Exploring how emotions and attitudes affect pre-service teachers' English oral engagement during lectures and micro-teaching lessons

Abstract

This paper explores how attitudes and emotions of English additional language pre-service teachers influence their ability to engage orally in English as a tool for learning interaction during lectures and micro-teaching lessons. The case study method adopted in this study used an interpretative framework, using four data collection instruments, namely individual drawings of participants, two unstructured interviews, lesson observation checklists and self-assessment questionnaires. Participants’ drawings were used to encourage further details regarding the emotional state of participants during oral communication in lectures. Participants conducted a micro-teaching lesson in English and completed a self-assessment questionnaire based on their ability to use English to teach effectively. Data generated from the four instruments gave insights into how emotions and attitudes affected participants’ abilities to interact in English. All participants believed that being able to interact and teach in English was important for teachers which was a motivating factor for them to continue to understand and develop their English oral abilities.  Participants also indicated several negative emotions during lectures; however, despite these emotions, participants were still motivated to develop their oral confidence and competence, substantiating the critical role teachers’ attitudes can play.