Like student like teacher? Taking a closer look at language teacher anxiety

Abstract

Abstract This article takes a comparative look at language teacher anxiety (LTA) vis-à-vis students’ language classroom anxiety (LCA) and contends the benefit of pursuing and expanding LTA research. Specifically, the paper first traces the development of LTA inquiry from its inception in the 1990s until today and highlights how it historically aligned with and, more recently, diverges from LCA research. After establishing LTA as an idiosyncratic variable in instructed language learning and teaching contexts, I grapple with the questions of whether and why LTA merits further research attention and suggest that the pursuit of LTA research is not only beneficial to examine the role of teachers’ emotions in instructed language learning but also for the advancement of three other flourishing domains in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). These include the diversification of theoretical frameworks through which language classroom emotions can be examined, the advancement of research methodologies, and the role of emotions in social justice-centered approaches to language teaching (e.g., pedagogies of discomfort).