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Table 5.
Learners’ sources of FLE according to teachers, examples and frequency of
mentions by the participants (N=45)
Coding category
Examples
Frequency
FLE-Teacher
teachers’ dynamism, positive emotions,
feedback, lack of boredom, variety of teaching
techniques (e.g. songs, quizzes, charades, role-
plays,
Á
ashcards, skype conversation); involving
learners in exciting/challenging games);
encouraging students to a friendly rivalry
20/ 45
FLE- Atmosphere
positive relationship with peers, mutual help,
nice atmosphere, smiling, laughing, integration
9/45
FLE-Private
Pride, joy and excitement about one’s
accomplishment, sense of self-development,
real-life use of language, overcoming challenges,
taking part in a competition, winning the FL
competition, learning more than required
16/45
The participants of the study most frequently mentioned the teacher’s dimen-
sion of FLE. Among this category, the participants enumerated a variety of teaching
methods and techniques which they incorporate while teaching and which, in
their opinion, constitute the source of positive emotions among their students.
Journal of Education Culture and Society No. 2_2019
183
The second in frequency was the private dimension of FLE. Similar to the
previous question, the participants pointed most often to pride, joy and exci-
tement of their students at the moment of accomplishment and excellent FL
performance. Dealing with challenging tasks, taking part in FL competition
were other main sources of FLE.
The participants of the present study pointed least frequently to the social
dimension of FLE, that is
FLE-Atmosphere
. It is worth to allude to the words of
one participant commenting on a game competition:
The students really enjoyed the game aimed at practising conditional clauses. Although
the game was dif
À
cult, the students were really absorbed while playing. They were sho-
uting with joy once they did something correctly. If not, they were slightly disappointed.
In the end, everyone was satis
À
ed and achieved a small success. They left the class with
smiles on their faces and they wanted to play again. Nevertheless, such a situation did
not take place in each and every class. In those classes where the atmosphere is not good
and the relationships between peers are stormy, the game was not successful
(English
teacher, primary school, less than
À
ve years of experience).
In a similar vein, FLE was depicted by another participant of the study
(teacher of English at the tertiary educational level). The participant claimed as
follows: “when they [the students] faced a grammatical problem which at the
beginning appeared to be intractable for them. After some time of dealing with
it, they found the answer and had a sense of enlightenment. They felt excited
and proud of themselves, which motivated them for further work”.
These two examples highlight some core truths about foreign language
enjoyment. First, taking into account its private dimension, FLE is an emo-
tion that is not trivial and frivolous, it is not experienced at the moment of
dealing with easy tasks, but with those that pose a moderate challenge, requ-
ire mental effort. In this sense, enjoyment is a re
Á
ection of learners’ drive for
success in the face of dif
À
cult foreign language tasks (Deweale, & MacIntyre,
2016).
It is the joy at the moment of taking the challenge, of dealing with a deman-
ding task and eventually, it is the sense of satisfaction and pride in one’s
accomplishment which motivates for further work. Taking into considera-
tion its social dimension, in turn, enjoyment appears to be strongly modera-
ted by the relationship among peers students, the atmosphere created in the
classroom, positive rivalry and the social bonds established in the FL. Finally,
it might be determined by the relationship with teachers, their dynamism, a
variety of teaching techniques, positive attitude and enthusiasm, their support
and appreciation. A concluding comment for what has been suggested might
be vividly represented by the quotation of one of the participants of the study:
“Even the most dif
À
cult grammatical concept can be presented in an intere-
sting way. What is absolutely crucial? Positive emotions, teacher’s dynamism
and a variety of teaching techniques” (French teacher in the primary school,
female).
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