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Do ESL/EFL Teachers’ Emotional Intelligence, Teaching Experience, Proficiency and Gender Affect Their Classroom Practice?

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Emotions in Second Language Teaching

Abstract

Emotions are a key part of language education for all stakeholders. Yet, to date, learner emotions have been studied more frequently than those of teachers. In this chapter, we argue that it is crucial to investigate teachers’ management of their own emotions and examine any possible links with their classroom practices. We use the metaphor of teachers being like orchestra conductors, attuned to—and regulating—the emotions in the classroom. Using an online questionnaire, we collected quantitative feedback concerning classroom behaviours from 513 ESL/EFL teachers from around the world. Independent variables included Trait emotional intelligence (EI), years of teaching experience, general English proficiency and gender. Statistical analyses revealed that Trait EI and teaching experience were positively linked with levels of self-reported creativity, classroom management, and pedagogical skills and negatively linked with predictability. Level of English proficiency was only positively linked to self-reported creativity and gender had no effect. Reflecting on the implication of these findings suggests that training in emotional competences could improve the effectiveness of (trainee) teachers’ classroom practices and, ultimately, also their professional well-being.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://robertmeyer.wordpress.com/2007/04/11/what-makes-a-conductor.

  2. 2.

    http://www.lextale.com/whatislextale.html.

  3. 3.

    We prefer the neutral dichotomy First Language Users (L1 users) versus Foreign Language Users (LX users) rather than the value-laden “Native versus Non Native Speakers” (cf. Dewaele 2017b).

  4. 4.

    Five participants did not answer this question.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK

    Jean-Marc Dewaele

  2. University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Christina Gkonou

  3. University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Sarah Mercer

Authors
  1. Jean-Marc Dewaele
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  2. Christina Gkonou
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  3. Sarah Mercer
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jean-Marc Dewaele , Christina Gkonou or Sarah Mercer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain

    Juan de Dios Martínez Agudo

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Dewaele, JM., Gkonou, C., Mercer, S. (2018). Do ESL/EFL Teachers’ Emotional Intelligence, Teaching Experience, Proficiency and Gender Affect Their Classroom Practice?. In: Martínez Agudo, J. (eds) Emotions in Second Language Teaching. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75438-3_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75438-3_8

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75438-3

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