Verbal communication of emotion in foreign language and intercultural learning

2022年，最终在两所不同的大学进行了面对面的焦点小组讨论，并如期收集了数据。初步结果在两个国际会议上进行了讨论，希望能对英语学习者在跨文化环境中使用英语作为通用语时口头表达情感的方式有所启示。在焦点小组讨论中，为了评估英语学习者在观看视频时和观看视频后如何使用口头语言表达自己的情绪，我们精心选择了三个热门视频作为情绪激发的刺激物。结果显示，没有参与者选择在观看视频时口头表达自己的情绪。然而，小组讨论显示，参与者在观看视频时经历了一系列情绪，但他们没有做出反应。缺乏语言表达情感的一些原因可能是：缺乏对常用语言形式的了解；缺乏关于表达语言形式的正式指导；缺乏对英语的接触；缺乏英语日常社交；个体差异与显性母语情绪行为。教授可以在各种环境中使用的表达性语言，或者教授表达某些情绪的适当方法以避免显得不敏感，可以帮助学生更加意识到使用适当的表达性语言形式等等。

In 2022, face-to-face focus-group discussions were finally held at two different universities, and data was collected as scheduled. The preliminary results were discussed at two international conferences in the hope to shed some light on the way English language learners verbally communicate their emotions when using English as a lingua franca in an intercultural setting.For the focus group discussions, three viral videos were carefully chosen as emotion-eliciting stimuli in order to assess how English language learners use verbal language to express their emotions while and after watching the videos. The results showed that none of the participants chose to verbally express their emotions while watching the videos. However, the group discussions revealed that participants experienced a range of emotions while watching the videos, but they refrained from reactive responses. Some of the reasons for the lack of verbal expression of emotion could be: lack of knowledge regarding the linguistic forms commonly used; lack of formal instruction regarding expressive linguistic forms; lack of exposure to English; lack of everyday socialization in English; individual differences and dominant L1 emotional behavior. Teaching expressive language that could be used in a variety of settings, or teaching the appropriate approach to expressing certain emotions in order to avoid appearing insensitive could help students become more aware about the use of the appropriate expressive linguistic forms and such.