The field of language acquisition has witnessed a surge on the investigation of affective factors in the last decade. Affective variables commonly refer to non-cognitive individual difference factors such as attitudes, emotions, motivation, and personalities, etc. Broadly speaking, it may also encompass any affective elements contained in different grammatical and textual levels, such as lexical, syntactic, and semantic ones. Studying the interface between affect and cognition is a new drive for the exploration of the psychological process of language learning and teaching. Language researchers have launched a considerable number of research projects in this endeavor. Although these studies are pertinent to different epistemological and methodological concerns, their unified theme is to shed light on our knowledge and understanding about the intertwined relationship between affect, cognition, and language acquisition.
Language researchers have long relied on a handful of traditional theories, methods, and instruments for investigating affective variables in language learning. This practice has resulted in some ingrained problems such as measurement issues, methodological shortcomings, and statistical deficiency which have prevented the field from moving forward to a more nuanced and in-depth comprehension on the underlying mechanisms played by affect in the process of language acquisition. Recently, some pioneering researchers have attempted to address these issues with new theories and methods to probe the affective aspect of language learning. However, this work has so far been in a fragmented state within an isolated island of contact. Recognizing and connecting a plurality of theories and methods for the interaction between language learning and affect may offer new directions for empirical research, provide more opportunities for dialogues between different disciplines of research, and highlight the collective value of this work for improving the quality and visibility of language learning research.
This Research Topic focuses on challenges and innovations in the rapidly growing research area of affect and language learning. Drawing on different background knowledge of experienced language researchers and educators, this Research Topic will offer an up-to-date look on increasingly refined theories, methods, and instruments which have recently been proposed to address the gaps in our understanding of the role of affect in language acquisition. We welcome submissions ranging from empirical studies to conceptual and methodological studies using a variety of designs (experimental, field, text analysis etc.) and methods (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed). We especially encourage submissions that engage with fundamental issues, that adapt innovative and transdisciplinary approaches, that employ advanced statistical methods, and that call for attention to underrepresented socio-cultural, geographic, ethnic, and linguistic contexts and concerns. Sample theories and methods of interest include but are not limited to:
- Control-value theory of achievement emotions
- Complex dynamic system theory
- Theory of positive psychology
- Theory of mindsets
- Self-regulatory theory of motivation
- Theory of translanguaging
- Advanced structural equation modelling
- Sentiment analysis
- Mixed approach method
- Stroop effect paradigm
- Social network modelling
- Event-related potential
The field of language acquisition has witnessed a surge on the investigation of affective factors in the last decade. Affective variables commonly refer to non-cognitive individual difference factors such as attitudes, emotions, motivation, and personalities, etc. Broadly speaking, it may also encompass any affective elements contained in different grammatical and textual levels, such as lexical, syntactic, and semantic ones. Studying the interface between affect and cognition is a new drive for the exploration of the psychological process of language learning and teaching. Language researchers have launched a considerable number of research projects in this endeavor. Although these studies are pertinent to different epistemological and methodological concerns, their unified theme is to shed light on our knowledge and understanding about the intertwined relationship between affect, cognition, and language acquisition.
Language researchers have long relied on a handful of traditional theories, methods, and instruments for investigating affective variables in language learning. This practice has resulted in some ingrained problems such as measurement issues, methodological shortcomings, and statistical deficiency which have prevented the field from moving forward to a more nuanced and in-depth comprehension on the underlying mechanisms played by affect in the process of language acquisition. Recently, some pioneering researchers have attempted to address these issues with new theories and methods to probe the affective aspect of language learning. However, this work has so far been in a fragmented state within an isolated island of contact. Recognizing and connecting a plurality of theories and methods for the interaction between language learning and affect may offer new directions for empirical research, provide more opportunities for dialogues between different disciplines of research, and highlight the collective value of this work for improving the quality and visibility of language learning research.
This Research Topic focuses on challenges and innovations in the rapidly growing research area of affect and language learning. Drawing on different background knowledge of experienced language researchers and educators, this Research Topic will offer an up-to-date look on increasingly refined theories, methods, and instruments which have recently been proposed to address the gaps in our understanding of the role of affect in language acquisition. We welcome submissions ranging from empirical studies to conceptual and methodological studies using a variety of designs (experimental, field, text analysis etc.) and methods (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed). We especially encourage submissions that engage with fundamental issues, that adapt innovative and transdisciplinary approaches, that employ advanced statistical methods, and that call for attention to underrepresented socio-cultural, geographic, ethnic, and linguistic contexts and concerns. Sample theories and methods of interest include but are not limited to:
- Control-value theory of achievement emotions
- Complex dynamic system theory
- Theory of positive psychology
- Theory of mindsets
- Self-regulatory theory of motivation
- Theory of translanguaging
- Advanced structural equation modelling
- Sentiment analysis
- Mixed approach method
- Stroop effect paradigm
- Social network modelling
- Event-related potential
