Sarah Benesch: Considering Emotions in Critical English Language Teaching: Theories and Praxis

Abstract

Since the advent of the critical turn in Applied Linguistics and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), researchers have addressed previously ignored or glossed over issues of race, gender, class, sexuality, cultural politics, and identity in the language classroom. Curiously, the issue of emotion in language teaching and learning, which would seem to be an integral part of the aforementioned constructs in a person’s identifications and performativities, was left largely unexplored from critical perspectives. Benesch’s thought-provoking, and in many ways, groundbreaking book is a much needed and welcomed contribution to the exploration of emotions that extend beyond the cognitive approaches prevalent in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research. Much like her 2001 book, Critical English for Academic Purposes, Benesch seamlessly integrates complex theories with illustrative classroom practices, providing avenues for researchers to pursue further explorations in this area as well as classroom examples for practitioners interested in expanding their own critical approaches with English language learners (ELLs).