Teacher-Facilitated Emotion Regulation Strategies

A Comparative Study Involving Refugee Students in ESL Classrooms

Abstract

Students’ emotional experience plays a major role in their ability to comfortably and successfully acquire an additional language (Dewaele et al., 2018). For migrant English language learners, the issue of emotion and emotion regulation becomes particularly salient. This is due in part to the trauma that they may be processing and the emotional consequences of trauma associated with migration (Busch & McNamara, 2020). Refugee learners, in particular, reap additional benefits from the application of emotion regulation practices rooted in positive psychology. Building on this vibrant body of work, our empirical study investigates the use of emotion regulation strategies in ESL classrooms in two refugee ESL contexts in the U.S. Based on classroom observations, artifacts, and interviews with two focal participant teachers, we examine teachers’ strategies to facilitate students’ emotion regulation across contexts and the challenges teachers face in supporting these differing student populations. Our findings support the use of positive psychology strategies such as acceptance and mindfulness to enhance language learning outcomes, and the constructive impact of teacher actions with regard to situational control and modification. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.