A Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in Vietnam

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES NGO THI CAM THUY A STUDY ON EFL UNIVERSITY TEACHERS’ EMOTION REGULATION STA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in VietnamA Study on EFL University Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies in the classrooms in Vietnam

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

Teacher emotion and emotion regulation have become a growingly-concerned topic in education in general; however, in the field of English language education, they have been pointed out to be underresearched (Bielak & Mystkowsks-Wiertelak, 2020; Fathi & Derakhshan, 2019; Greenier et al., 2021 Talbot & Mercer, 2018) Su and Lee

(2024) recently specified that scant research exists on how EFL teachers employ emotion regulation (ER) strategies within EFL contexts Similarly, Martínez and Azzaro (2018) stated that research into L2 teachers’ emotions in educational contexts was practically limited

Understanding and acknowledging the emotions of EFL teachers is essential for them to develop a strong sense of professional identity It means their emotions are “their feelings about who they teach, who they work with, and where they work are all instrumental in the creation and reconstruction of their teaching identity” (Cowie, 2003, p 260) Likewise, Heydarnejad et al (2017) emphasized the importance of studying EFL teachers’ emotions while teaching because the emotions of teachers in general and EFL teachers in particular penetrated every aspect of the teaching and learning process Howevr, Morris and King (2020) stated that EFL teachers’ emotion regulation remains underexplored and called for more research on the emotional skills of EFL teachers to help them in the management of their classrooms and their psychological health In other words, exploring the nature of teacher emotions within the classrooms is of great practical and pedagogical importance

Teachers’ emotions during teaching have a direct impact on their ways of teaching and interacting with students Therefore, there have been calls for studies to dig deeper into the role of emotion regulation (Frenzel et al., 2021) because the findings from such studies are auspicious to promote healthier classroom environments Compared with

10 teachers of other subjects, L2 teachers are more likely to experience more negative emotions especially anxiety because L2 teachers teach a language that is not their own (Xu, 2018) Similarly, Morris (2022) stated, “Very few data-based investigations of the use of emotion regulation by language teachers have been undertaken” (p 1) Wijaya

(2021) similarly called for a whole-hearted consideration for future researchers to dwell on L2 teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation for the sake of teachers’ well-being and efficacy in language teaching

It is noticeable that research in English language teacher education unconsciously seems to marginalize teachers’s emotions (Golombek & Doran, 2014) In fact, “there is often an underestimation of the complexity of teaching: teaching is often perceived as a rational activity, but the emotional complexity of teaching is neglected” (Schutz & Zembylas, 2009, p 19) In the classrooms, particular situations may lead to the inducement of teachers’ negative emotions, for example, anger, irritation disappointment, etc These scenarios need exploration for the sake of ELT teachers’ well-being and teaching efficacy

In Vietnam, there is a firm tendency in making suggestions to EFL teachers to make progress in their professional knowledge and teaching experiences either by means of continuous education or training In addition, it is understood to be very important for them to participate in relationships with people whose educational institutions they work for, as parents or other teachers or learners Such practices help further assimilate the educational context and develop ways to satisfy the teaching requirements of the students However, these relationships are believed more or less to have influence on a teacher’s career development as he or she strives to further pedagogic knowledge and to develop their classroom skills and competence (Watt & Robertson, 2011) Research on teacher development has extensively examined pedagogical and cognitive concerns (Brown & Lee, 2015; Farrell, 2010), but there has been much less of a focus on how

11 relationships that experienced teachers have with others in the workplace which can affect their vulnerable emotions

However, there has been little qualitative investigation of the emotions that being a teacher in these networks of relationships and workload can engender This is an important omission as teaching is “irretrievably emotional” (Hargreaves, 2000, p 812), especially EFL teachers who shape their identities in the social, institutional and academic inter-relationship (Vanheule & Verhaeghe, 2004)

The desire to enhance EFL teachers’ professional passion in teaching English to English-majored students has imprinted into my mind over the years of teaching in a private university I have been approached by several colleagues who have expressed their struggles with dealing with negative emotions while teaching They have mentioned experiencing feelings of anxiety, anger, frustration, disappointment, dissatisfaction, and shame These emotions have had a significant impact on the classroom atmosphere and their overall mood Additionally, there has been a concerning trend of EFL teachers leaving their positions at universities due to challenges such as student misbehaviors and heavy workloads This has not only affected the morale of existing teachers but has also had a demotivating effect on younger students who aspire to pursue a career in teaching

As a senior EFL teacher, this burning issue has urged me to carry out research into EFL teachers’ emotions and how they regulate these unexpected emotions for the sake of teaching efficacy

Given the fact that EFL teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation are of great importance since they have a direct impact on teachers’ teaching and students’ learning Because teachers’ emotions while teaching are underresearched, this research was set out to promote our understanding of the EFL teachers’ emotions, their emotion regulation and the impact of EFL teachers’ emotion regulation on their teaching The findings of the thesis contribute to enhancing our understanding of the intricacies and complexities of teachers’ emotional processes that arise when teaching English in the classrooms They

12 can also shed light on when and how emotions can and should be regulated by EFL teachers for designing interventions targeting EFL teachers’ emotion regulation for better English teaching and learning.

Research aims

This study seeks to understand both positive and negative emotions that EFL teachers experience and how they regulate the negative ones It also aims to see how EFL teachers’ emotion regulation impacts their English teaching in the classrooms in the tertiary context to provide implications for teachers to mitigate negative emotions for English teaching efficacy.

Research questions

This study seeks to answer the following research questions:

(1) What emotions do EFL teachers report experiencing during teaching English in the classrooms?

(2) How do EFL university teachers regulate their emotions while teaching English in the classrooms?

(3) What is the perceived impact of EFL teachers’ emotion regulation on their English teaching in the classrooms?

Research scope

Teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation cover broad topics The current study, however, only focuses on the emotions that the teachers experience inside the classroom while they are teaching English to university students It captures both the positive and negative emotions of teachers but analyses the strategies that they use to regulate the negative ones as only those need regulating (Gross, 2015) Teachers may bring with them different kinds of emotions but the current study only explored the ones associated with teaching English as recorded on the videos and their reflections via stimulated recall

13 interviews, journals, and in-depth interviews Besides, emotion regulation in language teaching has tended to focus on the interplay between emotion regulation and teachers’ well-being (e.g., Gregersen et al., 2020; Talbot & Mercer, 2018), but this study does not attempt to dwell into the psychological health of language teachers nor language teachers’ non-verbal cues as ways of expressing emotions In addition, this dissertation did not aim to investigate the effectiveness of Vietnamese EFL teachers’ emotion regulation strategies.

Significance of the study

Theoretically, the current study adapts the theories on teachers’ emotions in psychology and interdisciplinary fields, especially the process model of emotion regulation by Gross (2015) into EFL studies The findings of the current study would extend the key concepts of teachers’ positive and negative emotions and how they regulate the negative ones

Methodologically, the study sheds light on the use of a qualitative approach, more specifically, a case study, to explore deep meanings related to seven cases of EFL teachers’ emotions when teaching English in the tertiary context The findings of the triangulated data from video classroom recordings, stimulated recall interviews, journal and in-depth interviews contribute to the insights into the numbers of case study participants, data saturation, and cross-case comparison

Pedagogically, the significance of this study is twofold In the broad sense, it highlights the range of causes leading to emotions that EFL teachers encounter and the need for effective emotion regulation during English lessons The development of teacher education programs may benefit from an understanding of EFL teachers' emotions from the perspective of teachers Also, it provides EFL teachers a deeper understanding of potential emotional difficulties in the classroom-based context, so they can develop effective teaching strategies In addition, the findings of EFL teachers’ positive and negative emotions and emotion regulation may be of practical reference for teachers of other subjects However, it should be noticed that teaching English is

14 different from teaching other subjects; thus, teachers in general can use the findings from the current study as a reference frame only

In a narrow sense, this study is intended to provide deep insights into the emotions of EFL teachers in the context of Vietnam It also explores appropriate strategies for a more effective lifelong teaching practice The study's findings may be significant for EFL instructors and students who are actively participating in teaching- learning activities in terms of emotion management The study's findings for educational institutions may have the ability to strengthen and improve the EFL teaching-learning process, which is thought to be the primary factor driving further success in the nation's education system as a whole (MOET, 2014).

Organization of the Thesis

This doctoral dissertation consists of five main chapters Following this introduction, which presents the rationale for the present study as well as the research objectives, questions, scope, and significance, Chapter Two reviews the extant literature on the ER strategies of EFL teachers in tertiary education, which motivates and forms the foundation for the research questions addressed in this study It also takes into account the concerns as well as perspectives in English language teaching in which emotion regulation plays a crucial supportive role in teachers’ engagement in their teaching careers Gaps in previous studies are then identified Chapter Three sketches the research methods and design employed in the study The method of narrative analysis helps depict and interpret the lived experiences of the participants This study draws on autobiographical and narrative data to illustrate how emotion regulation evolves during EFL teachers’ classroom performance The results of the study and discussion are presented in Chapter Four Additionally, it gives a detailed interpretation of the results of the study, concerning the findings of previous studies Finally, Chapter Five summarizes the key findings gives implications for future research and practice in EFL teachers’ ER strategies, and indicates its limitations

LITERATURE REVIEW

Emotions

Emotion is a highly broad and multifaceted notion that has been the focus of research since the 19th century and has not yet lost its significance in the area Defining emotion or responding to the question "What is emotion?" is a far more difficult undertaking According to Chaplin and Krawiec (1979), the inability to create a satisfactory theory of emotion was mostly due to disagreements among scholars over how to define emotional processes

There are other definitions or conceptualizations of emotion and associated notions that have been proposed by researchers For example, according to Hockenbury and Hockenbury (2007), emotion is "a complicated psychological state including three unique components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioral or expressive response" (p 117) Although there is disagreement on the definition of emotion, emotion can be described as one's affective state that is brief and high in intensity in response to a particular stimulus (Sutton & Wheatley, 2003)

Following the definition of emotion, emotions are multifaceted and intricate responses to external and internal stimuli that involve a variety of physiological changes, cognitive processes, affective experiences, and behavioral reactions These responses can encompass a wide range of feelings, from joy and contentment to sadness and anger, and

16 are often associated with a degree of pleasure or displeasure Emotions can be influenced by numerous factors, including our individual experiences, upbringing, personal beliefs, societal norms, and cultural background Our interpretation and expression of emotions are shaped by these complex interplays of influences, contributing to the rich tapestry of human emotional experiences Moreover, emotions are social and embodied rather than private, solitary, psychological experiences (Benesch, 2017) Currently, it appears that we are seeing an emotional turn (Barcelos, 2015), in which the sociocultural framework (social connections, family and cultural value systems, and educational settings) both shapes and is affected by emotions (Mesquita & Markus, 2004; Zembylas, 2004)

In this study, the researcher explores the concepts of emotion and emotions as they pertain to the emotional landscape of EFL teachers This landscape is multifaceted and intricately linked to their teaching experiences and the dynamics present within the classroom setting EFL teachers are engaged in interactions with Gen-Z students, a generation characterized by distinct attitudes, learning styles, and technological engagement This interaction adds another layer of complexity to their emotional experiences

Moreover, these EFL teachers operate under significant pressure due to various university mandates These include requirements for compulsory scientific research and commitments to ongoing professional development Such responsibilities can heighten stress levels and influence emotional well-being

As a result, the emotions experienced by EFL teachers in this study are not isolated phenomena; rather, they are significantly affected by their surrounding environment The emotions of teachers are not simply an internal state but are instead shaped and expressed through the dynamic relationship between the individual and their contextual surroundings, including both classroom interactions and institutional expectations Thus, understanding the emotional landscape of EFL teachers necessitates a consideration of these external influences alongside their personal experiences

Emotions of teachers may include positive and negative ones Positive emotions encompass a wide range of feelings, from joy and contentment to happiness and negative ones include disappointment, unpleasantness, sadness and anger Overall, they are often associated with a degree of pleasure or displeasure (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2007) For example, an EFL teacher may show their joy when the students in their class are engaged in the lesson and are able to complete the tasks required On the other hand, they may express their unpleasantness when a student fails to give a correct answer and his/her cognitive interpretation of the incident is that the student has not paid due attention to the lesson and the teacher has to either ignore the behavior of the student to continue with the lesson or assess the situation and adjust the lesson to make it easier for students to understand

Ryan and Deci (2000) made the argument that unfavorable feelings frequently lower teachers' intrinsic motivation For example, if teachers are nervous and stressed while attempting to keep their students quiet and focused on learning, they may interpret such negative emotions as indicators of their inability to effectively manage the classroom, which may reduce their confidence and sense of efficacy As a result of our emotions appearing to be out of sync with the environment in these low-motivation situations, we may feel compelled to try to control them to better achieve our objectives Some examples of negative emotions that teachers experience are frustration, stress, disappointment, and anxiety, unpleasantness which are believed to greatly impact teachers’ well-being and effectiveness in the classroom Recognizing and addressing these emotions is important for maintaining a healthy work-life balance and providing the best possible education for your students

Emotions are a crucial part of a teacher's daily experience, as they engage in face- to-face interactions with colleagues, students, and students’ parents According to Ogbonna and Harris (2004) and Ybema and Smulders (2002), successful teaching requires the skill of expressing certain emotions while managing others Moreover,

18 emotions are shown to significantly influence every aspect of the teaching and learning process within the field of education They have a notable impact on teachers' abilities to retain information, maintain focus, and exhibit emotive, motivating, and cognitive traits (Heydarnejad, et al., 2017)

Additionally, teaching is an emotional practice that involves understanding and learning, constituting a form of emotional labor (Hargreaves, 1998) This emotional aspect is particularly pronounced in language teaching, as highlighted by Hargreaves

(2001) In the classroom, both positive and negative emotions are evident, ranging from fear, rage, guilt, and boredom to pleasure and pride (Frenzel, 2014)

It is notable that teaching embodies a profound moral duty and responsibility toward young minds, making it a profession that demands a high level of emotion regulation (Nias, 1999; Oplatka, 2007) The caring nature of teaching fosters a deep empathy within teachers, leading them to hold strong expectations for their students' conduct in the classroom (Isenbarger and Zembylas, 2006) As a result, the emotional intensity experienced by teachers in their profession surpasses that of other careers, given their commitment to moral purpose and responsibility Additionally, the classroom serves as a unique arena where teachers constantly encounter a diverse range of emotions in their interactions with students, necessitating the skillful regulation of their own emotions

Last but not least, emotional display rules are fundamental in guiding the conscious or unconscious decisions teachers make when expressing or concealing their emotions (Isenbarger and Zembylas, 2006; Schutz et al., 2009) In the context of the classroom, these rules represent learned cultural norms that shape the expression of emotions, either by encouraging or discouraging teachers from experiencing or displaying certain emotions

In general, emotion in this study is defined as a person's cognitive interpretations, and assessments of particular situations are the foundation of the teaching process, which is founded on cognitive interpretations and assessments of specific situations (Schutz &

Emotions of language teachers

EFL teachers, like teachers of any subject, experience emotions while teaching In the context of EFL where teachers have to teach another language different from their mother tongue, teachers tend to have both positive and negative emotions Emotions in EFL teaching are feelings that are quite relevant to social-psychological aspects of EFL teachers' everyday professional lives In the following sections, positive and negative emotions of language teachers are presented

2.2.1 Positive emotions of language teachers

Positive emotions can be a powerful driving force Psychologists identify emotions as positive if they bring pleasure or arise from progress toward a goal Among the most powerful positive feelings are love and care (Lazarus, 1991), especially in the field of education Teachers often describe the joy of teaching and the satisfaction that comes from seeing their students learn and grow (Hargreaves, 1998b) They take pride in their students' progress and express satisfaction with their learning responsibilities Furthermore, teachers find great pleasure in forming strong connections with their students, especially when they respond positively (Hargreaves, 2000) By fostering these positive emotions, teachers can create a truly supportive and engaging learning environment for their students The study by Heydarnejad et al (2017) revealed a compelling connection between positive emotions and the adoption of student-centered teaching styles, as well as a pronounced link between negative emotions and the implementation of teacher-centered teaching approaches

EFL teachers find amusement in the unexpected words and actions of their students (Hargreaves, 1998b) They appreciate incongruity, inconsistencies, and the unexpected as these add to the feelings of comedy and excitement that teachers experience Besides,

EFL teachers may become satisfied with their practice when the course's objectives are met, they feel pleasure and satisfaction when their students complete a task successfully

EFL teachers like teachers of any other subject are supposed to embrace a higher level of positive because it can determine whether they can facilitate their learners’ learning success Frenzel et al (2021) for example pointed out teachers’ positive emotions can promote a more enjoyable, positive, and conducive teaching-learning atmosphere for learners They further stated, “Teachers who experience positive emotions during teaching have access to a wider array of instructional strategies and are more flexible and creative in adapting to different classroom situations, with corresponding conducive effects for student outcomes” (p 250) In the context of EFL, positive emotional responses to colleagues seemed much less intense than those evoked by students (Heydarnejad et al., 2017) Wang and Derakhshan (2021) described the constructs of EFL teachers’ positive emotions which comprised joy, love, resilience, optimism, engagement, passion, and enjoyment that can be developed their classroom performance and solve many educational problems

In the study by Heydarnejad et al (2017), positive emotions of EFL university teachers were found to include enjoyment and pride and they were more dominant than negative emotions which included anger, anxiety, shame, and boredom These positive emotions of TEFL teachers are described by Cowie (2003) as quiet satisfaction reflecting, their sense of shared values and mutual respect Proietti Ergün and Dewaele

(2021) considered teaching enjoyment to be a positive emotion EFL teachers can experience in their classes

In the current study, given the similar context of EFL teaching, the definition of positive emotions is adapted from Proietti Ergün and Dewaele (2021), Wang and Derakhshan (2021), and Heydarnejad et al (2017) and it means EFL teachers’ joy, happiness, optimism, passion, and enjoyment in teaching in the classrooms

2.2.2 Negative emotions of language teachers

EFL teachers, who play a pivotal role in shaping the learning experience, are inevitably confronted with the challenges brought about by these changes, which have resulted in negative emotions during their teaching in the classrooms Teaching English is a profession that brings immense fulfillment, but it also presents its fair share of challenges EFL teachers have to cope with a range of obstacles, hurdles, and barriers when instructing English as a foreign language These challenges are considered to be a pivotal factor contributing to negative emotions experienced by EFL teachers

Like teachers of any other subjects, EFL teachers require a variety of coping mechanisms to deal with intrinsic job-related stressors at both the school and administrative levels, including workload, workplace stressors, social support, and issues with classroom management (Gross & Richards, 2006; Chang et al., 2022) Therefore, it is acceptable to assert that EFL teachers may experience significant levels of work- related stress and negative emotions throughout their careers (Laurenţiu et al., 2017; Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001; Alzahmi et al., 2022)

Last but not least, cultural discrepancy has become an obstacle for EFL teachers in their teaching in the classrooms In the realm of traditional teaching, students acquire proficiency in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and various language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translating However, despite these accomplishments, they may still not achieve a complete understanding and mastery of the English language English, as a foreign language, encompasses not only the linguistic aspects but also the cultural elements intertwined with it One of the primary aims of English teaching is to cultivate learners’ sensitivity to the cultural disparities embedded within the language Nevertheless, EFL educators encounter the intricate task of integrating cultural background knowledge into English instruction to facilitate learners in grasping the core of the language and refining their comprehensive English proficiency

In a research study conducted by Riesky in 2013, it was found that EFL student

22 teachers encountered challenging situations in the classroom that led to the creation of negative emotions These challenging situations included dealing with students who had low competency levels, displayed carelessness, created noise, demonstrated impoliteness, lacked motivation, and had uncooperative attitudes Additionally, the study by Yuan and Lee in 2015 observed that preservice teachers experienced emotional distress, such as becoming tearful, when they encountered unexpected situations, such as making mistakes in front of their students or being unable to answer their questions

The aforementioned challenges have placed considerable pressure on EFL teachers to meet their teaching objectives by implementing innovative alternative teaching methods and continually improving their language skills Consequently, it is unavoidable for them to experience negative emotions while teaching

In the classrooms, EFL teachers may become upset and occasionally impatient when students are unable to comprehend a certain concept, and they become irritated when they witness instances of misconduct of students In addition, EFL teachers have claimed that in addition to feeling emotions, they also manage, control, and even hide their emotions to achieve a particular goal Burnt-out teachers may be unable to respond to student misbehavior with effective behavior management techniques However, EFL teachers may be better equipped to use constructive management techniques if they can control their emotional reactions to the students Cowie (2003) classified frustration, disappointment, and anger as negative emotions of TEFL teachers which may result from collegial relations and institutional contexts Other forms of negative emotions experienced by EFL teachers included anger, anxiety, shame, and boredom (Heydarnejad et al., 2017)

The need to identify potential factors that could lower teacher motivation and job satisfaction has grown as a result of recent developments in EFL teachers' negative emotions (Pourtoussi et al., 2018; Yaghoubinejad et al., 2017) However, little is known about negative emotions in EFL teachers and the process generally in developing nations, specifically in the context of higher education in general and in Vietnam in particular

In the context of Vietnam, EFL teachers’ negative emotions have lately been documented Findings from Canh's study in 2014 revealed that EFL teachers often felt shocked due to the unfriendly behavior, poor classroom engagement, and low proficiency levels of their students in English classes Apart from a challenging workload (teachers had to work 1.5 to 1.8 times as many hours as the typical 40 hours per week in Vietnam), pressure from the community as well as from students, parents, and educational administration, EFL teachers in Vietnam may face negative emotions due to low pay and the ethically skewed image of the teacher popularized in the media (To Hoi, 2012) Moreover, Vietnamese EFL instructors serve as "moral guides" for their students in addition to teaching them the English language and helping them improve their language skills (Phan, 2008) With this particular position, EFL teachers are required to act morally, show that they are willing to care more about the moral and linguistic growth of their students, and sustain positive relationships with them (Le & Dwyer, 2019) As a result, EFL teachers enjoy a high level of respect and care from students, parents, and the general public in Vietnamese society (Phan, 2008) but they may be under pressure to hold the images that meet the expectations of different parties in society

In this study, negative emotions are contextualized in EFL classrooms and experienced by EFL teachers; thus, the definition of negative emotion is adapted from Cowie (2003) and (Heydarnejad et al., 2017), it indicates EFL teachers’ frustration, disappointment, anger, anxiety, shame, and boredom while teaching.

Emotion Regulation Strategies of Language Teachers

Emotion regulation and emotion regulation strategies are two key concepts used in the current study First, emotion regulation involves the conscious and unconscious processes through which individuals manage their emotional experiences Emotion regulation is achieved through behavioral and cognitive actions known as emotion regulation strategies (Chen & Tang, 2024; Gross, 2015; Koole, 2009) Emotion regulation strategies are employed for a diverse range of intrapersonal and interpersonal

24 reasons In the field of language education, Morris (2022) pointed out, “language teachers can make agentive decisions about emotion regulation and that they can articulate such decisions” (p 2)

Following the above definition, emotion regulation strategies in this study are acts that are employed by EFL teachers to change the direction of emotions Thus, emotion regulation strategy derives from emotion regulation because emotion regulation strategy indicates emotion control tactics can range in complexity, focusing on the external environment, attentional systems, cognition, or the componential effects of emotional episodes For example, the reappraisal technique (e.g., Gross, 1998, 2015) involves manipulating the appraisal component When using this method, a person adjusts their feelings about an emotional stimulus A teacher, for example, may reclassify a misbehaving student as “generally well-behaved” to mitigate any negative emotions they are experiencing Alternatively, the expressive suppression method (e.g., Gross, 1998,

2015) includes hiding the expressional component of an emotion A teacher, for example, may want to disguise their displeasure from the class by assuming a neutral expression There are numerous possible emotion regulation strategies, which are summarized in Table 2.1 below:

Emotion regulation in EFL teaching (Adapted from Gross, 1998, 2015)

Adapted in the current study

Situation modification Adjusting teaching methods

Situation modification is a highly effective technique that involves taking actions to directly alter a situation and change its emotional impact By adjusting external stimuli, it is possible to effectively alter emotions in real time For example, if a teacher is feeling overwhelmed by a task, he/she could break it down into smaller, more manageable steps to reduce stress and increase feelings of accomplishment By using situation modification, teachers can take control of their emotional experience and improve their overall well-

Attentional deployment is a powerful tool that can help us regulate our emotions effectively By intentionally focusing our attention on certain stimuli, we can influence our emotional response positively For instance, EFL teachers can use attentional deployment to enhance their students' learning experience by directing their attention to specific aspects of the language that they are trying to master This technique can also be useful in managing stress and anxiety by shifting our attention away from negative thoughts and towards more positive ones

Cognitive change Reappraisal Reappraisal is a cognitive strategy that involves re- interpreting emotional events and re-directing attention away from the emotional stimulus For example, when students are not attentive to the lesson, which annoys the teacher However, the teacher figured out that the classroom that day was hot and the students were tired after learning several periods before He/she tried to create a more supportive and effective learning environment for their students

One way for teachers to effectively handle challenging situations is by utilizing response modification techniques

By taking control of their emotions, they can approach difficult situations with clarity and confidence

As an example, an EFL teacher can frankly express his/her happiness when students actively contribute to the lessons For instance, an EFL teacher may find suppression helpful in maintaining a calm and professional demeanor in the face of difficult student behavior or classroom disruptions

Regarding teachers’ negative emotions, educators, more specifically EFL educators, may be better able to manage some stressors such as job insecurity, overwork, misbehaving students, and time constraints if they have high emotion regulation (Greenier et al., 2021; Gross, 2015b) In contrast, EFL teachers who are insensitive to their own and others' emotions and who, at the same time, lack the coping mechanisms and methods necessary to deal with a variety of stressors will be more likely to be stressed out by a particular circumstance To put it another way, they will feel more helpless and frail in the face of the existing stress from their jobs, which ultimately causes teacher fatigue

In summary, it seems plausible to assert that emotion regulation affects job satisfaction and that EFL teachers' positive emotions, such as satisfaction and pleasure, can help them develop their sense of self-confidence and self-efficacy, while their negative emotions, such as job insecurity, anxiety, stress, and desperation, may lead to job dissatisfaction and even job fatigue Thus, it can be inferred that EFL teachers with higher emotion regulation are better able to manage and control their work-related stress, which will help to reduce their level of negative emotion In other words, according to Wijaya (2021), teachers' stress dimensions are inversely connected with their emotion regulation strategies She also emphasized the point that to have a positive teaching-learning impact on the entire school community, including enjoyable learning activities, spirited students, dedicated teachers, and a strong rapport established among educational boards, emotion regulation strategies should be introduced earlier for EFL teachers As a result, the more emotion regulation they practice, the less likely EFL instructors are to experience negative emotions

2.3.1 Interpersonal emotion regulation strategies of language teachers

Interpersonal emotion regulation, according to Bielak and Mystkowsks-Wiertelak

(2020) is of crucial importance for language teachers since it can help teachers “in managing the emotions of learners caught up in the sensitive and emo- tionally-loaded process of language learning” (p 3) Interpersonal emotion regulation reflects the social nature of emotion regulation, which can be perceived as a social interaction between people (Nozaki & Mikolajczak, 2020) Interpersonal emotion regulation is “an action performed to influence another person’s emotion” (Nozaki & Mikolajczak, 2020, p 3)

Zaki and Williams (2013) classified intrinsic and extrinsic forms of interpersonal regulation “By intrinsic interpersonal regulation, we refer to episodes in which an individual initiates social contact to regulate his own experience; by extrinsic interpersonal regulation, we refer to episodes in which a person attempts to regulate another person’s emotion” (p 805) Zaki and Williams (2013) further elaborated on the

27 two types of interpersonal regulation processes: response-dependent and response- independent Response-dependent processes are dependent on the qualities of another person’s feedback, whereas response-independent processes “occur in the context of social interactions, but do not require that another person respond in any particular way” (p 805)

Overall, interpersonal emotion regulation makes use of social contact to regulate one’s own emotions In the current study, the aims were to see how EFL teachers managed their own emotions without social contact or receiving responses from other persons to regulate their emotions, it explored only intrapersonal emotion regulation by EFL teachers

2.3.2 Intrapersonal emotion regulation strategies of language teachers

Emotions have been shown to have both inter- and intrapersonal functions (e.g Barrett et al., 2016; Frenzel et al., 2021) While interpersonal functions involve effects on the social interaction partners of those who experience emotions, intrapersonal functions involve effects on the individuals who experience the emotions themselves, specifically their cognition, memory, perception, and behavior Considering emotion regulation as an intrapersonal function, Gross (1998) defines this term as “processes by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express these emotions” (p 275) Similarly, intrapersonal regulation is considered to go

“through the conscious perception of one’s emotional feeling signs” (Holodynsk, 2004, p 17) Intrapersonal regulation encompasses the strategies as presented in Table 2.1

Discussing the intrapersonal regulation used in language education, Morris (2022) pointed out that intrapersonal regulation reflects the internal psychological processes of emotions, “According to this perspective, emotions are aroused and managed through cognitive appraisals - evaluations of whether encountered events and circumstances are considered to be personally relevant” (p 14) Morris (2022) further explained that when

The theoretical framework for the present study

2.4.1 The process model of emotion regulation

This study adapts the process model of emotion regulation initially introduced by Gross (1998) and elaborated by Gross (2015) The process model for regulating emotions by Gross (1998, 2015) (Figure 2.2) took into account the emotion generation cycle and the fact that emotions are multi-components (Scherer 2005; Jacobs & Gross, 2014) The processes by which people control the emotions they experience, when they feel them, and how they experience and display these emotions are referred to as the process model of emotion regulation by Gross (1998) (p 275) This cognitive model places more emphasis on controlling one's own emotions (also known as self-emotion management)

32 rather than controlling the emotions of others

Five categories of emotion regulation are described in the process model of emotion regulation These strategies are related to controlling emotions either before (antecedent- focused emotion regulation) or after (response-focused emotion regulation) they occur Antecedent-focused emotion regulation, according to Gross (1998) takes place before or during the emotional experience For antecedent-focused ER, cognitive reappraisal which means reinterpreting emotional events and distraction or directing one's attention away from an emotional stimulus are two of the most important antecedent-focused ER methods Response-focused ER, in contrast, takes place after the emotion is produced (Gross, 1998; Bahl & Ouimet, 2022) During this stage, teachers may alter the event that involves situation selection and situation modification or alter their cognitions including attention deployment and cognitive change While antecedent-focused emotion regulation means “manipulating the input to the system”, response-focused emotion regulation is

Gross (1998) provided examples of these two kinds of emotion regulation Antecedent-focused emotion regulation includes situation selection, in which one approaches or avoids certain people or situations based on their likely emotional impact After situation selection, situation modification takes place to alter its emotional impact Next, people may use attention deployment to turn attention toward or away from something to influence one's emotions Then, in the stage of cognitive change, people reevaluate either the situation one is in or one's capacity to manage the situation to alter one's emotions Response-focused emotion regulation, according to Gross (1998) comprises various types, including those that intensify, diminish, prolong, or curtail ongoing emotional experience, expression, or physiological responses The typical response-focused strategies include expressive suppression, which inhibits the behavior of emotional expression (Bahl & Ouimet, 2022; Sutton & Harper, 2009), faking, which involves displaying an emotion that is not truly felt, masking, which involves doing both (Taxer & Gross, 2018), as well as self-care, which refers to taking care of oneself in healthy ways to refuel and replenish oneself

The process model of emotion regulation by Gross (1998; 2015) outlines five emotion regulation strategies: situation selection, situation modification, attention deployment, appraisal, and reaction modulation Situation selection and situation modification techniques address the process's situational stage, attention deployment strategies address the attention stage, cognitive change strategies address the appraisal stage, and reaction modulation strategies address the response stage Below is the diagram of the process model of emotion regulation by Gross (2015):

Figure 2.1 The process model of emotion regulation (Gross, 1998; 2015)

Situation selection methods involve taking a proactive approach to managing emotions before they arise These methods require deliberately choosing to focus on or avoid specific sources of emotion For instance, an EFL teacher might intentionally avoid teaching a dull topic to prevent boredom and instead incorporate an enjoyable activity to elicit delight However, EFL teachers in this study were not given the freedom to choose their students, courses, or teaching schedules The teaching timetable was set three weeks before the beginning of the academic term, leaving little time for teachers to prepare As a result, this particular study did not examine the use of situation selection as an emotion regulation strategy by EFL teachers

Situation modification is a technique that involves taking actions to directly alter

34 a situation and change its emotional impact This powerful tool can be used to adjust external stimuli and effectively alter emotions in real time For instance, EFL teachers in a classroom can use situation modification to reduce negative feelings by shortening a tedious task On the other hand, they can prolong a positive emotional experience by extending an engaging activity By using this technique, EFL teachers can create a more positive and productive learning environment for their students

Attentional deployment is a highly effective emotion regulation strategy that can help us take control of our feelings By consciously choosing where we direct our attention, we can influence our emotional response positively As EFL teachers, they can leverage the power of attentional deployment to create a positive and conducive learning environment By redirecting EFL teachers’ focus from a distracted, off-task student to a diligent, hardworking student, they can increase their satisfaction and reduce irritation This can ultimately help them become a more effective teacher and improve their students' learning outcomes

Cognitive change is a term used to describe the process of adjusting one's perception of a situation to alter its emotional impact A reappraisal is a form of cognitive change that has been extensively studied, and it involves modifying either the meaning or the self-relevance of a situation that could potentially elicit emotions (Gross, 2015) While reappraisal is commonly used to decrease negative emotions, it can be employed to increase or decrease both negative and positive emotions (Ochsner

Other forms of cognitive change can also be used to alter one's thoughts about their ability to manage situational demands For example, EFL teachers may use these techniques to reduce frustration with an off-task student by intentionally considering the student's background and circumstances By reminding themselves that the student may be facing significant busyness or stress, the teachers can avoid responding with counterproductive negative emotions By employing cognitive change strategies,

35 individuals can become more effective at managing their emotions and responses to different situations

Response modulation is a powerful tool that can help individuals manage their emotions in a variety of situations By directly influencing the different components of an emotional response, response modulation techniques can have a significant impact on our physiological, experiential, and behavioral responses

One of the most extensively studied forms of response modulation is expressive suppression By inhibiting emotional expressions, EFL teachers can project a calm and collected demeanor even in the most challenging situations This can be particularly useful in educational settings, where EFL teachers can use response modulation techniques to regulate their emotions and maintain a positive learning environment Expressive suppression is a response-focused tactic that appears relatively late in the emotion-production process and has the power to halt ongoing emotional expression (Gross, 2015) According to research, reappraisers tend to express and experience fewer negative emotions and more positive ones They can also more successfully navigate stressful situations by maintaining a positive outlook, interpreting stressful situations differently, actively working to change undesirable mood states, and being more open about sharing their emotions

With response modulation, by using techniques such as deep breathing, changing EFL teachers’ mindsets, and regulating their motor expressions, they can effectively manage their emotions and promote positive interactions with those around them EFL teachers have the power to control our emotional responses and project a positive image to the world

2.4.2 Justification for applying the process model of emotion regulation in the present study

According to some philosophers, emotion has been defined from the beginning of history as "troublesome deviations from proper functioning, and thus in need of severe

36 correction instead of a more positive light in less need of strict regulation" (Gross, 1998, p 271) However, Lazarus (1991) discovered that emotions arise when an individual attends to a situation and understands it as being relevant to his or her current goals This has opened a new chapter in the evolution of psychology Teachers, as service professionals, are believed to participate in face-to-face contact with colleagues, students, and their parents The art of effective teaching entails not only imparting knowledge but also inspiring and engaging students while maintaining a well-organized classroom environment in which teachers are constantly confronted with a wide range of emotions during their interactions with students, necessitating skillful emotion regulation on their part

The last decade has witnessed an increasing trend in the amount of research on EFL teachers’ emotion regulation with the application of Gross’s process model The results show that teachers can accomplish classroom goals (Morris & King, 2023), enact professionalism (Gkonou & Miller, 2021; Li, 2023), stay positively engaged at work (Greenier et al., 2021), and enhance their well-being (Namaziandost et al 2023) Moreover, EFL teachers control their emotions to deal with student anxiety situations (Heydarnejad et al., 2022) and run their classes in an emotionally responsible way (Thumvichit, 2023; Wijaya, 2021)

Most of the previous studies have illustrated the effectiveness of Gross’s process model in EFL teachers’ emotion regulation However, this psychology-based research was mostly quantitative and not an on-site approach, which cannot expose the insight feelings of EFL teachers in the classrooms Therefore, this study will bridge the research gap and continue applying Gross’s process model of emotion regulation framework for the following reasons:

Review of previous studies

Studies of EFL teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation in language teaching are quite recent, with more publications occurring after 2016 in various educational contexts which have mainly focused on teachers at the tertiary level as in this study

First, with the theme of exploring EFL teachers’ emotions in teaching, the study by Kırmızı and Sarıỗoban (2020) measured pre-service EFL teachers’ emotions, their beliefs about teaching approaches and see potential correlations among them with the use of two sets of questionnaires The results indicate that the EFL teachers perceived emotions to be important for the educational process However, when teaching, the most common emotion among pre-service EFL teachers is “fear” and the most preferred teaching approach is the “knowledge transmission approach.” In addition, the findings also show that “sadness” is highly related to the “knowledge transmission approach”

Heydarnejad et al (2021) used semi-structured interviews with 22 Iranian instructors to compile an inventory of 27 common emotion management techniques that language teachers might use These techniques were categorized by technique type The inventory was later examined with 534 high school and 476 university EFL teachers, and the results showed clear variations in how these teachers used emotion management strategies The research revealed that whereas attention deployment, reappraisal, and situation adjustment were more prevalent in the university context, suppression was more prevalent in high schools The authors attributed this outcome to the two groups' different learning objectives and instructional approaches The study by Heydarnejad et al is a crucial first step in compiling a list of emotion regulation techniques for language education Time may well judge this work to have been effective in achieving the authors' stated goal of enabling future quantitative studies of emotion regulation However, the research and inventory still have certain limits The inventory's excessive weighting of the management of unpleasant emotional events is its biggest flaw To put it in a nutshell, while the inventory is an important proof of concept, it does not address the fact that participants can use emotion regulation to control positive emotional states As a result, more research on emotion regulation strategies is still required before a comprehensive inventory of strategies can be completed

A year later, in another study with her colleagues, Heydarnejad et al (2022) carried out further quantitative research on EFL teachers’s emotion regulation against anger in classrooms with 581 EFL teachers The goal of the study is to examine the causal connections between teacher self-efficacy beliefs, engagement, and rage The process model of emotion regulation (Gross, 1998, 2014; Gross and Thompson, 2007) and semi- structured interviews with academics from universities and EFL high school teachers served as the foundation for this study The rating scale asks language teachers to consider comparable circumstances from their teaching careers and evaluate the claims in light of the emotion regulation techniques they have used The finding depicted that the ability of EFL teachers to control their emotions predicts both their level of involvement

40 and self-efficacy EFL teachers have access to techniques for managing their emotions and acting responsibly Their ability to control their emotions will improve as they engage in more emotional management exercises According to the data analysis, Iranian EFL teachers' outbursts are primarily motivated by issues with their students Iranian EFL teachers become angry after being upset over a student, their coworkers, the system, or their parents, in that order This calls for the need for emotion regulation The study did not, however, conceptualize teachers' and educators' perspectives in a qualitative, data-driven manner The correlations between teachers' preferred emotion regulation tactics, self-efficacy beliefs, work engagement, and anger management were not taken into account in this study Neither were their years of teaching experience, educational levels, age, or gender With the widespread of the internet and social networks, mutual support in critical listening and thinking with teaching issues daily should be highly appreciated This limitation will be addressed in the current study

In the most recent study, Bielak and Mystkowska-Wiertelak (2024) explored emotions and emotion regulation of language learners in speaking tasks The stimulated recall interview data reveal that the common factors leading to foreign language enjoyment and anxiety included specific errors, performance deficits, and message- conceptualization problems Besides, these factors were depended on social aspect and communication dynamics of the language tasks Although the participants were teachers, the use of stimulated recall interview provides guidance for the current study to adopt the technique as it is able to capture and reveal the participants’ emotions Besides, it showcased positive and negative emotions categorized as enjoyment and anxiety

Second, research on EFL teachers’ emotion regulation and its impact on teaching has been done quite recently in the last decade thanks to the call for studies on this topic to help teachers with keeping good well-being for teaching The scant previous studies also explore the specific strategies that teachers employ to regulate their emotions For example, the study by Wijaya (2021) aimed to explore the specific strategies EFL teachers apply to regulate their emotions via narrative inquiry and interviews to better

41 obtain more obvious portrayals of the teachers’ real-time experiences of managing their emotional states for particular teaching periods The findings of this study displayed that the control of EFL teachers’ negative emotions would enable learners to achieve their expected learning outcomes In other words, when teachers knew how to mitigate the negative emotions occurring they were more likely to promote more conducive and pleasurable learning circumstances

To find out the utilization level and impact of emotion regulation strategies on EFL teachers’ professional development in Chinese higher educational institutions, Li (2023) utilized sruvey questionnaires to study EFL teachers’ emotions and found that they used various emotion regulation strategies to tackle the challenges in the classroom to manage their adaptability and resilience The teachers also believed that the employment of emotion regulation led to EFL teachers’ professional development However, in-depth qualitative data investigation was not used to obtain a deeper understanding of individual teachers’ emotion regulation

Namaziandost et al (2023) conducted questionnaires to 278 volunteer EFL university professors as participants through Google Forms on the contributions of emotion regulation to EFL university professors’ self-efficacy, WE, and anger The findings evidenced that emotion regulation substantially contributed to the participants’ self-efficacy, WE, and anger The findings of this research indicated that if university professors, in general, and EFL university professors, in particular, are to be the backbone of society and make their students ready for the future they will be able to regulate their emotions In that case, they can improve their self-efficacy, promote their

WE, and relieve their anger at the workplace According to the gained findings, this conclusion can be made that emotion regulation should be considered as a crucial factor in the higher education contexts deserving enough attention The findings of this research indicated that if university professors, in general, and EFL university professors, in particular, are to be the backbone of society and make their students ready for the future they will be able to regulate their emotions In that case, they can improve their self-

42 efficacy, promote their WE, and relieve their anger at the workplace According to the gained findings, this conclusion can be made that ER should be considered as a crucial factor in the higher education contexts deserving enough attention

Also in the theme of emotion regulation in teaching English, utilizing Q methodology-a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative and quantitative techniques, Thumvichit (2023) investigated 44 Thai EFL teachers and their emotion- regulation strategies in response to classroom stressors and found four distinct types of emotion-regulation strategies: adaptive, expressive, suppressive, and avoidant Data reveal that among the teachers, one group mitigated the stress arising from poor student performance by seeking support from others The second and third groups used situation modification to manage stress related to self-esteem and student engagement, respectively

Morris and King (2023) applied qualitative method to focus on a specific type of emotion regulation, namely, L2 teachers’ instrumental emotion regulation, the deliberate and conscious use of emotion regulation strategies to achieve specific goals or outcomes in teaching He identified six types of emotion regulation strategies including reappraisal, suppression, humor, venting, distraction, and social support The absence of gender variance in the study is one of its limitations, as all three research participants are female The quantity of participants is another clear restriction of this qualitative investigation The current study will address this research gap

Another theme emerged from the literature is emotions and emotion regulation by teachers in the context of Vietnam For example, Phan and Pham (2023) explored the emotional experiences of seven Vietnam language teachers in a qualitative study in the onset of the global pandemic when they taught online Viewed from the poststructuralist approach, the study found how the emotional rules, for example, hiding emotions in class and discursive practices, for instance, teacher as a parent, teaching for quality implicitly and explicitly imposed on teachers when choosing the expression of certain emotions

Gaps in the Literature

The gaps in the literature could be seen from theoretical gaps (Jacobs, 2011), methodological gaps (Miles, 2017), and population gaps (Muller-Bloch & Kant, 2014)

First, theoretically, the majority of the research currently conducted on ER in language education focuses on how EFL teachers can support their students' ER (Zhao & Song, 2022) It is critical to focus on the negative emotions that teachers are experiencing as they adjust to the increased demands of language education, as their inability to control their emotions can have major detrimental effects on their well-being and students'

44 emotions (Carson & Templin, 2007) In other words, there is a critical need for study on teachers' ER strategies when teaching English as a second language due to the paucity of studies on the subject and the rising emotional demands placed on EFL teachers The current study seeks to address the questions of what negative emotions EFL teachers reported experiencing and how they regulated them by utilizing Gross's process model

Second, in terms of research methodology, the previous studies (e.g Heydarnejad et al., 2021; Heydarnejad et al., 2022; Li, 2023; Morris & King, 2023; Namaziandost et al.,

2023, Wijaya, 2021) mainly relied on mixed methods or questionnaire to collect responses related to EFL teachers’ emotions There is a need to explore the topic in depth using a case study to examine the emotions and emotion regulation of EFL teachers in teaching English in the classroom

Third, although there have not been studies on the topic of EFL teachers’ emotion regulation among general education teachers, research on emotion regulation among Vietnamese EFL teachers while teaching English in the classrooms is still scant Ngo

(2024) pointed out that there is limited research on the emotions of EFL teachers in Vietnam The study by Phan and Pham (2023) explored the emotional experiences of Vietnam language teachers teaching online during Covid 2019 and the study by Ngo

(2023) investigated teachers' emotional experiences related to student issues to respond to the need to the under-researched topic of EFL teachers’ emotions The studies by Phan and Pham (2023) and Ngo (2024) that emerged in recent years indicate the need for more studies in this direction to explore the complexities of EFL teachers’ emotions in the country and how they regulate their emotions while teaching English in the classrooms

From all the gaps pointed out in this section, it is meaningful to conduct this study to investigate the emotional issues among Vietnamese EFL teachers to alert the relevant parties to the requirement for having solid policies to prevent teachers’ negative emotions as well as to enhance EFL teachers’ well beings while teaching English

Summary

The literature reviews in this chapter show that there is far less research on EFL teachers' emotion regulation than there is on teachers in general education Additionally, the majority of studies on EFL teachers' emotion regulation that have been published in the literature were carried out in Turkish, Chinese, and Iranian contexts There is a paucity of empirical studies on EFL teachers’ negative emotions and emotion regulation among EFL teachers in the Vietnamese context To encourage responsible authorities of the necessity for effective strategies of emotion regulation to prevent EFL teachers' burnout in higher education settings, it is necessary to investigate the ER strategies that Vietnamese EFL university teachers use in the classrooms as well as the appropriate reasons for their choices The next chapter will describe the research methodology.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Methodological framework for the study

The methodological framework for the current study is presented in Figure 31 below:

Figure 3.1 Structured framework for collecting, coding, and analyzing data about EFL teachers' emotions in the classrooms

Qualitative Research Approach

There are three reasons for using qualitative research for this study The first reason is that to truly grasp the intricacies of complex psychological phenomena, it is imperative to delve into individuals' perspectives and experiences with their emotions That is precisely why the current study was conducted using a qualitative approach With this approach, the researcher can confidently explore and analyze these complex psychological phenomena from a comprehensive and insightful perspective

The second reason for using the qualitative research approach in the current study is that it offers a unique opportunity to explore the complexities (Richards, 2003, p.8) of the issues of teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation To be more specific, the use of this qualitative approach enabled the researcher to gain a first-hand understanding of participants' emotional expressions, subjective experiences, and emotion management processes during teaching de in the classrooms By adopting this approach, data collected from triangulated research methods and data sources including recorded classroom observation, stimulated recall interviews, and journal and semi-structured interviews could provide rich and insightful data to better understand the intricate aspects of our emotions and their management

Last but not least, a qualitative inquiry for the current study was an invaluable method for gaining a deep and comprehensive understanding of emotion regulation Through this approach, the study was able to explore the strategies EFL teachers used to regulate their negative emotions and their impact on English teaching in the classrooms

To be more specific, classroom observation recorded the incidents in which EFL teachers expressed their emotions, the stimulated recall interview to capture their fresh reflections on the recorded specific incidents showing their emotions, and journal entries to document the teachers’ later reflections on their emotions after each lesson recorded and semi-structure interview to inquire their opinions of their emotions during teaching and how they regulated emotions during teaching

In summary, the current study used a qualitative approach to triangulate the findings obtained from recorded classroom observation, stimulated recall interviews, journal entries, and semi-structured interviews to shed light on the strategies that EFL teachers use to manage their emotions and employ coping mechanisms while using the process model of emotion regulation as a framework.

Research design

The current study adopted a case study design “Most definitions of case study highlight the bounded, singular nature of the case, the importance of the context, the availability of multiple sources of information or perspectives on observations, and the in-depth nature of analysis” (Duff, 2008 p 22) The current study is an intensive study of multiple cases (seven cases) to shed light on the topic of EFL teachers’ emotions in teaching English in the classrooms It is exploratory and descriptive in nature to serve the aims of the study to obtain an in-depth understanding of relevant layers of meaning related to EFL teachers’ both positive and negative emotions while teaching English and how they regulate negative ones The research design is described in the following table

EFL TEACHERS’ EMOTION REGULATION IN THE CLASSROOMS

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Participants Instruments Case study design Research questions

Triangulation in data collection and interpretation of results of cross cases

(1) What emotions do EFL teachers report to experience during teaching English in the classrooms?

(2) How do EFL university teachers regulate their emotions while teaching English in the classrooms?

Journal entries (3) What is the perceived impact of EFL teachers’ emotion regulation on their English teaching in the classrooms?

Case study research was used in the current study because it was descriptive and accessible, enabling researchers to explore complex phenomena in detail and gain a deep understanding of the subject under investigation Duff (2014) pointed out that cases when studied in depth can provide an understanding of individuals’ experiences, issues, insights, or performance within a particular educational context; thus, a case study is compatible with the current study’s objectives Besides, on the topic of teachers’ emotions, using a case study allows researchers to gain thick data, especially on teachers’ emotional experiences (Gkonou & Miller, 2021)

Critics of case study research have mainly focused on the issue of generalization, arguing that the findings of case studies cannot be generalized to other contexts However, case studies remain an essential research method in education research as in the current one to obtain valuable insights and perspectives that cannot be obtained through other approaches

To ensure the research's trustworthiness (see section 3.9 in this chapter for further detail), data were collected from four different sources and the qualitative and case study combination were used to capture the intricacies of the topics of EFL teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation in the current study Data collection and research method triangulation was applied in the current study and discussed in the following section

In this study, sequential mixed-method triangulation strategy (Creswell, 2003) was employed as presented as in Figure 3.1 below:

Figure 3.2 Triangulation in the curent study (Adapted from Creswell, 2013)

The triangulation approach was used in the current study firstly to ensure the robustness of the research by collecting qualitative data from four different sources to gain a comprehensive understanding of the study topic (Creswell & Clark, 2007) This approach was useful in investigating the causes of negative emotions experienced by EFL teachers and the strategies they reported to use to regulate these emotions By utilizing four independent data collection methods that complemented each other, the accuracy and validity of the current study’s findings were enhanced Secondly, triangulation in combining qualitative and case studies was to strengthen each approach while overcoming its drawbacks In other words, research method triangulation was believed to bring depth and breadth to the study Thirdly, utilizing four independent data collection methods helped enhance data insights and comprehension that could otherwise be overlooked when using a single one An in-class issue involving EFL teachers and their emotion regulation strategies should be critically examined in more perspective to prevent any frivolous conclusions In order to enhance the credibility of our results and

51 conclusions, we have strategically employed triangulation of data from diverse sources This method has not only fortified the validity of our findings but has also provided substantial reinforcement for our conclusions by amalgamating qualitative data This comprehensive approach has undoubtedly contributed to the robustness and reliability of our research outcomes.

The Research Setting

The present study was conducted at a university in Vietnam At this university, students who enrolled in programs where English is the instruction language of teaching were required to take the National High School Graduation Exam or their school records can be examined for the required GPA For freshmen and sophomore students who must use English in a university setting, the Academic English Program (AEP) was created to offer classes on subjects including academic English skills and presenting techniques as well as English for specific purposes to help students improve their academic language and literacy

In response to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, educational institutions embraced E-learning as a constructive and innovative solution to ensure continuity in student learning across all subjects This shift required teachers to adapt and invest additional time and effort to effectively engage with students in the digital realm The E-learning framework was thoughtfully designed to promote meaningful interaction between educators and students after regular school hours, providing comprehensive access to a wide array of educational resources, including reference materials, tests, quizzes, group assignments, and important announcements The diligent efforts of the Training Department in documenting these online exchanges served as a valuable foundation for future Education Accreditation processes Additionally, each teacher played a pivotal role in overseeing a class size of about 35 students, serving as a vital link between students and the university to address academic and administrative inquiries The use of the class Zalo group as a platform for discussing and resolving students' queries contributed to fostering an environment where continuous engagement and

52 informed learning were actively encouraged Furthermore, teachers' proactive outreach to parents to provide updates on their children's academic progress exemplified a constructive approach to fostering a supportive and communicative academic community

During the school year 2022–2023, the EFL teachers in this university taught 6-10 hours a week However, they had to be at the university from 7:00 to 18:00 every day They may occasionally be compelled to work within the period listed above, which was a typical working hour legislation in the majority of Vietnam's foundations and private universities Moreover, each teacher was advised to gain at least 52-training hours of different courses, such as Coursera, Microsoft Innovative Educator, so on Concerning the EFL teachers' workload, they are often scheduled for 20 teaching hours each week However, the amount of teaching time per week has been lowered to 6 to 10 hours during the academic year 2022–2023 due to the 200 hours of additional science research time every year The participant profile for the current study is presented in Table 3.2 in the next section.

Research Participants

The EFL teachers in this study had from 6 to 25 years of teaching experience The students were English majors and most of them were from various backgrounds and local areas in Vietnam These participants had roles and responsibilities in teaching and administrative duties within the faculty, such as supervising students, creating English language teaching materials over the books used in the programs, invigilating end-of- term exams, and teaching courses in a limited amount of time

The seven participants’ characteristics, experiences, and context aligned with the current research’s objectives to ensure the study's validity More importantly, their availability was a vital consideration because case studies involved in-depth and longitudinal research, which required the participants to be committed over a period of time For these reasons, purposive sampling was used (Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Patton,

2002) The recruitment of the seven EFL teachers in the current study was on purpose to gain such insights, purposive and to contribute to the richness of data collected and help increase the possibilities of uncovering multiple realities The seven participants have been briefed on the four methods for obtaining data and are eager to participate Additionally, they comprehend the significance of their contribution to scientific research, recognizing it as one of the most pivotal and obligatory academic pursuits at the university The participant profile is presented in Table 3.2 below:

Table 3.2 Demographic Information of the Participants

Gender Qualifications Age Years of teaching experience

1 Troy Male MA (TESOL) 51 24 Translation in business

3 Hannah Female MA (TESOL) 49 15 Teaching Methodology

4 Nicole Female MA (TESOL ) 33 10 Grammar

5 Helen Female MA (TESOL) 28 8 Phonetics

The seven Vietnamese EFL teachers took part in the study and one of the participants was male, while six were female The pronounced gender disparity observed in the sample was an unavoidable circumstance, primarily due to the overwhelming presence of women in the field of English language teaching throughout Vietnam This trend was especially evident at the research site, where the number of female educators far exceeded that of their male counterparts In this particular faculty of foreign languages, there were only four male teachers out of fifty females, highlighting the significant underrepresentation of men in this profession This gender imbalance is reflective of broader trends within the educational landscape in the country, where teaching roles in foreign languages are predominantly filled by women

The participants in the study were aged between 28 and 53 years old, and each of them possessed a Master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) This uniformity in educational background is significant, as it ensures that the

54 questions and topics explored during the research resonate deeply with all participants When everyone shares a similar level of expertise, they are more likely to engage meaningfully in discussions, allowing for the collection of richer and more insightful data Furthermore, individuals at the same educational level often encounter comparable challenges and emotional experiences within their professional environments By concentrating on a specific group, researchers can better understand the nuanced issues that are particularly relevant to that demographic This targeted approach not only enhances the depth of the findings but also provides a clearer perspective on the unique situations faced by these educators Ultimately, this focus leads to more precise and actionable insights that can benefit the wider field of TESOL Therefore, having all participants to have the same educational level can enhance the reliability and validity of the research findings, particularly in studies where educational context plays a significant role

Regarding the number of case participants, the study took into account diversity among the cases It followed the diversity principle in the sense that within the limited number of the population, the characteristics of candidate participants are also applied as the basis of selection, with a common aim to reflect the “diversity and breadth of the sample population” (Wilmot, 2005, p 3) To be more specific, the seven teachers varied in gender (one male and six females), age, teaching experience, subjects they were teaching, and classes they were teaching The number of participants in a case study can range from one to twelve (Wan, 2019) “In case of study research, the case number is often less than 12 and may even be a single case” (Campbell, 2015, p 202) provided that the number of participants meets characteristics identified by the researcher In the current study, the participants had to be EFL university teachers and volunteered to share their stories related to their emotions while teaching English.

Data Collection Instruments

To study EFL teachers' perspectives, the data were collected from video-recorded classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews, journal entries, and semi-structured

55 interviews Through an introspective approach, the researcher provided examples of stimulated recall interviews, journals, and in-depth interviews showing accounts of emotion regulation motives and strategies, meticulous examination of several instances within 45 minutes, and objective observations of emotion regulation This study aims to offer a comprehensive understanding of how EFL teachers regulate their negative emotions in a classroom environment The findings would pave the way for more effective and efficient methods of emotional regulation and help create a more positive and productive teaching and learning environment

This study aimed to explore EFL teachers’ emotions aroused while teaching English and provide an in-depth analysis of how participants regulate negative emotions Video recording of the classes while the teachers were teaching enabled data collection in the natural classroom setting Besides, videos “can tell stories and help us to understand what happened to the participants at the time of filming in a way that looks beyond language (Otrel-Cass, et al 2010, p 110) Since the study tried to explore the participants’ emotions, video recording enabled the study to capture the incidents that revealed the emotions of the classroom teachers Besides, the use of video recording in the current study was purposeful because of its advantage of folding back data to be observed by close attention (Pirie, 1996) together with the teacher participants in the stimulated recall interview

To ensure that the stimulated recall interview after the video recording was effective, the quality of the video is crucial (Gass & Mackey, 2017) With this in mind, the researcher recorded each class for the whole period to ensure a good length of time to capture the teachers’ emotions The teachers and the students were asked for consent to be recorded and requested to be natural in their classroom settings Besides, the researcher chose to use automatic video recordings on mobile phones to avoid making participants and students feel self-conscious since the camera was standing alone without

56 a cameraman to indicate the presence of an observer The goal was to minimize the impact of observation on the classroom and prioritize the comfort of everyone involved

In total, three video-recorded observations were made in the classes taught by each of the seven teachers Before the start of each class, the researcher arrived early, greeted the teachers and students, and took a seat on the side of the room to ensure clear visibility of both teachers and students in their lessons She was aware not to interfere with the natural classroom setting when she was the camera person

Stimulated recall interview (Appendix A) was used in the current study to provide a deeper understanding of how the teacher's emotions in educational settings It comprised two stages: observation and interview During the observation stage, the researcher recorded each teacher participant during his/her lesson After viewing the recordings, the researcher identified the incidents that showed the teachers’ emotions and invited the teacher to view the video recordings for recall stimulated interview This approach was to ask the teacher what emotion(s) he/she felt in the incidents and how the teacher regulated it

By adopting stimulated recall interviews, the researcher was able to gain valuable insights into what aroused the EFL teachers’ negative emotions in the classrooms, how they regulated negative emotions, and how emotion regulation strategies affect their teaching Two reasons stimulated recall is a crucial method for this study Firstly, it provides a unique way for the researcher to access data that would otherwise be unattainable through interviews alone, as noted by Gass and Mackey (2016) Secondly, it has the potential to reveal hidden testimonies According to Gkonou and Mercer (2017), it can make previously inaccessible habitual actions conscious for participants However, what makes this method particularly vital for our research is its ability to access participants' in-moment emotion regulation thought processes By following best practice guidelines recommended by Gass and Mackey (2016), the study ensured that each stimulated recall interview began with a clear explanation of how to focus on in-class

57 thoughts Additionally, we repeatedly clarified whether the unfolding testimony was being recalled from the past or reflected on from the present, to ensure the most accurate results Using this approach, the study would gain invaluable insights into how individuals regulate their emotions in real-time situations The findings would contribute to a deeper understanding of EFL teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation

The purpose of the journal was to capture the teachers’ reflections and explanations for the emotions that they encountered in their teaching in the classes, why they had those emotions, and how they handled the negative emotions In addition, the role of the journal, which should follow the process model of emotion regulation (Gross, 1998), is to get the teachers to describe what is happening in their classes, how they assess and feel about what is happening, and the reasoning behind their assessments This method of study involved soliciting and documenting a narrative or set of incidents to understand the teachers' emotions in specific situations (Murray, 2009) to meet the objectives of the current study

The researcher intended to study the feelings that EFL instructors experience and why they feel that way by asking EFL teachers to relate stories about their classroom teaching (Appendix B) Each participant wrote 3 journals (after their teaching was recorded) A journal writing frame is comparable to a semi-structured interview in that it allows the participant to elaborate on the researcher's remarks Participants, on the other hand, have a greater way to give information in their frame than in an interview, when evading or sidestepping potentially face-threatening questions might be difficult Furthermore, unlike traditional interviews, completing these frames at their own convenient time allows the participants to dwell more deeply on their mood in the current situation

In-depth interview was applied to elicit teachers' emotions in the language classrooms and focused on understanding and interpreting phenomena of teachers’ emotions in their natural classroom settings It aims to explore and gain insights into individuals' experiences, behaviors, and perspectives through non-numerical data such as interviews and textual analysis (Creswell, 2009; Mills & Morton, 2013) The research method of interview enabled a more comprehensive exploration of their emotions in the classroom and encouraged participants’ explanations of their emotions

An in-depth interview was employed in this study (Bryman, 2006; Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009) as this would elicit in-depth responses from EFL teachers and enable the researcher to address the research questions (see Appendix C) The advantages of employing this type of interview are first, that the interviewer does not have to follow some set questions in a rigid order and second, the interviewer may ask additional questions to help the interviewee to understand fully and answer the questions adequately (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007) The interview questions focused on exploring EFL teachers’ emotions in the classroom, both negative and positive, and the appropriate strategies they applied as emotion regulation

In-depth interviews are conducted to comprehend other people's lived experiences and the meaning they attach to them, as indicated by Van Manen (1990) It is important to remember that no one can fully comprehend another person One can try to comprehend others by understanding their behavior even while they are aware of the limitations of doing so These activities or behaviors can be observed through observation, allowing one to gain an observational understanding of the performance (Schutz, 1972) To completely grasp the performer's behavior, a subjective understanding of the performance should be obtained as this understanding as a result of the observation may not correlate to how the performer views her/his behavior In other words, it is also necessary to consider the significance the performer assigns to their action In this way,

59 the interviewing technique enables the questioner to access the context of people's conduct to comprehend the significance of that behavior (Seidman, 2006)

In qualitative research, there are several ways to characterize people's experiences, including through personal and organizational documents, observation, questionnaires, and surveys However, the interview was chosen because the purpose of the current study is to comprehend the meaning the participants derive from their experience, then this perspective must be included

The seven EFL instructors in this study took part in in-depth interviews and one-on- one interviews With the in-depth interviews, it is possible to describe and comprehend the EFL teachers' objectives and beliefs for emotional regulation as well as the techniques they use to control their emotions by only looking at how they interpret their own experiences Additionally, when comparing an interview to observation as a qualitative method, the interviewer "has better control over the types of information received, because the interviewer can ask specific questions to elicit this information" (Creswell & Creswell, 2017, p.226) Clarifying and elaborating queries were employed in this study to elicit more data, making interviews the most effective strategy

One-on-one interviews were used in the current study since they allowed the researcher to communicate directly to each participant about their emotions, something many individuals find difficult to discuss, and because each participant had a different level of familiarity with the researcher Blichfeldt and Heldbjerg (2011) stated that "the process of understanding has its precondition in the relations, dialogs, trust, and confidence established beforehand to generate a common and shared understanding of the situation/phenomenon in question" (p 11)

Procedure for implementing the case study

Doing a case study is to tell a story and the steps in the current case study were adapted from Guba and Lincoln (1994) It was first to describe the protagonist, their profile, the key problems and issues, the background information, and relevant facts to understand the case, presenting triangulated data and reflections/discussions on cases The following diagram shows the procedure in the current study:

Figure 3.3 The Case Study Procedure (Adapted from Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Roell,

It is understood that emotion regulation is only sometimes a characteristic of language teacher training or reflective practice As a result, some people may have limited understanding and experience with emotion control in their professional and personal lives Secondly, emotions are a touchy subject Many people find it difficult to communicate emotional concerns and challenges with close friends and family, and I was well aware that I would be asking the participants to address topics that may be embarrassing or even unpleasant

To address these two difficulties, an extensive piloting procedure was conducted between September 20th and September 30th, 2023, with one EFL teacher participating in the qualitative pilot research This teacher shared similar characteristics to the participants in the main study The pilot participant was recorded in her classroom teaching, participated in the stimulated recall interview, wrote journals, and answered the in-depth interview to see whether the tools were able to elicit data to answer the research questions and whether the questions were clear to the participant The piloting phase resulted in various adjustments, including revisions to the question types of interviews and journals The contents of the tools revised for data collection for the main study are presented in the following sections

The main study was carried out as follows

The goal of including the EFL teachers in the study is to make the findings as applicable to the university setting as feasible The goals and advantages of the study were explained to the participants in order to persuade them to take part Participants' real names were substituted throughout the study with a numerical code to create a pseudonym The participants' privacy was protected by this numerical code The researcher was the only one who knew the participants' code number The study was further explained to the participants if they required it, either in person, over the phone,

62 or by email Participants received guarantees that no data from this study would be used for evaluations and that all data would be kept private

The researcher was fortunate to conduct a contact visit to them in the office to describe the research idea without having to rely on third parties The contact visits reduced time and allowed the researcher to explain the study briefly and concisely The EFL teachers were then welcomed to the study with "seriousness but friendliness of tone, purposefulness but flexibility of approach, and openness but conciseness of presentation" (Seidman, 2006, p.47) The purpose of the study was described, and what was required of them was made clear The time and location of each participant's classroom recordings stimulated recall interviews, and interviews were chosen after evaluating whether the potential participants were interested because this visit also started the voluntary participation process The informed consent form was also given to the participants for signature before the main data collection process

For classroom recording, to acquire detailed information, the researcher diligently conducted three observations during each class Before the start of each class, the researcher arrived punctually, warmly greeted the teachers and students, and took a seat on the side of the room to ensure an unobstructed view of both teachers and students To gain a better understanding of the emotions displayed and regulated by each participant, the researcher used a tripod-mounted camera to record the class activities without disrupting the teacher and students After confirming the camera was functioning properly, the researcher temporarily left the class and returned after 50 minutes This meticulous approach facilitated an in-depth evaluation of the participants' behaviors, allowing for a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the subject matter

For stimulated recall interviews, the researcher proceeded to one of the empty classrooms as a location for both the researcher and the teacher to look at only the video incidents with the teacher’s captured emotions for the stimulated recall interview The participants were given the choice of languages either in Vietnamese or in English With

63 their consent, the participants allowed for the use of a mobile phone to record both the stimulated recall interviews and later in-depth interviews The interviews ranged in length from roughly 45 minutes to 60 minutes Table 2 provides the stimulated recall interview schedule and interview duration

Table 3.3 The Stimulated Recall Interview Schedule and the Duration of the Interviews

Following the stimulated recall interviews, the researcher asked seven participants to write their journals, and their reflecting ideas on positive and negative emotions they encountered in their class in intervals as two sessions in a week The EFL teachers wrote and reflected on what they felt, both positive and negative cases with the strategies they utilized while they taught English during their classes for 5-10 minutes at the end of each session

Finally, in-depth interviews were carried out Each participant was interviewed about 30 minutes in Vietnamese The mobile phone was used to audio-record each in- depth interview.

Data analysis

In this study, a variety of qualitative data sources were employed These included recorded classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and journal entries The data collection period spanned four weeks, from October 20 to November 20, 2023 This

64 section will delve into the specifics of how the gathered data were examined and analyzed

During the time of the data collection phase, the researcher also embarked on the analysis process First, all audio recordings were transcribed verbatim Subsequently, the classroom recordings were transcribed, and the transcripts in Vietnamese were meticulously translated into English Finally, these translated transcripts were organized and compiled in a Microsoft Word document for further examination and study

To select the extracts for analysis of the teachers’ emotions while teaching, the current study adopted the principles of critical incident selection by Woolsey (2011) The two principles proposed by Woolsey (2011) emphasized, that “factual reports of behaviors are preferable to ratings and opinions based on general impressions and that only behaviors which make a significant contribution to the activity should be included” (p 244) In the current study, first, the classroom recordings were examined to look for the incidents that showed the teachers’ emotions while teaching and those emotional behaviors expressed the teachers’ either positive or negative emotions To be more specific, first, the researcher viewed and reviewed the videos of the observed classes The incidents in which the teacher smiled, frowned, looked happy or unhappy were compared with their language use in the transcript of the classroom recording If both sources indicated certain emotions as described in the section of the teachers’ emotions in the literature review chapter, then the incidents on the videos were noted together with the information of the times that the incidents happened Then, the teachers recorded on those videos were invited to the stimulated recall interviews for further exploration of their emotions and emotion regulation Secondly, these incidents were used to ask the teachers about the strategies to deal with negative emotions and how the regulation contributed to their English teaching in the classroom Selecting extracts by the principles of critical incident selection by Woolsey (2011) allows the study to capture significant emotional incidents for analysis to reveal what pictures the EFL teachers experienced and how they regulated them

A thorough procedure of data coding and topic identification was used to enter the data from recorded classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews, journals, and in- depth interview transcriptions The coding framework which was revised and adapted from Gross (1998, 2015) is presented in the table below

The Coding Framework in the Current Study

Explanation Examples from the current study’s data

Adapted in the current study:

Situation modification is a technique that involves taking actions to directly alter a situation and change its emotional impact It is used to adjust external stimuli and effectively alter emotions in real-time For instance, EFL teachers in a classroom can use situation modification to reduce negative feelings by shortening a tedious task

To overcome negative emotions when teaching in today's classroom, I organized entertaining group activities and create funny examples for students to reduce stress and relax both the lecturer and students During that time, I also focused on some English knowledge that the students had not yet caught up with to re-guide and clarify the topics that the students were still confused about

Adapted in the current study:

By consciously choosing where we direct our attention, we can influence our emotional response positively

For example, EFL teachers can consciously redirect their attention from a distracted, off-task student, reducing irritation, to a diligent, hardworking student, or to the lesson he/she is teaching

I did not feel good about the student’s failure to answer my question but I explained the grammatical point again and continued the lesson

Adapted in the current study:

Reappraisal is a strategy for cognitive change Teachers reinterpret emotional events and direct attention away from an emotional stimulus For example, EFL teachers may use these techniques to reduce frustration with an off-task student by intentionally considering the student's background and circumstances By reminding themselves that the student may be facing significant busyness or stress,

The fact that some students were late and some of them seemed tired made me a bit angry at first, and also because I was a bit tired today But I learn to forget and be tolerant I don't have to bring my ego in too much to be able to teach those students in class

Of course, learning outcomes must be given top priority, it helps me focus on the lecture and quickly forget that

66 interpreting emotional incidents the teachers can avoid responding with counterproductive negative emotions discomfort

Adapted in the current study:

By utilizing response modification techniques, teachers take control of their emotions and navigate challenging situations with clarity and confidence

Expression: For example, to maintain a calm and productive learning environment, a teacher may choose to step out of the classroom for a brief period during moments of heightened anger or frustration and react to student’s misbehavior Teachers can punish a wrong behavior

Suppression: The power to halt ongoing emotional expression For example, teachers hide the expressional component of an emotion Teachers may want to disguise their displeasure from the class by assuming a neutral expression

The warning was a way to make students pay attention to the lesson I warned the students to help me reduce the unpleasant emotions in the class

I should not let negative emotions get too high, because it will make me angry and have harsh attitudes and words

Gross (1998, 2015) presented five steps in his emotion regulation model: situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation In the current study, the process was adapted to be suitable for classroom teaching where the first step is classroom teaching and teachers do not select situations to associate their emotions with Thus, the current study has only four steps and they are renamed to be suitable for the context of teaching Thus, the coding starts with attention deployment in which the teachers re-direct their attention to a classroom situation that aroused their feelings In the second step, they need to focus on the teaching situation in which they had to adjust their teaching methods Next, in step three, they made some cognitive changes or reappraisals This category is renamed as re-interpreting emotional

67 incidents In the last step, teachers could have some response modification either expressing their emotions or suppressing them.

The Role of the Researcher

In this study, the researcher followed with the adaption of the instructions on the role of the researcher in the case study suggested by Yin (2009, p 69) First, the researcher was an investigator prepared to ask good questions and interpret the answers related to the teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation she was aware to maintain to be a good listener during the stimulated recall interviews and in-depth interviews the researcher was cautious not to be trapped by my ideologies or preconceptions She read and reread the literature on EFL teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation and the theoretical framework to have a firm grasp of the issues being studied In the data analysis step, she tried to be unbiased by preconceived notions by staying focused on the aims of the study and the theoretical framework used in the current study Finally, the researcher often reminded herself to be sensitive and responsive to contradictory evidence if any given by the participants

One positive aspect of the data collection process was the strong rapport between the participants and the researcher, which facilitated their willingness to support the research efforts and be recorded in the classroom However, there were instances where the recordings lacked sufficient interaction between the teachers and students, such as capturing only student presentations or teacher lectures without showcasing the teacher's emotions Consequently, it was necessary to redo some of the recordings.

Trustworthiness of the Current Study

Since the current study was designed as a case study, it sought measures to enhance its trustworthiness to ensure the accuracy and reliability of its findings To be more specific, it applied the four criteria including reliability, confirmability, dependability, and transferability for case studies suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985)

First, regarding reliability, the researcher was aware not be biased by her subjective when reporting the narratives of the case teachers The researcher took great care to avoid being swayed by personal beliefs or preconceived notions She dedicated time to thoroughly review the literature on EFL teachers’ emotions and emotion regulation, as well as the theoretical framework, in order to gain a deep understanding of the issues being studied Specifically, she remained focused on the study's objectives and the theoretical framework, ensuring an unbiased approach During the data analysis process, the researcher followed strictly the codes and the analysis framework The coding and re- coding process was checked several times to ensure data trustworthiness

After data collection, the study's participants, the EFL teachers, were approached to verify the veracity of the conclusions reached through the stimulated recall interview and in-depth interviews In other words, the interview transcript was sent back to them for an accuracy check When doing the study, the researcher established trust with the participants to understand them and to draw significant conclusions from the data

Second, confirmability of the current study was ensured so that the conclusions of the current study were drawn based on respondents' experiences and opinions as opposed to the researcher's biases, preconceptions, and presumptions (Guba, 1981) In this way, the current research validity was also strengthened in trustworthiness The researcher was aware that she must not “distort” participants’ meanings and the interpretation and conclusions or claims must be supported with different quoted and illustrated sources of data (Mishler, 1990)

Third, regarding dependability, the current study made sure that the study was set out with a thorough study design of a case study with the execution using a sequential mixed-method triangulation strategy In this study, the researcher made sure that the study’s technique and procedures were well-documented, in other words, its dependability was enhanced

Lastly, to realize the transferability of the current study, the study's findings and conclusions regarding teachers' objectives and methods for regulating their emotions while teaching to be used in different contexts, the extensive description of the research situation, classroom settings, the teachers’ profiles, and the how data were collected in these settings were provided to enable comparison and contrast the current study with other comparable contexts.

Ethical considerations

Regarding research ethics, the researcher was aware that the participation of the EFL teachers was voluntary and they would be treated with respect and their identities were kept confidential

To invite the participants, at the beginning of the data collection time, a consent form explaining the research purposes and the confidentiality of the participants was given to the participants to sign (see Appendix D) if they agreed to participate in the study They were made aware of the goals of the study from the outset and their entitlement to assistance if they suffered harm as a result of or in connection with the study They were also told that neither the research subjects nor the findings would hurt their teaching career

For data collection from classroom recordings, the researcher assured the participants that their images while teaching in the classrooms would not be used for data analysis and their emotions during teaching were referred to for the research purpose only They were also assured to teach as naturally as possible as they usually did in their classes because there was no need to alter the process for any other reasons

The participants' responses to the stimulate recall interview and in-depth interviews were transcribed and sent back to them for content accuracy checking All the data sources used pseudonyms to protect the participants' identities

Summary

The justification for using the qualitative methodologies in this case study is presented in the current chapter It also explains the selection process for the seven participants who worked at a private institution in Vietnam with data collection including classroom recording, stimulated recall interview, journal, and in-depth interview The next chapter will present the study’s findings for each case

This chapter presents the findings about the emotions and emotion regulation of EFL teachers It highlights the relevant features of EFL teachers' positive and negative emotions, such as happiness, enthusiasm, disappointment, unpleasantness, anger, and irritation The chapter also displays the teachers' responses and reflections on the emotion regulation strategies they applied while teaching English Data were collected from video recordings of the classes taught by the EFL teachers to identify the incidents leading to their emotions Additionally, data were extracted from the participants’ reflections in the stimulated recall interviews, journals, and interviews to examine their emotion regulation (ER) and the perceived impact of emotion regulation on their English teaching.

EFL teachers’ emotions while teaching English in the classrooms

This section presents the findings on the seven teachers' positive and negative emotions as shown in the video recordings and from their responses in the stimulated recall interviews while watching the videos with the researcher, their journals, and interviews again later on

Troy is a male EFL teacher and has worked at the research site for 12 years He got a Master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) seven years ago In his university, although there are no display rules stated publicly, most teachers realize that their pedagogical practice would be negatively affected if they got bad evaluations/feedback from students through the QR codes available on the classroom doors and windows Therefore, in combination with the primary goal of supporting students’ academic knowledge, the teachers at the research site have to remind themselves to adjust emotions as well as teaching practice regularly to enhance the expected teaching outcome In this chapter, the data were collected from three classes taught by Troy Two classes were scheduled in the early afternoon and the other was in

72 the late afternoon when more students in the classroom were caught reluctant and passive

In the following section, the recorded classroom observation transcripts were carefully examined for elements that contribute to various types of emotions that Troy experienced

4.1.1.1 Troy’s positive emotions while teaching English in the classrooms

Overall, the positive emotion experienced and reported by Troy included pleasantness and happiness The recording was done with the three classes taught by Troy in one afternoon In one class, Troy started his teaching with pleasantness with his smile on his face as showed in the video when he paid a compliment to students’ translation:

Teacher: Read the word curriculum

Teacher: OK, that is so good that you pronounced the word correctly

Later in the stimulated recall interview, when asked what made him smile in the video for Extract 1, Troy said that he felt happy because the students were able to pronounce the word correctly and that he had the desire to support his students with all of his knowledge

When students come to class, I will teach them with all my heart and I don't blame them Besides, usually I ask myself what did I to attract them, did I care about them enough

However, the recordings of the classes taught by Troy did not show any further pleasant moments with Troy during teaching In the in-depth interview, when asked about his general feelings about teaching English, he shared,

I put in a lot of effort to prepare a lesson plan and make teaching and learning a pleasant experience for both me and the students However, I couldn't help but feel disappointed and frustrated with my students' irresponsible attitude towards learning I expect students to take their studies seriously, c it will help them in the long run Therefore, students must understand the importance of being responsible and putting in the necessary effort to succeed academically (Interview, Troy) it will help them in the long run Therefore, students must understand the importance of being responsible and putting in the necessary effort to succeed academically (Interview, Troy)

In general, the positive emotions for Troy comprised reported and recorded pleasantness and happiness but expressed in few incidents It could be that Troy showed more positive emotions in the other classes when he was teaching the students and the lessons that motivated him However, the data collected for the classes just recorded only one incident of his positive emotion The following section presents Troy’s negative emotions during teaching English in the classrooms

4.1.1.2 Troy’s negative emotions due to students’ discipline matters

At the beginning of one class taught by Troy, some students were late, stepping into the class one by one A student asked Troy for permission to enter the class after stating the reason that she was sick He found her words were unbelievable because this was not the first time she was late for the same reason The transcript in extract 1 indicates some minor irritations of the teacher when the female student was late for class:

Teacher: Are you sick? You are not bored with being sick week by week, are you?

Stop your sickness! Come in, quickly Do you have to resit the Business Reading final exam? Where are you rushing from?

Student: I am from home, sir

Some minutes later, another student entered and interrupted Troy’s teaching She asked for permission to enter the class After Troy asked her how many times she was absent, she used her fingers on both hands to count However, she could not answer the teacher’s question Troy was unpleasant when the student did not show her self-discipline and self- responsibility Again, the teacher used his words sarcastically to talk to the student to express his unpleasant emotion

Teacher: Hi, the newcomer, are you Vy? How many classes have you missed? Oh my God, she is counting All the fingers are not enough Then do you have to use the segments of the fingers? Counting like pressing for fortune telling!

In the stimulated recall interview, when asked how he felt about the incident in the video, Troy said he was angry about the student’s lack of self-discipline and self-responsibility

In the same class, after Troy finished checking attendance, another student entered the class This student was late for many times The transcript in Extract 3 indicates some anger of the teacher when he saw the student coming late The teacher showed irritation and punished the student by checking him absent that day

Teacher: Uh, why are you always so late day by day? Reason? Overslept? I check you are absent today

Similar to the incident recorded in extract 4, Troy said in the stimulated recall interview that the student in extract 4 was late so many times, which made him angry, and checked the student's absence on that day

In another class, after the teacher had been teaching for about nearly 15 minutes, then a student came in Troy was asking students to work in groups and it was just in time for

75 this late student to find a partner and start working in pairs Troy was unpleasant; however, he directed his attention to the current class activity

Emotion regulation strategies used by EFL teachers while teaching English in the

This section presents the findings for the second research question related to EFL teachers' emotion regulation strategies while teaching English in the classrooms The strategies used and their frequency are presented in the summary in Table 4.2 below and details about the strategy use and frequency are presented in the finding for each case of the participant

Table 4.1 Summary of Reported Frequency of Emotion Regulation Strategies Used by EFL Teachers

Troy Tracy Hannah Nicole Helen Tyra Phoebe

Besides, the extracts showing the negative emotions are summarized in Table 4.2 below The purpose of the summary is for reference to the extracts that are analyzed in this section

Table 4.2 Summary of the Extracts from the Classroom Recordings

Teacher Extracts showing negative emotions due to students’ discipline matters (Extract numbers)

Extracts showing negative emotions due to students’ English learning

4.2.1 Troy’s emotion regulation while teaching English in the classrooms

The following section presents the findings related to how Troy regulates his emotions while teaching English It should be noted that only negative emotions are to be regulated (Gross, 2015)

4.2.1.1 Troy’s emotion regulation by re-directing attention (Attentional deployment)

According to Gross (2015), attentional deployment is shifting our focus toward or away from a specific source of emotion, we can gain better control over our feelings In the current study, attentional deployment is renamed re-directing attention to be suitable for the context of teaching in the classroom where teachers have to pay attention to students’ learning

As seen from Extracts 2 and 3 in the previous section, Troy was annoyed by students coming to classes late and made up reasons for their late appearance In such incidents, Troy chose to overlook misbehavior as he reported in the stimulated recall interview, because he did not want to disturb the overall working atmosphere in the class

I generally decided to overlook the misbehavior of those students instead of having a spontaneous emotional reaction (Stimulated recall interview, Troy)

When reflecting on his teaching, Troy further emphasized the crucial role of lesson planning in achieving successful teaching outcomes By prioritizing the lesson plan, Troy could ensure that he was delivering high-quality content that would benefit all students

In contrast, paying too much attention to students' lateness can detract from the main objective of the lesson Therefore, according to him, it is essential to focus on the lesson plan to maximize learning opportunities for all students

4.2.1.2 Troy’s emotion regulation by re-interpreting emotional incidents (Reappraisal strategy)

Reappraisal strategy is often employed after attentional deployment and it is a cognitive modification used to suppress negative emotions (Gross, 1998b, 2014; Bielak & Mystkowska- Wiertelak, 2020) When using the reappraisal strategy, individuals intentionally reinterpret emotional incidents and direct his/her attention away from an emotional stimulus In the current study, reappraisal is renamed as re-interpreting emotional incidents

For the incident that students came to class late, Troy wrote in his journal with his reasons:

The fact that some students were late and some seemed tired made me a bit angry at first, and also because I was a bit tired today But I learn to forget and be tolerant I don't have to bring my ego in too much to be able to teach those students in class Of course, learning outcomes must be given top priority, it helps me focus on the lecture and quickly forget that discomfort (Journal, Troy)

In the stimulated recall interview, Troy also admitted to loving his students He tried to re-direct his emotions to overcome their unacceptable behaviors and irresponsibility

Only with love for the students and forgiveness was I able to keep my temper down and allow the students who were often late to get into the classroom that day (Stimulated recall interview, Troy)

In the in-depth interview, Troy explained how he readjusted his thinking to respond to his emotions

I agree that at that time I wanted to see that student fail That means I see that person paying the price But later I asked the question: What do I get from doing this? What will that price lead to now? That thought is very wrong and unworkable Because I follow Buddhism, I believe in karma If I have a mind like this now that I teach other people's children, my children will have the same problem when they go to school in the future, and it will be even worse (In-depth interview, Troy)

Troy's answer in the interview indicates a person's background also impacts how he/she works on their emotional reactions in certain situations

The students in Extracts 6 and 7 were looking at their mobile phones during the lessons, which made Troy unhappy In the stimulated recall interview and journal, Troy

114 explained that he chose to focus on the lesson instead of questioning the students about their misbehavior Explaining his emotion, Troy wrote,

I am easily impacted by students’ misbehaviors because I'm used to putting my mind on the outcome of the lecture, not on myself or how I feel Moreover, my professional attitude in class does not allow those emotions to affect my teaching (Journal, Troy)

Responding to the questions about how he felt in the incidents in extracts 8 and 9 Troy said he considered learners’ characteristics to understand the students and overcome unpleasant emotions while teaching Troy also shared his similar viewpoint in the stimulated recall interview and journal entry after teaching

I also decided to turn a blind eye to the students’ using mobile phones because I knew that students belonged to Generation Z who are often characterized as lazy and dependent on technology (Journal, Troy)

Similarly, he shared his opinion in the in-depth interview

I intentionally let negative emotions pass quickly As for the students holding their phones, I don't think it's because they're holding their phones to play, but students in my class are allowed to use their phones to look up words And I constantly remind them not to use Facebook If those students can't do it and I see them not concentrating, I will have a way to help them concentrate more, which is to answer if they can't do it then stand If you can answer, then sit idle (Interview, Troy)

In extracts 13 and 14, Troy reminded the students who looked tired and reluctant To help himself deal with the negative emotions, Troy considered learners’ characteristics

In the stimulated recall interview and journal after teaching, Troy considered students as his relatives who would gain benefits from his teaching

I was about to strike back when I thought that their academic level was rather low, and they were teens, so this kind of behavior is natural at their age Just this helped me calm down (Stimulated recall interview, Troy)

I realize that this issue is a common personality trait of students at a certain age Considering them as my niece or nephew can help me win any aroused negative emotion (Journal, Troy)

Also, in the journal, Troy emphasized the priority of the teaching outcomes, enabling him to deal with students’ bad discipline and irresponsibility

Perceived impact of emotion regulation on EFL teachers’ English teaching

This section presents the findings for the third research question about the perceived impact of emotion regulation on the English teaching of the seven teachers Data were collected from the reflections of the teachers in their journal entries and in-depth interviews

4.3.1 Perceived impact of emotion regulation on Troy’s English teaching

As seen from Extracts 2-6, Troy experienced some negative emotions ranging from annoyance, anger, and irritation In the journals and interviews, he reflected on how these emotions impacted his English teaching Sharing the feeling in the stimulated recall interview, Troy admitted that regulating negative emotions while teaching could help him,

Emotion regulation could help me maintain my teaching at a rather self-controlled mood I also felt relief because I could gain my teaching outcome on that day and the students could gain something useful after each class However, with the situation in extract 3, I still felt ưoried because the student did not show any improvement after being late for school many times

Troy realized that his well-being is connected with his emotion regulation, which helped him teach better

Regarding experiences of how I manage myself emotionally, I have learned from my ways to keep myself positive in various situations In the future, when I teach,

I will try to take them as an example and research and apply them to make my teaching work better I have changed, I have become calmer, more tolerant, and control my ego in the lectures” (Journal, Troy,)

For other incidents (Extracts 8-16) when the students did not focus on the lessons, Troy’s reflections on his emotion regulation incidents indicate that his adjusted his attention to change from a negative to a positive mood to create a more favorable learning environment for his students

After regulating negative emotions, I forgot that uncomfortable feeling and the class was more effective than I thought at first (Journal, Troy)

Troy used various ways from teaching adjustment and re-directing attention to reappraisal strategies to ensure a healthy environment for his students In the journal, he wrote,

“It's clear that emotion regulation helps me gain more energy to care for students, guide them little by little, show them the good things to do, and then share their knowledge and experience” (Journal, Troy)

In the in-depth interview, Troy expressed his preference for showing his emotions instead of hiding them and continuous reappraisal can benefit teachers and students

Most of the students will understand that this teacher teaches, now he wants to make us better and those students will cooperate with me, and even during my class, they were very excited, and the students were able to correct their lack of concentration in that teacher's class (In-depth interview, Troy)

In general, Troy experienced various forms of emotions and the negative ones were because of students’ discipline matters, lack of focus, and failure to give correct answers related to English subjects He was aware of keeping calm to continue teaching but in

137 one case he was annoyed, he used response modification He admitted that emotion regulation was for the sake of effective English teaching and for both teachers and students to feel good

4.3.2 Perceived impact of emotion regulation on Tracy’s English teaching

Tracy also emphasized the importance of teachers’ positive emotions during teaching because it was to transfer good energy to students

A positive attitude can help both teachers and students have a happy and effective end-of-semester class session as expected My positive attitude of the lecturer energized the students and the students in the class (Journal, Tracy)

In Tracy’s opinion, a relaxing atmosphere in the classroom can provide opportunities for students to take part in learning activities and improve their knowledge

I am deeply motivated by the enthusiasm my students bring to the classroom I firmly believe that by creating a fun and relaxed atmosphere, students are more likely to engage with the material and retain what they learn That's why I approach each lecture with a cheerful demeanor, fully committed to making the learning process as enjoyable as possible (In-depth interview, Tracy)

In response to the incident in Extract 24 when the students were passive and unattentive to the lesson but surfing on their mobile phones, Tracy said in the stimulated recall interview after teaching that the way she balanced her emotions was for the teaching and learning process in which she could maintain her teaching at a rather self- controlled mood

Tracy thought that unless she changed her mood, she could make students join the lessons She shared her opinion in the journal

The teacher’s enthusiastic attitude will gradually spread to the students and eventually, the whole class will become excited under the influence of the magnetic force from the heart of the lecturer (Journal, Tracy)

Similarly, Tracy reported in her journal that she calmly acknowledged the classroom situation and self-regulated her emotions to overcome initial negative emotions as part of her teaching career Thanks to applying emotion regulation, Tracy realized, “Overtime, I can speak with confidence that my ability to regulate my emotions is much better now, especially when compared with my first two years of teaching With the teaching sessions from today, I could easily read what I was feeling and what I needed to do” (Journal, Tracy)

After all, according to Tracy, her well-being is important because it affects the students in her classes She wrote,

Calmly acknowledging the classroom situation and self-regulating my emotions helped me overcome initial negative emotions, and create positive energy for myself, which can be passed on to students so that both teachers and students can have a happy and effective end-of-semester class session as expected (Journal,

Discussion

4.4.1 EFL Teachers’ emotions while teaching English in the classrooms

The results of the first research question related to the kinds of emotions experienced by EFL teachers while teaching in the classrooms indicate that they reported having both positive and negative emotions while teaching English in the classrooms As described in the literature review of this thesis, Sutton and Wheatley (2003) classified positive emotions as happiness, pride, and pleasure, which tend to lead to the development of more innovative teaching ideas and techniques Similarly, Wang and Derakhshan (2021) described the constructs of EFL teachers’ positive emotions which comprised joy, love, resilience, optimism, engagement, passion, and enjoyment that can be developed their classroom performance and solve many educational problems In contrast, Cowie (2003) classified frustration, disappointment, and anger as negative emotions of TEFL teachers Other forms of negative emotions experienced by EFL teachers included anger, anxiety, shame, and boredom (Heydarnejad et al., 2017)

First, regarding positive emotions in teaching English to the EFL teachers in the current study, the videos of the classrooms showed incidents in which the teachers said words or expressions of happiness or pleasure in teaching In the interviews and journals, the teachers said that they were that they were aware of maintaining positive emotions before and during lessons To be more specific, all the teachers Troy, Tyra, Hannah, Nicole, Helen, Phoebe, and Tracy were aware and reported that they tried to uphold happy, positive, and pleasant emotions to make themselves feel good to teach and to make students comfortable to study English with them Ideologically, the teachers had an internal drive to make themselves happy with their teaching However, in reality, when teaching large size classes in which students had the hidden power to rate the teachers and evaluate them as well as other student-related factors that might influence the teachers’ status and incomes, the teachers reported facing the challenges of dealing with late comers to the classes, unprepared students for the lessons, and passive participants in the English classes, all the teachers were observed and reported to experienced unpleasantness, anger, disappointment, and irritation The factors leading to the negative emotions could be different among the teachers It could be the Vietnamese cultural elements, for example, keeping face and maintaining the upheld images of the teachers in the classrooms as the role models of behaviors that made the teachers suppress their disappointment or anger in the videos Instead, they mentioned those negative emotions in their journals and interviews Besides, it could be due to the fact that when the experienced the negative emotions, the incidents were rather unusual and unexpected to them; thus, they reported the negative emotions more often than the positive ones

4.4.2 Factors arousing EFL teachers’ emotions while teaching English in the classrooms

In this study, the definition of emotion is re-defined from that of Schutz and Lanehart (2002) It is a teacher’s cognitive interpretations and assessments of particular

149 situations that are the foundation of the teaching process Teachers’ emotions encompass both positive and negative ones as discussed in section 4.4.1 The former includes happiness, pride, and pleasure, and the latter consists of feelings like fear, anger, guilt, and boredom

First, the recordings extracted from the videos of the classroom teaching of the seven teachers indicate that teachers experienced various forms of emotions The most dominant kind is related to students’ discipline matters as shown in extracts 2-7 in the classes taught by Troy, extracts 25-26 by Hannah, extract 28 by Nicole, and extract 32 by Helen To be more specific, students’ discipline matters aroused emotions of irritation, mild anger, and disappointment in the teachers Besides, the observed teachers revealed similar forms of emotions of being upset, disappointed, and negative feelings when the students did not pay due attention nor engage in the lessons as the teachers expected Extracts 8-21, 24, 27, 29-31, 33-34, 36-37, 39-40 recorded in the classes taught by the EFL teachers indicated various emotions aroused in them In addition, when students were unable to give correct answers to the questions during the lessons, or when they repeated mistakes the teachers felt unhappy and disappointed

Other kinds of emotions that could not be captured from the transcript of the classroom recordings involved teachers’ motions due to workload and technical issues in their working environments In the journals of Tyra and Phoebe, the teachers reported those problems but they were considered to be minor in comparison with problems related to students’ discipline matters in the classrooms

Overall, it could be explained that the teachers’ emotions were cognitive and assessment processes While teaching, they observed the students’ behaviors and interpreted and assessed of the classroom situations in which they were influenced by students emotionally as pointed out by Schutz and Lanehart (2002) Concerning the causes seen from the recorded classroom observations, most of the extracts were from students’ lack of engagement in the English-related lessons that ranged from learning Englishgrammar, vocabulary, syntax, semantics, interpretation, and translation and their

150 discipline matters These findings were confirmed by the teachers’ reflections in their journals where all of the recorded EFL teachers admitted their disappointment and negative emotions because of students’ lack of attention in the classroom and using mobile phones for their purposes, which were characterized as Generation Z who are commonly criticized for being sluggish and reliant on technology in the classrooms (Miller & Mills, 2019; Mosca et al., 2019)

Ngo (2024) found that student-related factors lead to teachers’ negative emotions The current study however added more insights from the triangulated data source from classroom recordings, stimulated recall interviews, journals, and interviews While Ngo solely relied on interview data, the current study validated the factors arousing teachers’ emotions more solidly, and thus revealing more realistic emotions of EFL teachers during English teaching To be more specific, the incidents showing positive and negative emotions of the teachers captured on the video recordings were then viewed by the researcher and the teachers The teachers then explained how and why they expressed the emotions at those times in the classrooms They also wrote about their emotions in the journals

In this study, most of the data of the study were taken from the recorded class observations It is commonly known that the quality of education mainly occurs in the classroom where the interaction between teachers and students is considered a paramount factor in promoting teaching-learning activities, which leads to the desired teaching outcomes (Li & Yang, 2021; Weizheng, 2019) At first glance, the seven participants in the study tried to control their emotions as one of the decisive factors leading to a successful teaching hour However, in some situations, extrinsic factors such as students’ misbehaviors and a lack of engagement navigated EFL teachers’ emotions to an uncontrolled state which needed a timely adjustment for the expected teaching outcome at the end Most of the EFL teachers in the study chose to hide their disappointment to encourage students to fulfill their tasks They decided to turn a blind eye to the students’ discipline matters which are not easy to deal with as they reflected in their journals and

151 interviews Some of them showed reactions such as warning or punishing students, but these occasions were rare

As seen from the teachers’ reflections in the journals, most of them tended to try to keep their images calm and controlled in front of their students It is usually pointed out that teachers need positive, personal interactions with students (Spilt, Koomen & Thijs,

2011), and their emotions shape their teaching success The current study demonstrated that teachers' emotions during teaching involved socio-psychological elements On the one hand, they tried to control themselves emotionally to complete the lessons and consider students’ characteristics and classroom situations On the other hand, they experienced complex feelings of irritation, disappointment, unhappiness, and other negative feelings inside themselves The findings of this study did not explore whether these feelings affected their life after the lessons, but it is worth exploring this topic

The findings of the current study to some extent reflected what was found in the study by (Heydarnejad et al., 2022) which disclosed that EFL teachers became angry after being upset over a student, their coworkers, the system, or their parents, in that order Among the factors, the student-related one was named first in the study by Heydarnejad et al (2022) The current study, however, focused on teachers’ emotions in the classrooms and revealed various forms of emotions aroused in the teachers Thus, their emotion was related to students’ behavior mainly

The causes of the negative emotions of the teachers in the current study were found to be similar to some previous research (de Ruiter et al., 2020; Frenzel et al., 2009; Hagenauer et al., 2015) In this first stage of the process of emotion regulation, the teachers in the current study tended to avoid problematic social interactions with students, resulting in unpleasant emotions and the need to regulate them as in the studies by Dicke et al (2015) and Voss et al (2017)

As far as negative emotions caused by students in the classrooms, Gkonou and Miller (2020), Khajavy et al (2018), Martinez and Azzaro (2018), and Oxford (2020)

152 reported findings of similar feelings in the teachers For example, while Khajavy et al

(2018) did not identify the same frequently experienced negative feelings as this current study, they discovered that EFL teachers’ worry, anger, and boredom were mostly related to their students More specifically, anger was produced by student disobedience, and boredom was provoked by students' refusal to participate

While boredom was not one of the most prominent EFL teachers’ feelings in the current study, it is crucial to note that EFL teachers' disappointment was mostly associated with students Gkonou and Miller's (2020) study on critical occurrences among language teachers is also relevant to the findings of this study Teachers who participated in their research shared disappointing and upsetting memories involving their students while teaching In this study, the teachers’ emotions included mild anger, frustration, and disappointment In certain emotional states, annoyance and anger experienced by the teachers in the current study seemed to be similar to what the participants in Gkonou and Miller's (2020) study described

In the recognition of the current students belonging to Generation Z who are often characterized as lazy and dependent on technology (Miller & Mills, 2019; Mosca et al.,

The use of case study in capturing EFL teachers’ emotions and emotion regulations

It is debatable how many participants should be involved in a case study Even though it has been pointed out that the number can range from 1 to 12 (Campbell, 2015; Wan,

2019), and that a purposive sampling principle should be applied for case studies (Guba

& Lincoln, 1994; Patton, 2002) to serve the aims of the study, the actual number of case study participants as in the current study depended on the willingness of the teachers because of the long time working on the data collection period with the researcher The number of seven teachers in the current study may not represent an ideal figure but it seemed to be sufficient to show saturation in the data collected or when the study could not find more patterns in the data To illustrate, regarding the first research question about the types of emotions that the teachers experienced in teaching English in the classrooms, the findings reveal that all of them shared the pattern that positive emotions were internal They felt that they had to be happy and positive to teach students However, student-related factors such as their discipline matters, unattentiveness to the lessons, and failure to give correct answers to the lessons related to their majors such as translation, interpretation, English syntax, English grammar, and writing aroused some negative feelings in the teachers It could be explained that the teachers and students in the current study were from one institution thus the context and culture of the study bore some common thinking and teaching and learning behaviours As for research question two on teachers’ emotion regulation, the teachers reported rather different ways to deal

162 with their negative emotions but overall, they tried to re-direct their attention to deal with their disappointment or anger and respond to the situation with intentional acts, for example, telling something fun to cheer students up or punishing a student showing repeated mistakes in behavior or English learning For the third research question on the impact of emotion regulation on English teaching, the findings indicate that the seven cases benefited from their emotion regulation because they reported continuing or coming back with the lessons in a more positive way

Another point that needs discussing on the use of the case study lies in the fact that it allows cross-case comparison and enriches data analysis Since seven teachers were involved in the current study, it was possible to compare cases To be more specific, the seven cases were compared to look for similar patterns in their emotions and emotion regulation while teaching Then, the cases were categorized into three groups: The case of an EFL teacher frequently displaying emotions while teaching English in the classrooms; the cases of EFL teachers occasionally displaying negative emotions while teaching English in the classrooms, and the cases of EFL teachers suppressing negative emotions while teaching English in the classrooms

One noticeable advantage of this is that each teacher had a unique background, different classes to teach, and unique ways to respond to emotions during teaching, the findings reveal that the frequency of revealing emotions and reflections on emotional incidents in the classrooms vary For instance, the case of Troy was quite expressive with his emotions, thus, the recording of his classes showed more incidents in which he expressed his happy moments and more with irritation, anger, and disappointment In the stimulated recall interviews and journals, Troy also wrote more about his reflections on his emotion regulation

For group two with Tracy, Hannah, and Nicole, on the other hand, they tended to frequently express their emotions in comparison with Troy, resulting in less data for their parts Nicole tended to be more influenced by students’ academic performance so the

163 recordings of her classes indicate more extracts showing her emotions related to students’ failure to give correct answers in the lessons or lack of engagement in the classrooms (Extracts 29-31)

For group three including the cases of Helen, Tyra, and Phoebe, or the cases of EFL teachers suppressing negative emotions while teaching English in the classrooms, it is interesting that the study documented more extracts from this group that displayed emotions related to students’ academic performance such as lack of engagement or being able to give correct answers (extracts 33-34 for Helen; 36-37 for Tyra; and 39-40 for Phoebe) Even though these teachers experienced negative emotions while teaching, they tended to suppress them or regulate them for the sake of teaching efficacy and their concern with students’ learning.

Chapter Summary

The findings of the study report the emotional experiences that the EFL teachers had concerning their contact with students during teaching and their strategies for regulating these emotions This qualitative study resorted to classroom recorded videos, simulated recall interviews after classroom videos, teachers’ journals, and interviews to explore the emotional responses that EFL teachers experienced in the classroom, the reasons behind those feelings, and the strategies that the teachers used to regulate their emotions The next chapter will summarize the key findings and provide implications

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Summary of Key Findings

This study addressed three research questions: (1) What emotions do EFL teachers report experiencing during teaching English in the classrooms? (2) How do EFL university teachers regulate their emotions while teaching English in the classrooms? (3) What is the perceived impact of EFL teachers’ emotion regulation on their English teaching in the classrooms? The key findings are summarized below

First, regarding positive emotions in teaching English, the videos of the classrooms showed incidents in which the teachers said words or expressions of happiness or pleasure in teaching The data were also triangulated with data from the interviews with the teachers and journals Overall, the teachers seemed to be aware of maintaining positive emotions before and during a lesson To be more specific, all the teachers Troy, Tyra, Hannah, Nicole, Helen, Phoebe, and Tracy reported that they tried to uphold happy, positive, and pleasant emotions to make themselves feel good to teach and to make students comfortable to study English with them In addition, data from the recorded classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews indicate that the EFL teachers’ unpleasant emotions were mainly evoked by students’ discipline matters and English learning in the classrooms The most prevalent emotional experience that led to teachers’ anger or disappointment was students’ discipline matters which aroused emotions of irritation, mild anger, and disappointment in the teachers Besides, the observed teachers revealed similar forms of emotions of being upset, disappointed, and negative feelings

165 due to students’ English learning when they did not pay attention nor engage in the lessons as the teachers expected In addition, when students were unable to give correct answers to the questions during the lessons on English grammar, syntax, semantics, interpretation and translation, or when they repeated mistakes also made the teachers feel unhappy and disappointed Other kinds of emotions that could not be captured from the transcript of the classroom recordings involved teachers’ emotions due to workload and technical issues in their working environments In the journals, the teachers reported those problems but they were considered to be minor in comparison with problems related to students’ behaviors in the classrooms

The second key finding of the current study elaborated on how EFL teachers regulated their negative emotions in the classrooms The current study adapted the emotion regulation process model by Gross (2015) to analyze the triangulated data from classroom recordings, stimulated recall interviews, journals, and in-depth interviews Originally, the process included five steps for studies in psychology, in the current study, four steps for regulating the emotions of EFL teachers while teaching in the classrooms were dominant In the first step, when teachers noticed stimuli from students’ behaviors and learning, negative emotions such as disappointment, irritation, anger, and unhappiness aroused in them

The findings indicates that Troy tended to frequently express his emotions in the classrooms Students’ discipline matters mostly caused anger and disappointment (Extract 2-7) in Troy Besides, students’ academic performance in his courses of interpretation and translation was also the reason for their negative emotions (Extracts 8-

21) Troy reported using such strategies as situation modification, attentional deployment, reappraisal strategy, and response modification to regulate his emotions Tracy tended to reveal fewer expressive emotions while she was teaching and she considered the classroom situation to self-regulate her emotions to overcome initial negative emotions Hannah seemed to re-interpret the situations and students, trying to give reasons not to be upset and adjust her teaching techniques or suppressing her

166 negative emotions Nicole reported experiencing unpleasantness and disappointment due to students' discipline matters and learning English related to grammar and writing To regulate her negative emotions, Nicole reported to occasionally use situation modification, attentional deployment, reappraisal strategy, and response modification As for Helen, Tyra, and Phoebe, they seemed to suppress negative emotions while teaching English in the classrooms, Helen reported using reappraisal strategy and suppression to get over the negative emotions to make her balanced emotions in teaching Tyra reported regulating her emotions to teach well and leave the classroom with a certain satisfaction This was the reason why she reported not to let the negative emotions take control of her Phoebe expressed the emotions of irritation and anger due to students’ learning the subjects related to English but tended to suppress her negative emotions to continue with the lessons

Regarding the third research question on the impact of EFL teachers’ emotion regulation on their English teaching, data from stimulated recall interviews and journals reveal that all the teachers regulated their emotions in the classrooms for the sake of their teaching efficacy, students’ learning, and in some cases for their well-being The findings suggest that teachers not only taught English but also expressed concern about their students in the classroom, aiming at making students feel comfortable in the classroom Even though the teachers might experience their frustration with the students' poor behaviors and unprepared learning in the classrooms, they tried to consider them as temporary incidents of negative emotions and regulate those emotions, which they believed to help them escape from negative feelings in the classrooms, enabling both teaching and learning continue smoothly Among the cases, Troy considered that these strategies could help him to have teaching efficacy and the ability to control his emotions Other teachers including Tracy, Hannah, and Nicole, reported that emotion regulation was part of their teaching career so that they could continue to teach better and help students to learn more comfortably Helen considered that emotion regulation contributed to facilitating her teaching and promoting students’ learning, and the other

167 two teachers similarly emphasized their keeping calm and balanced emotions for teaching efficacy

5 2 Contributions of the current study

First, regarding theoretical contribution, the current study adapted the process model of emotion regulation (Gross, 1998, 2015) and made it applicable to studies in English language teaching Originally, the emotion regulation process model by Gross

(1998, 2015) proposed a process of five steps for studies in psychology Situation selection is used before an emotional incident; however, the current study did not analyze this step because it focused on classroom teachings in which the teachers’ emotions were more immediate and responsive to the stimulus from students-related factors The current study adapted the second and third steps from Gross’ emotion regulation model from situation modification to attentional deployment into re- directing attention and adjusting teaching to fit in with the emerged data from English teaching in the classroom With this change, the current study highlights the reality that while teaching English, EFL teachers faced emotional situations in which they had to adjust their cognitive process first and then make changes to their teaching

For a cognitive change as in Gross’ model, the current study re-categorized it into re-interpreting emotional incidents to refer to the situations in which the teachers gave reasons for their aroused emotions while teaching Lastly, response modulation is described as being used late in the emotion regulation process by Gross (1998, 2015), it was classified into two kinds: expression and suppression to show reactions or hiding emotions of teachers to the stimuli in the classrooms With these adaptations of the process model of emotion regulation, the current study findings make the model more applicable to studies on EFL where the focus is more on the teaching and learning process

The process model of emotion regulation by Gross (1998, 2015) sheds light on the process and tends not to take into account the external factors specific to certain contexts of classrooms Since the teachers and the students in the current study were

168 involved in English education, the problems arising, apart from students’ discipline matters, came from students’ failure to pronounce English words, translate phrases, and do correct grammatical exercises These stimuli for emotional responses did not come only from students but also from the subject that both teachers and students were working on Thus, the process model of emotion regulation should indicate that the process is affected not only by the individuals and the emotional stressors but also by the subject that both teachers and students were working on, in other words, the subject matter factor

Besides, the process model of emotion regulation should not be understood as being stimulus-response processes or teachers being affected by external factors leading to their emotional responses It is a looping process in which their emotions come and go and may be repeated As shown in the transcripts of the classrooms in the current study, the teachers seemed to experience repeated emotions of irritation, disappointment, and anger and the seven teachers experienced similar emotions This could be due to they all worked at the same institution and were all teaching English Again, the subject matter, and the teaching and learning contexts both are specific matters leading to certain kinds of emotions of the EFL teachers in the current study

Second, regarding research methodology, this study employed a case study approach (Duff, 2008; Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Patton, 2002) to explore teachers' emotions in language classrooms It claims originality in using simulated recall interviews and journals to explore deep layers of emotions of teachers during teaching Different from the previous studies (e.g Akbari et al., 2017; Heydarnejad et al., 2021; Xiao and Tian, 2023; Zhao & Song, 2022), with these tools, the current study was able to capture teachers’ emotions via their actual use of verbal utterances and how they reflected on how they reacted emotionally in various classroom incidents which aroused their negative emotions By answering stimulated recall interviews right after their video recordings, the teachers could freshly recall their emotions and explain why they felt and reacted that way In addition, recorded classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews were carried out with journal entries after each recorded video The

Recommendations

The following implications are suggested from the research findings regarding factors causing university EFL teachers’ negative emotions in teaching English in the

170 classroom and how they should handle those emotions for teaching efficacy and comfortable learning of students

The findings of the current study indicate that as teachers go through their emotional experiences, they face the challenges of managing their emotions and become increasingly conscious of how they are affected emotionally because of students’ behaviors Thus, it is recommended that teachers portray certain roles with favorable attributes while hiding negative traits Keeping calm, understanding students’ characteristics, and considering classroom contexts, and teaching environment may help teachers to regulate their emotions Besides, during teaching, teachers should sometimes let go of negative feelings such as anger, disappointment, or unhappiness due to students’ failure to give correct answers Instead, they should re-direct their attention to measures that change classroom situations into more pleasant ways with humous utterances, and encouragements to students Thanks to this, they can rebalance their emotions to continue teaching

The findings of the current study also imply that emotion regulation should be considered an essential skill alongside other teaching abilities; therefore, when teachers encounter emotional dissonance, they may change their pedagogical practice while still efficiently managing their classrooms Teachers thus need to be flexible with their emotion regulation or be trained with specific strategies to deal with student-related factors arousing negative feelings in teachers

Lastly, it might be beneficial for EFL teachers to have additional training that promotes reflection on how their worldview and personality influence the ER strategies they employ in the classrooms This should motivate EFL teachers to deal with unpleasant emotions more positively, increasing their effectiveness., which is believed to encourage student autonomy and support academic achievement

The findings of the current study indicate that students in the GenZ generation are often characterized as lazy and dependent on technology (Miller & Mills, 2019; Mosca et al., 2019), and do not like things that are not practical (Nicholas, 2020) Moreover, these students are digital natives and they like teachers who act as friends do not keep a distance, and have good humor skills (Tunca et al., 2015) The generation gap reminds EFL teachers of a change in their perspectives on their students’ social and working styles However, students should know that their overuse of technological devices in the classroom may lead to negative emotions in teachers

Besides, students should be in a more responsible awareness of their learning, discipline matters, and participation in the lessons in the classrooms to create a more comfortable teaching-learning process Last but not least, showing respect to teachers should be taken into consideration regularly by students because teachers’ emotions in the classrooms are mostly influenced by students’ behaviors

The current study emphasizes the significance of university administrators being mindful of both positive and negative emotions experienced by teachers during their classes Fostering a positive emotional atmosphere among educators is crucial, while addressing any negative emotions calls for proactive strategies to be employed by the university's board It is essential to hold workshops training teachers on how to handle their emotions healthily Also, teacher education programs can explicitly instruct student teachers to monitor their emotional experiences in the form of a journal to better understand their emotional challenges and explore techniques to manage negative emotions in particular classroom situations

Administrators who are involved in training and recruiting EFL teachers should take into consideration the emotional labor that EFL teachers may encounter in their teaching

172 careers Such factors as workload, long teaching hours, students’ evaluation of their teachers, and salary might lead to certain kinds of emotions in teachers If they are infused with positive emotions thanks to the encouraging working schemes, their teaching efficacy may be enhanced Besides, there should be counseling programs for teachers in case they fall into negative emotions as a result of their teaching.

Limitations of the study

One limitation of the current study is that it did not gather data from EFL teachers at all teaching levels and institutional contexts Besides, the researcher did not observe all of the classes at the research site and the data may not have accurately reflected all of the English teaching-learning scenarios recorded with prior notice

Emotion regulation is a complex process that includes both interpersonal and intrapersonal regulation In this study, however, the focus is specifically on intrapersonal regulation, which refers to how EFL teachers manage their own emotions and reactions in response to unexpected events that arise within the classroom environment Conversely, interpersonal regulation, which involves sharing experiences and emotions with others—such as colleagues, friends, or professional networks—was not explored in this study The limitation to intrapersonal regulation provides insights into the individual teacher's experiences, but it may overlook the potential benefits that could arise from collaborative discussions and support Therefore, future research could be enhanced by examining both intrapersonal and interpersonal regulation, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of how EFL teachers navigate challenges in their teaching This combined approach may yield richer insights and better strategies for emotional regulation in educational settings

Another limitation of the current study comes from the tools for data collection Non-verbal expressions related to teachers’ emotions were not used for data analysis due to the scope of the study as well as privacy matters related to the participants This study might be prone to a certain level of subjectivity since it is a person’s interpretation of emotion identification although measures to enhance trustworthiness such as

173 triangulation have been applied in data interpretation Future studies thus can explore EFL teachers’ emotions by combining verbal and non-verbal behaviors and comparing cases across institutional contexts In addition, there are shortcomings of data collection related to tools including classroom observation and stimulated recall interview since identification and/or interpretation of emotions in the former and the latter might not be consistent.

Implications for future research

The current study has focused on seven university EFL teachers in one private university Replication of a case study with the participation of EFL teachers from multiple universities might allow wider comparisons and enrich the findings This could provide insights about whether factors like teaching experience, gender, and geographical area significantly affect how EFL teachers tackle their negative emotions in teaching English in the classroom Involving larger numbers of participants for a quantitative result is important because so far it is suspected that the lack of statistically significant difference in university EFL teachers’ emotion regulation strategies based on demographic aspects resulted from the small sample involved in the current study

Since EFL teachers’ emotions may have direct interrelations with their teaching outcomes, future research using a quantitative approach to measure the correlation between teachers’ positive emotions and students’ learning outcomes or teachers’ professional development could reveal findings that help shape more effective English teaching Alternatively, studies to measure the correlation between teachers’ negative emotions and students’ learning outcomes or teachers’ professional development would result in practical findings and implications In addition, future researchers should collaborate with researchers from other fields, such as psychologists and counselors to establish a more theoretical and comprehensive insight into EFL teachers’ emotional labor to their efficacy

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