An Ecological Case Study Of Pre-service English Teachers’ Emotions In An Online Learning Community

English teaching is an emotional practice,especially for those who work and learn how to teach in isolation.To help pre-service and in-service English teachers gain emotional support,online learning communities have mushroomed worldwide in recent years.Previous studies have proved teachers’ various emotional experiences in online learning communities,such as a sense of achievement and well-being,while little is known about where,when,and how,their various emotional experiences were caused.To address the gap,this study adopted a qualitative case study,and investigated six pre-service English teachers’ emotions and the formation pattern of their emotions embedded in an online learning community.Data was collected by inviting six pre-service English teachers in two rounds of semi-structured interviews,and their written learning reflective journals and WeChat posts served as case documents.The findings are presented as follows:Firstly,the majority of six pre-service English teachers’ emotions in the online learning community were positive,shown as the emotion of inspiration,satisfaction,moving,luck,and comfort.Nevertheless,they also reported two ranges of negative emotions,anxiety and shame.Both positive and negative emotions proved pre-service English teachers’ emotional engagement in the online learning community.Secondly,six pre-service English teachers’ emotions were produced from the interaction between their personal characteristics,i.e.goals,beliefs,and identities,and the three layers of the external ecological environment,which included the significant others,the features of activities,and the characteristics of the community.To be specific,through the interaction between pre-service English teachers’ characteristics with the significant others in the community,i.e.the guest speakers,the peers,and the community organizer,pre-service English teachers generated four ranges of positive emotions,inspiration,satisfaction,gratitude,and moving,and one range of negative emotion,anxiety.Through the interaction between pre-service English teachers’ characteristics with features of activities,i.e.practicality and relevancy,pre-service English teachers produced two ranges of positive emotions,satisfaction and feeling of luck.Regarding the interaction between pre-service English teachers’ characteristics with the characteristic of the community,preservice English teachers held four ranges of positive emotions,satisfaction,moving,luck,and comfort.The study highlighted the person-environment interaction embedded in the Ecological Dynamic System to understand the formation pattern of pre-service English teachers’ emotions in the online learning community.This study has contributed to a holistic understanding of pre-service English teachers’emotions and the formation patterns,especially in the context of an online learning community.Also,implications for English teacher educators and university administrators,higher education institutions,and pre-service English teachers are finally presented.English teacher educators and university administrators are expected to realize the value of online learning communities in shaping pre-service English teachers’ various positive emotions.Higher education institutions are suggested to promote collaboration with K12 schools or institutions from other regions in cultivating qualified pre-service English teachers.Pre-service English teachers are encouraged to take advantage of learning communities to improve their English teaching knowledge,and wisely transform their emotions into the motivation of promoting their teacher learning.