Or bringing emotion into language learning
Emotion comes from the Latin verb “emovere, ” which means ” to move, ” ” move out, ” ” move through, ” or ‘stir’. So, if emotion is related to movement, the opposite of emotion is something that doesn’t move or is stagnant.
Learning is movement, and language has the potential to move us. When there is no movement in learning, we are not making progress. When the language is not moving the other person or the speaker, we enter the apathy or indifference realm of communication, which is not very conducive to communication.
Different levels of “movement” connect to learning: one is the physical aspect. Movement or physical activity helps stimulate the brain, leading to greater memory retention, creative thinking, etc. [I wrote about the connection between movement (walking to be precise) and learning in my article Learn Spanish by Living]
But, in this article, I want to focus only on the emotional movement.
Why is it important to bring emotion into the learning process or the class?
One of the principal reasons is that when we experience positive emotions regularly or at least in the classroom or during our learning practice, our minds become more open to learning, and we are more creative in our problem-solving. According to Clara María Fiorentini, lecturer in teaching education, “Our working memory improves, we feel a greater sense of connection to others, and we can also show higher levels of resilience in the face of stress.”
Add to that being “moved” in class, and you get a recipe for success. Why? Because emotions are inherently linked to and influence cognitive skills such as attention, memory, executive function, decision-making, critical thinking, problem-solving and regulation, all of which play a crucial role in learning.
One caveat is that when we evoke emotions in the classroom, our students can experience emotions they may not know how to deal with. This is why it is essential that, as teachers, we are emotionally intelligent and that we can help our students to be emotionally literate and also to help them self-regulate. All this is taught in the “Embodied Language Educator training.“
All learning is emotional.
Dr. Antonio Damasio has demonstrated that no learning can take place without emotions. From the role of our limbic system to the fact that our brain cannot distinguish between emotions and cognition, we can assume that even if we don’t design our classes to elicit an emotional response if our classes are effective, they are doing just that. So, instead of avoiding “getting emotional” or “too personal” in our classes and, in doing so, making learning less effective, why don’t we make the connections between emotions more intentional in our teaching so that we can heighten the effect?
How do you bring emotions to language learning?
Ask yourself what emotional response you are targeting for your learner or what emotional response may occur due to the activities you have prepared.
If you have experience teaching, you probably have some materials you usually use for specific topics. If that’s the case, start with those and go through them, exploring the emotional responses you have already seen from your learners, your own emotional reactions to the materials and the learner’s responses, and if there were not any clear emotional responses, question what is missing and how can those materials trigger a certain emotion that aligns with how you want your learners to feel as they implement the new learning your are covering.
Structure the learning event to trigger this target emotion will ensure that it is coded in the Cerebral Cortex for future use.
Remind learners of emotional events related to your subject matter. If you are teaching past tenses, your message will be much stronger if you guide your students to connect their own past experiences (which would have emotions attached preferably) with the past tenses, rather than just reviewing the uses and conjugation and practising with questions or events that are not emotionally linked to their own past experiences.
Now, seeking emotions in memories can trigger unpleasant memories, tense situations, and even traumatic events. As an emotionally literate teacher/coach, you don’t need to shy away from these moments (limiting in that way the effectiveness of your teaching) but know how to read the room, read your learner’s reactions and assess how you can keep the emotion safely in the class by being an empathetic, compassionate, non-judgmental and hyper-present behaviour (more on this throughout this training).
Deliver your message in a story. Our brains are highly empathetic to the experiences of others. When we watch events play out, our brains respond exactly like we are experiencing the event ourselves. Instead of explaining how a certain grammar point works, tell them a story in which that point is illustrated or find analogies or metaphors to create images in the learner. Images are powerful emotional triggers. For example, I use the metaphor of the subjunctive being like a coffee filter or the coating in a doughnut. Be sure to highlight the emotional responses/results of the different elements of the language: seek emotion through language and highlight the emotion that results from the intended purpose of grammar points.
Introduce failure into your learning design. By putting learners in a situation where they may fail, you will encourage their emotional response to a challenge, motivating them to try to learn and conquer the challenge. That feeling of accomplishment is much more powerful when it follows an initial failure.
However, the failure or mistakes need to be explicitly from the beginning of the relationship. Explain how mistakes are good, how failing at communicating is ok, make errors playful, light, connected with neutral or positive emotions and work consciously and intentionally on removing negative emotions (shame, fear…) from the mistakes and failures. This is one of the most important parts of your work as a teacher: helping your learner redefine their relationship with failure and mistakes.
Show learners how to be aware of emotions in the learning process. Try stopping your training delivery every so often and ask learners what they feel. This practice will help them make those strong links between learning and emotion.
Surprise your learners or shift the energy. Our brains are hard-wired to be curious, so creating an element of surprise will engage, delight and challenge your learners. Also, many studies show a connection between movement and learning. Stop the class and have a movement break, or ask them to sing with you, or close their eyes and take a breather.
Be part of a community of peers: Talk to a teacher. While many of us in adult education need to be reminded of the emotional requirement in learning, you’ll find many great ideas in the teaching community when educators are more comfortable with consciously targeting an emotional response to support the learning experience. If you want to get a better handle on leveraging the power of emotions in your work as an adult educator, seek out a great teacher and implement their best practices.
How are you feeling right now?
Emotions are not distractions to learning; they are its key enablers. If I’ve successfully stimulated critical thought in your brain, you should feel at least one emotion right now. Can you describe that feeling?
