This study investigated the nature of learners’ positive emotional engagement during a task-based interaction and its relationship with their interactional behaviours. Vietnamese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL; n = 74) performed a communicative task in dyads in 15 minutes. Their positive emotional engagement was gauged using an Experience Sampling Method via a questionnaire that the participants completed after every five-minute interval of the interaction, capturing three timepoints of learners’ emotional engagement. Learners’ cognitive and social interactional behaviours were examined in light of the amount of second language production (words and turns), language-related episodes (LREs), and the degree of collaboration. Results showed that learners’ positive emotional engagement fluctuated over the course of a 15-minute interaction. Also, learners’ levels of positive emotional engagement were positively correlated with the amount of second language production and the degree of collaboration, but these relationships varied across the three intervals. No relationship was observed between learners’ emotional engagement and LREs. The results indicate that although learners’ positive emotional engagement may not be linked with their attention to form, relationships exist between learners’ positive emotional engagement and their language production, as well as their social relationships. These relationships can be, however, subject to change over the course of a short interaction.
AinleyM. (2017). Interest: Knows, unknowns and basic processes. In O’KeefeP.KarackiewiczJ. (Eds.), The science of interest (pp. 3–24). Springer.
2.
AlexanderP.A. (2004). A model of domain learning: Reinterpreting expertise as a multidimensional, multistage process. In DaiD.Y.SternbergR.J. (Eds.), Motivation, emotion and cognition: Integrative perspectives on intellectual functioning and development (pp. 273–298). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
3.
AubreyS. (2017). Inter-cultural contact and flow in a task-based Japanese EFL classroom. Language Teaching Research, 21, 717–734.
4.
BaraltM.Gurzynski-WeissL.KimY. (2016). Engagement with language: How examining learners’ affective and social engagement explains successful learner-generated attention to form. In SatoM.BallingerS. (Eds.), Peer interaction and second language learning. Pedagogical potential and research agenda (pp. 209–240). John Benjamins.
5.
BoudreauC.MacIntyreP.DewaeleJ.M. (2018). Enjoyment and anxiety in second language communication: An idiodynamic approach. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8, 149–170.
6.
CarverC.JungD.Gurzynski-WeissL. (2021). Examining learner engagement in relationship to learning and communication mode. In HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H.MercerS. (Eds.), Student engagement in the language classroom (pp. 120–142). Multilingual Matters.
7.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.
8.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (2014). Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method. Springer.
9.
CsikszentmihalyiM.NakamuraJ. (2011). Positive psychology: Where did it come from, where is it going? In SheldonM.K.KashdanT.B.StegerM.F. (Eds.), Designing positive psychology: Taking stock and moving forward (pp. 3–8). Oxford University Press.
10.
CzimmermannE.PinielK. (2016). Advanced language learners’ experiences of flow in the Hungarian EFL classroom. In MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (Eds.), Positive psychology in SLA (pp. 193–214). Multilingual Matters.
11.
DaoP. (2019). Effects of task goal orientation on learner engagement in task performance. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching. Epub ahead of print 31 January 2019. DOI: 10.1515/iral-2018-0188.
12.
DaoP. (2020). Effect of interaction strategy instruction on learner engagement in peer interaction. System, 91, 102–244.
13.
DaoP.McDonoughK. (2017). The effect of task role on Vietnamese EFL learners’ collaboration in mixed proficiency dyads. System, 65, 15–24.
14.
DaoP.McDonoughK. (2018). Effect of proficiency on Vietnamese EFL learners’ engagement in peer interaction. International Journal of Educational Research, 88, 60–72.
15.
DewaeleJ.M. (2019). The effect of classroom emotions, attitudes toward English, and teacher behavior on willingness to communicate among English foreign language learners. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 38, 523–535.
16.
DewaeleJ.M.DewaeleL. (2017). The dynamic interactions in foreign language classroom anxiety and foreign language enjoyment of pupils aged 12 to 18: A pseudo-longitudinal investigation. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 1, 12–22.
17.
DewaeleJ.M.DewaeleL. (2020). Are foreign language learners’ enjoyment and anxiety specific to the teacher? An investigation into the dynamics of learners’ classroom emotions. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 10, 45–65.
18.
DewaeleJ.M.MacIntyreP.D. (2014). The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4, 237–274.
19.
DewaeleJ.M.MacIntyreP.D. (2016). Foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety: The right and left feet of FL learning? In MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (Eds.), Positive psychology in SLA (pp. 215–236). Multilingual Matters.
20.
DewaeleJ.M.MacIntyreP.D. (2019). The predictive power of multicultural personality traits, learner and teacher variables on foreign language enjoyment and anxiety. In SatoM.LoewenS. (Eds.), Evidence-based second language pedagogy: A collection of instructed second language acquisition studies (pp. 263–286). Routledge.
21.
DewaeleJ.M.WitneyJ.SaitoK.DewaeleL. (2018). Foreign language enjoyment and anxiety: The effect of teacher and learner variables. Language Teaching Research, 22, 676–697.
22.
DewaeleJ.M.ÖzdemirC.KarciD., et al. (2019). How distinctive is the foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety of Kazakh learners of Turkish?Applied Linguistics Review. Epub ahead of print 23 July 2019. DOI: 10.1515/applirev-2019-0021.
23.
DörnyeiZ.RyanS. (2015). The psychology of the second language learner revisited. Routledge.
24.
DörnyeiZ.TaguchiT. (2010). Questionnaires in second language research: construction, administration and processing. 2nd edition.Routledge.
25.
DörnyeiZ.MacIntyreP.D.A.Henry (Eds.). (2015). Motivational dynamics in language learning. Multilingual Matters.
26.
EarlyM.MarshallS. (2008). Adolescent ESL students’ interpretation and appreciation of literary texts: A case study of multimodality. Canadian Modern Language Review, 64, 377–397.
27.
EgbertJ. (2003). A study of flow theory in the foreign language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 87, 499–518.
28.
EllisR.SkehanP.LiS.ShintaniN.LambertC. (2020). Task-based language teaching: Theory and practice. Cambridge University Press.
29.
FredricksJ.BlumenfeldP.ParisA. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74, 59–105.
30.
FredricksJ.A.McColskeyW. (2012). The measurement of student engagement: A comparative analysis of various methods and student self-report instruments. In ChristensonS.L.ReschlyA.L.WylieC. (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 763–782). Springer.
31.
FredricksJ.A.ReschlyA.L.S.L.Christenson (Eds.) (2019). Handbook of student engagement interventions: Working with disengaged students. London: Academic Press.
32.
FredricksonB.L. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. In DevineP.PlantA. (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 1–54). Academic Press.
33.
Gabrýs-BarkerD.GałajdaD. (Eds.). (2016). Positive psychology perspectives on foreign language learning and teaching. Springer.
34.
GalacziE.D. (2008). Peer-peer interaction in a speaking test: The case of the first certificate in English examination. Language Assessment Quarterly, 5, 89–119.
35.
GassS.M.MackeyA. (2015). Input, interaction, and output in second language acquisition. In VanPattenB.WilliamsJ. (eds.), Theories in second language acquisition (pp. 180–206). 2nd edition.Routledge.
36.
GogolK.BrunnerM.GoetzT., et al. (2014). My questionnaire is too long! The assessments of motivational-affective constructs with three-item and single-item measures. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 39, 188–205.
37.
GregersenT.MacIntyreP.D.MezaM.D. (2014). The motion of emotion: Idiodynamic case studies of learners’ foreign language anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 98, 574–588.
38.
GregersenT.MacIntyreP.D.MezaM. (2016). Positive psychology exercises build social capital for language learners: Preliminary evidence. In MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (Eds.), Positive psychology in SLA (pp. 147–167). Multilingual Matters.
39.
HefferonK.AshfieldA.WatersL.SynardJ. (2017). Understanding optimal human functioning: The ‘call for qual’ in exploring human flourishing and well-being. Journal of Positive Psychology, 12, 211–219.
40.
HektnerJ.M.SchmidtJ.A.CsikszentmihalyiM. (2007). Experience sampling method: Measuring the quality of everyday life. Sage.
41.
HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H. (2019). Research methods for complexity theory in applied linguistics. Multilingual Matters.
42.
HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H.MercerS. (2021a). Student engagement in the language classroom. Multilingual Matters.
43.
HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H.VittaJ.P.WuJ. (2021b). Engagement in language learning: A systematic review of 20 years of research methods and definitions. Language Teaching Research. Epub ahead of print 24 March 2021. DOI: 10.1177/13621688211001289.
44.
HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H.Larsen-FreemanD. (2021c). Toward a transdisciplinary integration of research purposes and methods for complex dynamic systems theory: Beyond the quantitative–qualitative divide. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching. Epub ahead of print 15 February 2021. DOI: 10.1515/iral-2021-0022.
45.
HorwitzE. (2010). Foreign and second language anxiety. Language Teaching, 43, 154–167.
46.
HorwitzE.HorwitzM.CopeJ. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70, 125–132.
47.
IbrahimZ. (2016). Affect in directed motivational currents. In MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (Eds.), Positive psychology in SLA (pp. 258–281). Multilingual Matters.
48.
KuppensP.VerduynP. (2017). Emotion dynamics. Current Opinion in Psychology, 17, 22–26.
49.
LambertC. (2017). Tasks affect and second language performance. Language Teaching Research, 21, 657–664.
50.
LambertC.ZhangG. (2019). Engagement in the use of English and Chinese as foreign languages: The role of learner-generated content in instructional task design. The Modern Language Journal, 103, 391–411.
51.
LambertCPhilpJ.NakamuraS. (2017). Learner-generated content and engagement in second language task performance. Language Teaching Research, 21, 665–680.
52.
LambertC.GongQ.ZhangG. (2020). Learner-generated content and the lexical recall of beginning-level learners of Chinese as a foreign language. Language Teaching Research. Epub ahead of print 4 January 2021. DOI: 10.1177/1362168820981407.
53.
Larsen-FreemanD.L.CameronL. (2008). Research methodology on language development from a complex systems perspective. The Modern Language Journal, 92, 200–213.
54.
LoewenS.SatoM. (2021). Exploring the relationship between TBLT and ISLA. TASK, 1, 47–70.
55.
MacIntyreP.D. (2017). An overview of language anxiety research and trends in its development. In GkonouC.DaubneyM.DewaeleJ.M. (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and educational implications (pp. 1–24). Multilingual Matters.
56.
MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT. (2012). Emotions that facilitate language learning: The positive-broadening power of the imagination. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2, 193–213.
57.
MacIntyreP.D.T.Gregersen (Eds.). (2014). Positive Psychology. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4, 149–152.
58.
MacIntyreP.D.MercerS. (2014). Introducing positive psychology to SLA. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4, 153–172.
59.
MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (Eds.). (2016). Positive psychology in SLA. Multilingual Matters.
60.
MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (2019). Setting an agenda for positive psychology in SLA: Theory, practice, and research. The Modern Language Journal, 103, 262–274.
61.
MercerS. (2019). Language learner engagement: Setting the scene. In GaoX. (Ed.), Second handbook of English language teaching (pp. 1–19). Springer.
62.
Mystkowska-WiertelakA. (2020). Teachers’ accounts of learners’ engagement and disaffection in the language classroom. The Language Learning Journal. Epub ahead of print 26 August 2020. DOI: 10.1080/09571736.2020.1800067.
63.
NakamuraS.PhungL.ReindersH. (2020). The effect of learner choice on L2 task engagement. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 43, 421–441.
64.
Oga-BaldwinW.L.FryerL.K. (2021). Engagement growth in language learning classroom: A latent growth analysis of engagement in Japanese elementary schools. In HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H.MercerS. (Eds.), Student engagement in the language classroom (pp. 224–240). Multilingual Matters.
65.
O’KeefeP.A.HorbergE.J.PlanteI. (2017). The multifaceted role of interest in motivation and engagement. In O’KeefeP.KarackiewiczJ. (Eds.), The science of interest (pp. 49–67). Springer.
66.
PhilpJ.DuchesneS. (2016). Exploring engagement in tasks in the language classroom. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 50–72.
67.
PhungL. (2017). Task preference, affective response, and engagement in L2 use in a US university context. Language Teaching Research, 21, 751–766.
68.
PhungL.NakamuraS.ReindersH. (2021). The effect of choice on affective engagement: implications for task design. In HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H.MercerS. (Eds.), Student engagement in the language classroom (pp. 163–181). Multilingual Matters.
69.
PlattE.BrooksF.B. (2002). Task engagement: A turning point in foreign language development. Language Learning, 52, 365–400.
70.
QiuX.LoY.Y. (2017). Content familiarity, task repetition and Chinese EFL learners’ engagement in second language use. Language Teaching Research, 21, 681–698.
71.
RenningerK.A.HidiS.E. (2016). The power of interest for motivation and engagement. Routledge.
72.
ReschlyA.L.ChristensonS.L. (2012). Jingle, jangle, and conceptual haziness: Evolution and future directions of the engagement construct. In ChristensonS.L.ReschlyA.L.WylieC. (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 3–19). Springer.
73.
RotgansJ.I.SchmidtH.G. (2017). The role of interest in learning: Knowledge acquisition at the intersection of situational and individual interest. In O’KeefeP.A.HarackiewiczJ.M. (Eds.), The science of interest (pp. 69–98). Springer International.
74.
SangY.HiverP. (2021). Engagement and companion constructs in language learning: Conceptualizing learners’ involvement in the L2 classroom. In HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H.MercerS. (Eds.), Student engagement in the language classroom (pp. 17–37). Multilingual Matters.
75.
SatoM. (2017a). Interaction mindsets, interactional behaviors, and L2 development: An affective-social-cognitive model. Language Learning, 67, 249–283.
76.
SatoM. (2017b). Oral peer corrective feedback: Multiple theoretical perspectives. In NassajiH.KartchavaE. (Eds.), Corrective feedback in second language teaching and learning: Research, theory, applications, implications (pp. 19–34). Routledge.
77.
SatoM. (2020). Metacognitive instruction for collaborative interaction: The process and product of self-regulated learning in the Chilean EFL context. In LambertC.OliverR. (Eds.), Using tasks in second language teaching: Practice in diverse contexts. (pp. 215–236). Multilingual Matters.
78.
SatoM.CsizérK. (2021). Introduction: Combining learner psychology and ISLA research: Intersections in the classroom. Language Teaching Research. Epub ahead of print September 2021. DOI: 10.1177/13621688211044237.
79.
SatoM.StorchN. (2020). Context matters: Learner beliefs and interactional behaviors in an EFL vs. ESL context. Language Teaching Research. Epub ahead of print 27 May 2020. DOI: 10.1177/1362168820923582.
80.
SatoM.ViverosP. (2016). Interaction or collaboration? The proficiency effect on group work in the foreign language classroom. In SatoM.BallingerS. (Eds.), Peer interaction and second language learning: Pedagogical potential and research agenda (pp. 91–112). John Benjamins.
81.
SchaefferN.C.PresserS. (2003). The science of asking questions. Annual Review of Sociology, 29, 65–88.
82.
SeligmanM.E.P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Atria Books.
83.
SeligmanM.E.P.CsikszentmihalyiM. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychology, 55, 5–14.
84.
SkinnerE.A.PitzerJ.R. (2012). Developmental dynamics of engagement, coping, and everyday resilience. In ChristensonS.L.ReschlyA.L.WylieC. (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 21–44). Springer.
85.
SkinnerE.A.KindermannT.A.FurrerC. (2009). A motivational perspective on engagement and disaffection: Conceptualization and assessment of children’s behavioral and emotional participation in academic activities in the classroom. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 69, 493–525.
86.
SnyderC.R.LopezS.J.PedrottiJ.T. (2011). Positive psychology: The scientific and practical explorations of human strengths. Sage.
87.
StorchN. (2002). Patterns of interaction in ESL pair work. Language Learning, 52, 119–158.
88.
StrambiA.RubinoA. (Eds.). (2017). Flourishing in Italian: Positive Psychology approaches to the teaching and learning of Italian in Australia. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 40, 105–107.
89.
StroudR. (2017). The impact of task performance scoring and tracking on second language engagement. System, 69, 121–132.
90.
SulisG.PhilpJ. (2021). Exploring connections between classroom environment and engagement in the foreign language classroom. In HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H.MercerS. (Eds.), Student engagement in the language classroom (pp. 101–129). Multilingual Matters.
91.
SvalbergA.M.L. (2009). Engagement with language: Interrogating a construct. Language Awareness, 18, 242–258.
92.
SvalbergA.M.L. (2017). Researching language engagement: Current trends and future directions. Language Awareness, 27, 21–39.
93.
SwainM.LapkinS. (1998). Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal, 82, 320–337.
94.
TeimouriY.GoetzeJ.PlonskyL. (2019). Second language anxiety and achievement: A meta-analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41, 363–387.
95.
WatanabeY.SwainM. (2007). Effects of proficiency differences and patterns of pair interaction on second language learning: Collaborative dialogue between adult ESL learners. Language Teaching Research, 11, 121–142.
96.
ZhouS.HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H. (2021). Measuring L2 engagement: A review of issues and applications. In HiverP.Al-HoorieA.H.MercerS. (Eds.), Student engagement in the language classroom (pp. 75–100). Multilingual Matters.
