The effect of positive emotion on foreign language teacher engagement and well-being: A cross-cultural comparison

EFL teachers; foreign language teaching enjoyment; positive psychology; structural equation modelling; well-being; work engagement; Language and Linguistics; Education; Linguistics and Language

Abstract :

[en] Foreign language teaching enjoyment (FLTE) has recently been introduced as a broad positive emotion experienced by foreign language (FL) teachers, despite obstacles embedded in FL teaching. However, identifying its psychological outcomes – and the cultural specificity of these outcomes – has received scant research attention across different contexts. The present cross-cultural study aims to investigate whether teachers’ FLTE can predict and influence engagement and well-being in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context of Iran and China. A series of structural equation models (SEMs) indicated that EFL teachers’ FLTE affected their work engagement and well-being in both Iranian and Chinese samples, with structural invariance tests confirming the group-level differences between Iranian and Chinese EFL teachers in the light of FLTE outcomes. The study provides insight into the positive outcomes of positive emotions in FL teaching as framed by the lens of positive psychology. In addition, a rare non-Western cross-cultural comparison contributes to the ongoing discussions in literature regarding the influence of cultural contexts on the experience and outcome manifestation of positive emotions.

Disciplines :

Education & instruction

Author, co-author :

Azari Noughabi, Mostafa ; Hakim Sabzevari University, Iran

Yang, Shanshan ; Fudan University, China

BOTES, Elouise ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (DBCS) > Cognitive Science and Assessment

Dewaele, Jean-Marc ; Birkbeck University of London, United Kingdom

External co-authors :

yes

Language :

English

Title :

The effect of positive emotion on foreign language teacher engagement and well-being: A cross-cultural comparison

Publication date :

2024

Journal title :

Language Teaching Research

ISSN :

1362-1688

eISSN :

1477-0954

Publisher :

SAGE Publications Ltd

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13621688241250364

Funders :

the College English Center of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
the Jiangsu Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science, Nanjing, China

Funding text :

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by The Shanghai Centre for Research in English Language Education.

Available on ORBilu :

since 07 February 2025

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