Collaborative learning for an EFL classroom: Emotions, language, and communication

What is the role of emotions in the language learning process? To respond to this fundamental question, I explore group functioning and collaborative learning with two groups of six Japanese university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). In doing so, I bring to the fore participants' emotions holistically that are manifested in their verbal communication over the course of a semester-long joint task. In place of an individualistic, cognitive, dichotomous, and product-oriented view on the relationship between affect and learning that relevant mainstream SLA research has prioritized, I recognize interpersonal, functional, and developmental aspects of emotions and consider how such a perspective informs our understanding of learning as participation or knowledge co-construction.;The study takes the form of a qualitative cross-case analysis of two case studies, triangulating multiple data obtained from the participants, such as videotapes of their in-group interactions, emotion logs, emotion temperature assessment, and stimulated recall interviews. I examine similarities and differences between the two participant groups in terms of their emotionality, in-group communication patterns, organization of the joint task, and how they make meaning of their assigned task and accomplish their goals.;I argue that emotions are not mere reactions to external stimuli, while facilitating, filtering, or hindering an individual's cognitive functioning and growth. Rather, emotions in any forms can become a psychological resource to mediate development when learning is embedded in interpersonal context. Finally, I explain the theoretical and pedagogical implications of the study's phenomenological and interpretative analyses and findings.