Critical Approaches to Emotions of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers

Abstract A growing number of recent studies in applied linguistics focus on teacher emotions in response to several major shifts within the field, expanding the scope of analyses to include the social and affective dimensions of second language education. This paper aims to expand the discussion on the emotions of non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) by examining their anxiety from the perspective of sociopolitical and socioeconomic theories. By introducing three theories on emotions developed by Raymond Williams (1977), Pierre Bourdieu (1986), and Sara Ahmed (2015), I demonstrate how their insights on the social construction and circulation of emotions can be applied to NNESTs’ emotional struggles in relation to structural inequalities. Then, I discuss theoretical and practical implications of this perspective on language teaching and teacher education, calling for criticality in the area of teacher emotions.