Capturing the emotional experiences of English as a foreign language university teachers: A critical perspective

Although emotions constitute an integral aspect of teachers’ lives, emotions experienced by teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in higher education, settings are relatively under-researched. Through in-depth interviews, this study aims to capture a small cohort of nine EFL female teachers’ emotional experiences when teaching English-major students in a large public university in Saudi Arabia. Methods of inductive thematic analysis helped capture the participants’ emotional experiences during teaching. The analysis of their emotional experiences is informed by Benesch’s (2017) critical approach to teachers’ emotions. The study revealed that relationships in the classroom and the institutional system greatly influence how teachers construct, express, and communicate their emotions. Teachers’ passion for teaching, students’ classroom engagement, and students’ appreciation of teachers’ efforts triggered the teachers’ sense of happiness and pride and contributed to their occasional positive valence. However, teachers often experienced anger, frustration, demoralization, anxiety, and sadness as a result of feeling disempowered when dealing with students’ disruptive behaviours and constraining institutional policies. The study suggests that teachers’ emotions influenced their pedagogical practices and physical and psychological wellbeing. Therefore, to support teachers’ emotional competence, mitigate teachers’ emotional difficulties experienced during teaching, and enhance classroom teaching and learning, educational institutions, program leaders, and policymakers need to acknowledge the centrality of teachers’ emotions in the EFL classroom.