Exploring teacher emotions in a university ESL writing classroom

Matt Ford
Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:57:49 PDT

Second language acquisition research has been steadily moving towards recognizing the importance of emotions as they relate to language teaching and learning. Indeed, the language classroom - especially in the context of English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction - is often an intensely emotional place for both teachers and students. This study explores the following question: As a university ESL teacher in a writing classroom, what emotions do I experience in the classroom, and what emotional work do I put in to address these emotions? Using autoethnographic methods in my own classroom, including reflexive journals, classroom observations, and student artifacts, I examined my own emotional journey throughout a semester teaching university ESL students. Guided by both emotion labor and emotion regulation theories, I used a grounded theory approach to analyze data. In doing so, I found that the majority of negative emotions I experienced stemmed from expectations I placed on myself. In addition, I also discovered that my emotions are influenced by my reactions to my students' behaviors, and various external factors outside the classroom. I also documented the emotional work I performed in response, discovering a wide range of behaviors and reactions. The study concludes with a teacher action plan to help future ESL teachers map out their own emotions and create a successful classroom environment for their students.