, and boredom (e.g. MacIntyre et al., 2019; Pavelescu & Petrić, 2018; Teimouri, 2018).”

“As a typical and common positive emotion experienced by foreign language learners, FLE has attracted increasing scholarly attention (Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014; Pavelescu and Petric, 2018).”

“…attention, is considered one of the most prevailing and salient positive emotions in L2 learning across different contexts and can make students more persistent in the face of challenges and better process target languages (Jiang & Dewaele, 2019; J. S. Lee & Lee, 2021; Pavelescu & Petric, 2018).”

“For example, Pavelescu and Petrić (2018) investigated the emotional experiences of four Romanian EFL high school students and found that enjoyment and love were the most frequently experienced positive emotions during their language learning process.”

“The main positive emotions addressed have been enjoyment, love, flow, and pride (MacIntyre and Mercer, 2014; Pavelescu and Petric, 2018).”

“…and Taherian 2018; Li, Jiang, and Dewaele 2018), guilt and shame (Galmiche 2017;Teimouri 2018), pride (Abo-Zaied Arar and Tannenbaum 2019), love (Pavelescu and Petri ć 2018), anger, excitement, hope, joy, frustration (MacIntyre et al. 2019; MacIntyre and Vincze 2017), and boredom (Kruk 2019;…”

“Only in recent years have positive emotions like love (Pavelescu & Petrić, 2018), pride (Ross & Stracke, 2016), hope (Ross & Rivers, 2018), and enjoyment (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2016) been brought to light, as triggered by the introduction of positive psychology into the field of SLA (MacIntyre,…”

“The former is in fl uenced by friendly and supportive peers and teacher and the latter by the private dimension focused on personal progress and self-development (Dewaele and MacIntyre 2014, 2016; Pavelescu and Petric 2018).”

“, 2017), Romanian high school learners (Pavelescu and Petrić, 2018), British pupils and Saudi undergraduates (Dewaele and Alfawzan, 2018), Saudi Arabic university students (Alrabai, 2022), Spanish EFL learners (Dewaele et al.”

“(1986), researchers have studied a broader variety of L2 emotions covering positive activating emotions, positive deactivating emotions, negative activating emotions and negative deactivating emotions (Pavelescu and Petrić, 2018; Teimouri, 2018; Han and Hyland, 2019; Li and Xu, 2019; Jiang, 2020; Li, 2021).”

“Learning another language is an emotional as well as cognitive process (Pavelescu & Petrić, 2018, p. 74).”

“Apart from negative emotions, their positive counterparts such as love and empathy were also explored in regard to their relationship with language learners’ well-being [37,38].”

“…that students’ FLE is positively correlated with their supportive and intimate peers, as well as positive and encouraging foreign language teachers who offer various interesting and challenging classroom activities for their learners (Dewaele and MacIntyre 2014; Pavelescu and Petric 2018).”

“EFL adolescents often experience a variety of complex and dynamic academic-related emotions during their learning processes, such as enjoyment, pride, boredom, and guilt (De Neve et al., 2023; Feng et al., 2023; Pavelescu & Petric, 2018).”

“Several studies reported that enjoyment was of the most frequently experienced positive emotions (Pavelescu and Petrić 2018).”

“…completing novel and challenging tasks is rewarding (Li, Jiang, and Dewaele 2018; Mierzwa 2019; Pan 2022; Zhang and Tsung 2021), prompting them to actively involve in the language learning environment (Dewaele, Botes, and Greiff 2023; Dewaele and Proietti Ergu ̈ n 2020; Pavelescu and Petrić 2018).”

“Foreign language enjoyment is greatly influenced by its scholastic cycle, like associating with caring and cooperative peers, along with interacting with eager language teachers who offer a diversity of interesting and demanding class activities for the sake of involving students (Pavelescu and Petric, 2018).”

“Teachers should be mindful to recognize the significance of invoking students’ enjoyment, by way of building caring relationships with students as well as providing various interesting and challenging activities to engage students (Pavelescu and Petric, 2018).”

“It could improve learners’ ability to notice language input in the classroom, thus increasing the likelihood for learners of absorbing more foreign language, and make learners more resilient and harder in face of difficulties (Pavelescu & Petric, 2018; Prior, 2019).”

“…second-language acquisition on emotion regulation and loving pedagogy is scant, yet these psychological variables contribute to successful teaching and may be a motivator for FLL (Ghanizadeh and Moafian, 2010; Pavelescu and Petric, 2018; Bielak and Mystkowska-Wiertelak, 2020; Wang et al., 2021).”

“It has been found that the reasons for triggering the emotion of love may vary from person to person, as some students enjoy role-playing while others find it pleasurable to read English novels [39].”

“Enjoyment, as one of the most salient positive emotions, is defined as the perception of satisfaction and reward in or by the results of activities (Ainley and Hidi, 2014; Pavelescu and Petric, 2018).”

“Under this influence, enjoyment became one of the most studied positive emotions (Jiang & Dewaele, 2019) and established a focal point within the positive emotional network (Pavelescu & Petri (cid:1) c, 2018; Piniel & Albert, 2018) across different contexts.”

“Several studies reported that enjoyment was one of the most frequently experienced positive emotions (Dewaele & Li, 2018; Elahi Shirvan & Taherian, 2018; Pavelescu & Petric, 2018).”

“…positively correlated with the affirmative classroom environment, characterized by supportive educators, cohesive student interaction, and a task-oriented approach, among Iranian secondary school students, which has been echoed by other studies (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; Pavelescu & Petrić, 2018).”

“It is also worth mentioning that one study (0.8 %; [34]) linked enjoyment to another essential positive emotion, love, revealing that love for the target language could make up for decreases in enjoyment and sustain language learning efforts in the face of challenges and adversity.”

“There is a need to recognize enjoyment as a powerful motivator in SLA (Pavelescu & Petrić, 2018; Piniel & Albert, 2018).”

“(2022) show high levels of heterogeneity (I2 > 0.80), suggesting that the study’s relationship with FLE may be exacerbated or hindered by other factors.”

“Positive interactions with friendly peers, supportive and encouraging teachers, and an interesting and adequately challenging classroom environment mediate enjoyment (Pavelescu & Petric, 2018).”

“It should be taken into consideration that efficacious coping mechanisms can be created and students can feel motivated when love exists (Pavelescu and Petri’c, 2018).”

“Enjoyment is a strong incentive for SLA (Dewaele and Alfawzan, 2018; Pavelescu and Petri’c, 2018; Piniel and Albert, 2018) and it is a particularly interesting constructive feeling that refers to the feeling people experience when they go beyond just meeting their demands to achieve something unprecedented or amazing…”

“…psychometric measures of shame and guilt were also introduced by Teimouri (2018), while qualitative explorations of love of language learning (Pavelescu & Petri ć , 2018) and theoretical discussions on love of language teaching (Barcelos & Coelho, 2016) can also be found in the literature.”

“Language learners who feel positive emotions are more likely to make more efforts to master their linguistic skills (Pavelescu & Petric, 2018).”

“Unlike enjoyment, researchers believed that love is the driving force that enables students to make continuous progress in and out of the classroom, thereby expanding their cognition and sustaining lasting engagement in SL/FL learning [14].”

“Enjoyment is widely recognized as a significant determinant of FL/L2 learning (Pavelescu & Petric, 2018).”

“, 2018) and the latter by the private dimension focused on personal progress and self-development (Dewaele andMacIntyre, 2014, 2016; Pavelescu and Petric, 2018).”

“Relationships between learning enjoyment and loving pedagogy (Pavelescu and Petrić, 2018), teachers and teaching practices (Dewaele et al.”

“The extant literature suggests that peers are often associated with positive effects on FLE through friendliness, giving positive feedback, and being supportive (e.g. Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014, 2022; Pavelescu and Petric, 2018; Zheng and Zhou, 2022).”

“…opportunities for social interaction and collaboration, which play a pivotal role in shaping students’ positive emotions (e.g., enjoyment) and diminishing negative emotions (e.g., boredom) in English learning (Derakhshan et al., 2024; Pavelescu & Petric, 2018; Wang & Wang, 2024; Xie & Guo, 2023).”

“This finding indicates that other language learners need to see that polyglots’ ways of learning are not confined to the school walls and the classroom (Noprival et al., 2022; Pavelescu & Petric, 2018).”

“…approaches have integrated wearable sensors with contextual data such as self-reported questionnaires or interaction logs, allowing for more precise identification of anxiety-related episodes (Elahi Shirvan et al., 2021; MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2022; Pavelescu & Petri´c, 2018; Waninge et al., 2014).”

“…outcomes, including increased willingness to communicate, as well as improved attention and language processing abilities (Boudreau et al., 2018; Dewaele & Alfawzan, 2018; Dewaele & Alfawzan, 2018; Khajavy et al., 2018; Pavelescu & Petric, 2018; Piniel & Albert, 2018; Saito et al., 2018).”

“It is perhaps unsurprising then, that a large volume of published research describes the positive role of enjoyment in learning (e.g., Boudreau et al., 2018; Pavelescu & Petric, 2018).”