A Case Probe into Emotional Experiences of Chinese English Majors in L2 Listening Learning Process: A Positive Psychology Perspective

The role of emotions in L2 instruction has been well-recognized. With the rise of positive psychology in SLA, the investigations of L2 learners’ emotions have shifted from concern with negative emotions to inclusion of positive ones. However, few studies from the recent literature on positive and negative emotions have distinguished their emotions across different language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), although emotions are universally recognized as domain-specific. Moreover, of these few studies, even fewer have reported specifically on emotional experiences of L2 learners in the process of listening learning, which is understandable given the general under-exploration of listening as compared with other language skills. This case study attempts to address this gap by exploring academic emotions of Chinese undergraduate English majors in the process of acquiring English listening skills from the perspective of Positive Psychology. Based on data collected from various sources over two semesters, a refined categorization of listening learners’ academic emotions is proposed and the characteristics of their emotions are revealed in terms of diversity, intensity, and frequency. The categorization and characteristics imply that L2 listening instructors might need to pay special attention to the emotional dimension of their instruction and learn to be an emotional therapist, though this is not their traditionally expected role.