Who Has the Right to Express Frustration?: Uneven Emotion Labor Among Students in an EMI Classroom

This study explores college students’ emotional experiences in an English as a medium of instruction (EMI) course at a Korean university. The data include interviews and classroom observations conducted over a semester. The analysis reveals that students’ emotional experiences and management—referred to as emotion labor—are intricately connected with language ideologies that prioritize English within multilingual classrooms and beyond. The findings indicate that the hegemony of English and native speakerism positions native speakers in a superior role, leading to varied emotional experiences among students and differing levels of engagement in emotion labor. Specifically, these language ideologies prioritize native speakers’ emotional experiences, enabling them to express their frustration more freely. In contrast, non-native English speakers often suppress their frustration, disappointment, and resentment related to perceived unfairness, instead of channeling these emotions into a desire for the symbolic and imaginative capital associated with English and the positive opportunities that EMI courses might offer. The study highlights how power dynamics and language hierarchies differentially influence students’ perceived “right to express” emotions and underscores the need for consistent language policies and more inclusive EMI environments to support students’ emotional well-being and academic success.