An investigation of the relation between pre-service EFL teachers’ emotions and their approaches to teaching

Abstract

Learning is as much an emotional process as a cognitive one. There is no doubt that human beings are emotional beings, which, to a large extent, determines their cognitive and social relations with their environments. Teachers are no exceptions as they can both enhance or inhibit student learning. Teacher emotion is a burgeoning area of research and has received considerable attention lately. Studies underline the role of teacher emotions in their practices. Nevertheless, although there is an abundance of research on emotions, very few studies focused on the role of emotions on beliefs about teaching approaches. Therefore, the present study aims at measuring pre-service EFL teachers’ emotions and their impact on their beliefs about teaching approaches. Purposeful sampling was utilized in the study. Pre-service teachers who have gone through the process of practicum were selected to gain better insights into their emotions and approaches to teaching. Two questionnaires were used within the scope of the study. The first is Teacher Emotion Inventory, developed by Chen (2018). The second instrument is the Approach to Teaching Inventory, developed by Trigwell, Prosser, and Ginns (2005). A total of 67 EFL teachers participated in the study. Results indicate that the most common emotion among pre-service EFL teachers is “fear” and the most preferred teaching approach is “knowledge transmission approach.” In addition, the findings also show that “sadnesss” is highly related to “knowledge transmission approach”.