Emotions in Multiple Languages, Jean-Marc Dewaele (2013) 2nd edition (1st edition, 2010) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. 264 ISBN: 978-1-137-35476-1 (paperback)

Abstract

Emotions in Multiple Languages Jean-Marc Dewaele (2013) 2nd edition (1st edition, 2010) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. 264 ISBN: 978-1-137-35476-1 (paperback)Reviewed by Nooshin ShakibaStudying emotion in a foreign language (LX) is an inherently interdisciplinary endeavor. Dewaele, an applied linguist, focuses mainly on individual differences in self-perceived competence in the LX, frequency of LX usage to communicate emotion, attitudes and perception of the emotionality of the LX, and foreign language anxiety. He links them to background variables from 1579 multilinguals from around the world, including the speaker's history in learning the LX, its present use, and the linguistic, social, educational, and psychological profile of the multilingual speaker.Textbooks lack emotion words, and this indeed leaves LX learners and users unprepared when they enter a LX community. Research on how bilinguals and multilinguals communicate emotions is therefore of vital interest. This study is based on an online questionnaire, the Bilingualism and Emotion Questionnaire (BEQ -included in the appendix of the book) with closed and open-ended questions, and interview sessions with 20 bi- and multilinguals which were subsequently used to assess the importance of cultural factors and the effect of the acculturation process with regard to the preferred language for communicating emotion. This is the first large-scale study on how bi- and multilinguals communicate emotion.In the first chapter, 'Perspectives on Emotion', the author presents the distinct areas of research on emotion in both monolingual and multilingual contexts and provides the reader with background information on various approaches to emotion. The perspectives on emotion given are the neurobiological perspective, the cognitive linguistic approach, the cultural psychological approaches, and the social constructivist approach. The writer focuses on self-reports from multilinguals about their expression of emotion in various languages. Dewaele emphasizes the importance of creating a positive learning environment to enhance language learning motivation. In addition, Dewaele indicates that there is a lack of work in the field of interlanguage pragmatics on how LX users recognize and express emotions in their LX(s).In Chapter 2, Dewaele elaborates on the 'Epistemological and Methodological Perspectives in SLA and Multilingualism Research'. He emphasizes the fact that the domain of communicating emotion in a LX situates itself at the intersection of different disciplines within social sciences. He mentions that although each individual learner is inevitably unique, they all share interacting psychological, social, cultural, and biological characteristics. He defends combined emics and etics in SLA and multilingualism research. In addition, researchers should consider the limitations of purely quantitative approaches, which cannot reveal the main reasons for existing specific patterns, and of qualitative approaches, where results are harder to generalize. Dewaele also explains the importance of interdisciplinary studies in SLA and multilingualism research. His mixed method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, strengthens the validity and reliability of the analyses.Chapter 3 explains the methodological approach, research questions, and hypotheses. It provides the reader with detailed information about the BEQ questions. Participants spoke a total of 71 different L1s (first languages). He proposes eight hypotheses and predicts 'a monotonic decline from L1-L5' (p. 49) in self-perceived competence, frequency of language use, attitude, and perception score and a gradual increase in Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) from L1 to L5. He argues that the dependent variables could be linked to age of onset of acquisition, context of acquisition, frequency of use of the LX, socialization in the LX users, size of network of interlocutors, number of languages known, Trait Emotional Intelligence, gender, age, and education. …