Novice EFL Teachers’ Belief and Emotional Regulation in Response to Students’ Misbehaviors in the Classrooms

Abstract

This research report shares the findings that emerged from a qualitative study in which the main objective was to discover whether or not novice EFL teachers regulate their negative emotions during their initial teaching practice and, if so, how they do this. Semi-structured interviews, recorded classroom observations, collected the data, stimulated recall interviews, and wrote journals for reflections and explanations of why they expressed and regulated their emotions in those incidents. The participants were three novice teachers who have been teaching English at the same university for about five years. Data collection of student-teacher interaction was carried out during their teaching. The research findings reveal that teachers often experience negative emotions triggered by students' conduct in the classroom, such as discipline issues, lack of engagement, and incorrect responses. Teachers successfully used techniques to redirect their attention and reassess the situation to counteract annoyance and disappointment. Ultimately, these strategies replaced negative emotions with a new outlook through substitute teaching activities. These observations provide EFL teachers with insightful advice on dealing with negative emotions effectively, resulting in a more positive classroom atmosphere where English is taught.