Exploring the Links between Second Language Learners' Proneness to Shame and Proneness to Guilt and their Language Learning Motivation and Achievement
[Thesis]
Teimouri, Yasser
Mackey, Alison
Georgetown University
2019
156
Ph.D.
Georgetown University
2019
Emotion research in second language acquisition (SLA) research is undergoing rapid changes with an increasing number of studies exploring its role in second language (L2) learning (Prior, 2019). In line with this rising wave of studies, my research aims (1) to introduce the constructs of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness from social psychology research into SLA, (2) to generate validity evidence for the psychometric measurement of these two constructs within SLA, (3) to examine the links between L2 learners' shame-proneness and guilt-proneness and their motivational behaviors and language achievements, and (4) to relate shame-proneness and guilt-proneness of L2 learners to their L2 selves (Dörnyei, 2009, Teimouri, 2017). These research objectives were explored as follows: First, the prevalence of shame and guilt reactions in L2 settings was explored. Next, Second Language Test of Shame and Guilt Affect (L2-TOSGA) was developed to measure L2 learners' individual differences in terms of their proneness to shame and proneness to guilt during L2 learning. Then, various psychometric properties of the L2-TOSGA were examined. Finally, the links between L2 learners' shame-proneness and guilt-proneness, and their motivational behaviors, language achievements, and L2 selves were probed. A total of 866 English learners, across five studies, from five private language institutes and two private universities in Iran, participated in this research. The results of both qualitative and quantitative analyses evidenced the pervasiveness of shame and guilt in an L2 context and attested to the reliability, stability, and validity of the newly developed questionnaire, the L2-TOSGA. The findings further revealed that while shame-proneness hampered L2 learners' motivation by impairing their sense of global self, guilt-proneness increased L2 learners' motivation by encouraging corrective actions to undo their misbehaviors; consequently, shame-proneness (and not guilt-proneness) was identified as a negative predictor of learners' language achievement. Moreover, learners with stronger ought-to L2 selves were found to be more vulnerable to feelings of shame, whereas learners with stronger ideal L2 selves were detected as more guilt-prone. In short, this research shed light on the multi-faceted nature of social emotions and highlighted their subtle roles during language learning.