Positive and negative emotions underlie motivation for L2 learning

Peter D Macintyre,Laszlo Vincze

doi:10.14746/ssllt.2017.7.1.4

Peter D Macintyre, Laszlo Vincze

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2017.7.1.4

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Abstract

The role of basic emotions in SLA has been underestimated in both research and pedagogy. The present article examines 10 positive emotions (joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love) and 9 negative emotions (anger, contempt, disgust, embarrassment, guilt, hate, sadness, feeling scared, and being stressed). The emotions are correlated with core variables chosen from three well-known models of L2 motivation: Gardner’s integrative motive, Clément’s social-contextual model, and Dörnyei’s L2 self system. Respondents came from Italian secondary schools, and most participants were from monolingual Italian speaking homes. They described their motivation and emotion with respect to learning German in a region of Italy (South Tyrol) that features high levels of contact between Italians and Germans. Results show that positive emotions are consistently and strongly correlated with motivation-related variables. Correlations involving negative emotions are weaker and less consistently implicated in motivation. The positivity ratio, that is, the relative prevalence of positive over negative emotion, showed strong correlations with all of the motivation constructs. Regression analysis supports the conclusion that a variety of emotions, not just one or two key ones, are implicated in L2 motivation processes in this high-contact context.

Highlights

Basic emotions can play a significant role in second language acquisition (SLA) and communication processes, an impact that has been underestimated in both the research and pedagogical literature (Dewaele, 2012; MacIntyre, 2002)
The first research question examines the pattern of correlation between positive emotions, negative emotions, and L2 motivation variables
The correlations between positive emotions and motivation are positive, with the exception of language anxiety which consistently generates negative correlations. Both the composite measure of positive emotion and the positivity ratio are significantly correlated with all of the motivation-related variables and the correlations tend to be strong, with a median among the 11 correlations of r = .431, p < .001 for positive emotions and r = .531, p < .001 for the positivity ratio. This data suggests that there is a strong and consistent tendency for higher scores on motivation-related variables to be associated with higher levels of positive emotions and a larger ratio of positive to negative emotions

Summary

Introduction

Basic emotions can play a significant role in second language acquisition (SLA) and communication processes, an impact that has been underestimated in both the research and pedagogical literature (Dewaele, 2012; MacIntyre, 2002). In SLA, the literature on individual differences and learner factors has featured a considerable emphasis on cognitive and ability factors such as working memory, strategies, intelligence, aptitude factors, and others, but in SLA they have been discussed as relatively cold cognition, as if emotion played no part in these processes (Pintrich, Marx, & Boyle, 1993). Even within the SLA motivation literature, the emphasis has not been on basic emotions. The present article will examine the correlations of basic positive and negative emotions, as identified by differential emotions theory (Izard, 2007), with established learner characteristics emphasizing motivation-related variables drawn primarily from the well-established models of Gardner, Clément and Dörnyei

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