NOTE: The timeline for this special issue has been updated as of August 4, 2023

Guest Editors: Mariusz Kruk, University of Zielona Góra, Poland, and Mirosław Pawlak, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

About This Special Issue

Emotions permeate private, social, and professional spheres of people’s lives. They are also part and parcel of the L2 classroom (both traditional and virtual) where the learning and teaching of a second/foreign language (L2) take place. Thus, it should come as no surprise that research on emotions has established one of the most robust lines of empirical investigations conducted in the area of second language acquisition (SLA) in recent years (e.g., Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014; Elahi Shirvan & Taherian, 2021; Pavelescu & Petrić, 2018; Pawlak et al., 2022). Despite a few attempts by CALL researchers to explore a variety of emotions in the field of CALL (e.g., Bashori et al., 2020; Kruk, 2022; Kruk & Pawlak, 2022; Sampson & Yoshida, 2021), CALL researchers have mostly devoted their attention to the negative emotion of anxiety. Research on other emotions, the relationships among various positive and/or negative emotions and/or their interactions with different variables (e.g., grit, curiosity, learning styles, learning strategies, personality, willingness to communicate) in situations where new technologies are used to support and improve L2 education has therefore not been accorded the attention it deserves. The overall aim of this special issue is to take the next step to overcome this apparent deficit in research on the emotional aspect of L2 education in the realm of CALL. Therefore, this special issue seeks to gather state-of-the-art contributions that deepen our understanding of positive (e.g., enjoyment, curiosity, hope) and negative (e.g., boredom, shame, anger) emotions in L2 teaching and learning in CALL. Original empirical research, systematic reviews/meta analyses, and theoretical discussions, with topics relevant (but not limited) to the following issues are welcome:

• exploring emotions in specific CALL contexts (e.g., artificial intelligence, extended reality, augmented reality, digital games)
• new directions and practices on emotions in CALL
• developing tasks and materials based on L2 learners’ emotional needs
• interactions of emotions with individual difference factors (e.g., grit, aptitude, learning strategies) in CALL
• emotions and the development/practice of L2 skills and subsystems (e.g., grammar, pronunciation)
• temporal variation of emotions in CALL
• emotional regulation in CALL
• developing innovative tools measuring emotions in CALL
• emotional awareness-raising teacher training in CALL
• teacher-student/student-student attachment and emotional development in CALL
• methodology of research into emotions in CALL
• applying different theoretical paradigms to research on emotions in CALL

Guidelines for Authors

For author guidelines for the full manuscripts, please refer to the LLT submission guidelines.

Abstracts for this special issue Call for Papers should be no more than 500 words. In the case of empirical research, they should describe the study’s aim, methodology, findings, and how these findings can be used in classroom contexts to enhance the teaching and learning with technology. Theoretical submissions should be firmly grounded in existing literature, pave the way for new lines of inquiry, and/or tangible pedagogical implications. To be considered for this special issue, which will appear in Volume 30, Issue 2 in June of 2026, please submit a title and an abstract through this online form by September 1, 2024.

Publication Schedule

May 1, 2024: Submission of abstracts open

September 1, 2024: Submission deadline for abstracts

October 1, 2024: Invitation for authors to submit full manuscripts

March 1, 2025: Submission of the first drafts of full manuscripts 

November 1, 2025: Submission of revised manuscripts 

June 2026: Publication of final manuscripts in the special issue

For Further Information

Please contact the Managing Editor at llt@hawaii.edu with questions.

References

Bashori, M., van Hout, R., Strik, H., & Cucchiarini, C. (2022). Web-based language learning and speaking anxiety. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(5-6), 1058–1089. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2020.1770293    

Dewaele, J.-M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2014). The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 237–274. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.5

Elahi Shirvan, M., & Taherian, T. (2021). Longitudinal examination of university students’ foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety in the course of general English: Latent growth curve modeling. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 24(1), 31–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1441804    

Kruk, M. (2022). Dynamicity of perceived willingness to communicate, motivation, boredom and anxiety in Second Life: The case of two advanced learners of English. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(1-2), 190–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2019.1677722    

Kruk, M., & Pawlak, M. (2022). Understanding emotions in English language learning in virtual worlds. Routledge.

Pavelescu, L. M., & Petrić, B. (2018). Love and enjoyment in context: Four case studies of adolescent EFL learners. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8(1), 73–101. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.4

Pawlak, M., Kruk, M., Zawodniak, J., & Pasikowski, S. (2022). Examining the underlying structure of after-class boredom experienced by English majors. System, 106, 102769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2022.102769  

Sampson, R. J., & Yoshida, R. (2021). L2 feelings through interaction in a Japanese-English online chat exchange. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 15(2), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2019.1710514