Speaker
Description
Different cultures have different rules about the display of emotions. Further, fostering a positive emotional climate is important for learning outcomes. But how can ESL instructors from cultures outside of Japan be certain that their emotional displays are perceived as contextually appropriate by their students? This presentation shares the results of a questionnaire about foreign ESL instructors’ emotional displays given to 292 students from universities across Japan, and explores implications for teaching practice.
Keywords
emotion, display, culture
Short summary
Different cultures have different rules about the display of emotions. Further, fostering a positive emotional climate is important for learning outcomes. But how can ESL instructors from cultures outside of Japan be certain that their emotional displays are perceived as contextually appropriate by their students? This presentation shares the results of a questionnaire about foreign ESL instructors’ emotional displays given to 292 students from universities across Japan, and explores implications for teaching practice.
Abstract
Different cultures have different rules governing emotional displays (Matsumoto, 1990). Because fostering a positive emotional environment in the classroom is conducive to students’ learning (Tan et al, 2021), and because many ESL instructors operate outside of their native cultures, students’ expectations and perceptions regarding the display of emotions have ramifications for teaching and practice. This presentation is based on data from a questionnaire which collected responses from 292 students at Japanese colleges and universities from 7 institutions across Japan. Findings indicate that, in large part, Japanese university students regard the emotional displays of their native-speaking English teachers as appropriate, and most claim that they do not experience any discomfort because of them. However, students did perceive differences in the ways that their native-speaking Japanese and native-speaking English instructors displayed emotions, including in their vocal volume, use of gestures, and facial expressions. In addition, some students (n = 31) did express occasional discomfort with foreign instructors’ emotional displays. Qualitative responses revealed that some of this discomfort was a result of a perceived mismatch between teachers’ displays and the context. The presenter will discuss implications for the ways in which instructors in Japan display emotions during their ESL classes.
References
Matsumoto, D. (1990). Cultural similarities and differences in display rules. Motivation and emotion, 14(3), 195-214.
Tan, J., Mao, J., Jiang, Y., & Gao, M. (2021). The influence of academic emotions on learning effects: A systematic review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(18), 9678.
| Scheduling preference | Anytime on Sunday |
|---|---|
| Title | How do your students feel about the way you display your emotions? |