Developing Pre-Service ESOL Teachers’ Awareness of and Appreciation for Social-Emotional Learning
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is essential in educational realms for a variety of reasons, particularly considering the fact that students need to be equipped with the skills and strategies necessary to function successfully not only as learners but also as human beings. Although SEL has been increasingly explored in the last several decades at the primary and secondary levels, less attention has been paid to its importance at the tertiary level, specifically regarding pre-service teachers. This article consequently explores the advancement of pre-service ESOL teachers’ familiarity with and understanding of social-emotional learning (SEL) and its particular importance for multilingual learners. During the course of the investigation, a multimodule course unit on social-emotional learning was incorporated into a TESOL methodology course for undergraduate teacher candidates. Data for this research were collected via pre-unit and post-unit questionnaires consisting of statements taken from the Self-Rated Emotional Intelligence Scale (SREIS) (Brackett et al., 2006). Findings of this investigation revealed that participants believed that the unit made more effective contributions to their emotional and social competencies in certain areas but was less successful in doing so with respect to others.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
TESOL Today is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY-4.0).
References
Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Duke University Press.
Billy, R. J. F., & Garríguez, C. M. (2021). Why not social and emotional learning? English Language Teaching, 14(4), 9-15. https://doi/org/10.5539/elt.v14n4p9
Borg, W., & Gall, M. (1989). Education research: An introduction (5th ed.). Longman.
Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., Shiffman, S., Lerner, N., & Salovey, P. (2006). Relating emotional abilities to social functioning: A comparison of self-report and performance measures of emotional intelligence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 780-795. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.4.780
Breiseth, L. (2022). 10 Strategies for supporting SEL for ELLs: "Grow as you go". Retrieved Jan 3, 2025, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/sel-ell-salina.
Breiseth, L. (2023). SEL for English language learners: What educators need to know. Retrieved Jan 3, 2025, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/sel-english-language-learners-what-educators-need-know.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) (n.d.). What is the CASEL framework? Retrieved Jan 3, 2025, from https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework.
Cuocci, S., & Arndt, R. (2020). SEL for culturally and linguistically diverse students. Journal of English Learner Education, 10(1), 1-12. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/jele/vol10/iss1/4.
Dewaele, J. M., Chen, X., Padilla, A. M., & Lake, J. (2019). The flowering of positive psychology in foreign language teaching and acquisition research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2128. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02128
Donahue-Keegan, D., Villegas-Reimers, E., & Cressey, J. M. (2019). Integrating social-emotional learning and culturally re-sponsive teaching in teacher education programs: The Massachusetts experience so far. Teacher Education Quarterly, 46(4), 150–168. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26841580
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford University Press.
Dresser, R. (2012). Reviving oral reading practices with English learners by integrating social-emotional learning. Multicultural Education, 20(1), 45-50.
Fisher, M. J., & Marshall, A. P. (2009). Understanding descriptive statistics. Australian Critical Care, 22, 93-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aucc.2008.11.003
Goegan, L. D., Wagner, A. K., & Daniels, L. M. (2017). Pre-service and practicing teachers’ commitment to and comfort with social emotional learning. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 63(3), 267-285. https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v63i3.56284
González, N., Moll. L. C., & Amanti, C. (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. Routledge.
Harrison, J., & Prado, J. (2019). Problematizing advocacy: Definitions, alignments, and expansions. In H. A. Linville & J. Whiting (Eds.), Advocacy in English language teaching and learning (pp. 18-28). Routledge.
Katz, D., Mahfouz, J., & Romas, S. (2020). Creating a foundation of well-being for teachers and students starts with SEL curriculum in teacher education programs. Northwest Journal of Teacher Education, 15(2), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.15760/nwjte.2020.15.2.5
Kinsella, K. (2022). Creating a supportive SEL forum for English learner lesson contributions. Retrieved March 13, 2025, from https://www.languagemagazine.com/2022/03/29/creating-a-supportive-sel-forum-for-english-learner-lesson-contributions.
Kyriazopoulou, M., Metsäpelto, R.-L., Varis, S., & Muotka, J. (2024) Pre-service teachers’ emotional intelligence and motivations for choosing a teaching career in Finland. Cogent Education, 11(1), 2429881. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2024.2429881
Lucido, F. (2022). Mindfulness and growth mindset in the bilingual/ESL classroom. Journal of Education and Social Development, 6(1), 1-6. https://ibii-us.org/Journals/JESD/V6N1/Publish/V6N1_1.pdf.
Martínez-Alba, G., Pentón Herrera, L. J., & Kruft, C. (2025). Moving forward with social-emotional learning: Practical strategies and reflections for English language teachers. In H. Nassaji (Ed.), The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt1081
Nall, M. (2020). Supporting social and emotional learning in the EFL/ESL classroom: How the new science of child development can inform second language acquisition theory and practice. Journal of English Learner Education, 10(1), 1-11. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/jele/vol10/iss1/5/
Nanquil, L. M. (2021). Promoting social and emotional well-being of ESL students through engaging and inclusive environment. Linguistic Forum-A Journal of Linguistics, 3(2), 15-19. https://doi.org/10.53057/linfo/2021.3.2.2.
Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42(5), 533–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y
Pentón Herrera, L. J. (2024). Introduction to social-emotional learning in English language education: Mapping the landscape and reflecting on the way forward. Anglica, 33(1), 5-18. https://doi.org/10.7311/0860-5734.33.1.01
Pentón Herrera, L. J., & Martínez-Alba, G. (2022). Emotions, well-being, and language teacher identity development in an EFL teacher preparation program. Korea TESOL Journal, 18(1), 3–25. https://luispenton.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/penton-herrera-martinez-alba-2022.pdf .
Richards, J. C. (2022). Exploring emotions in language teaching. RELC Journal, 53(1), 225-239. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688220927531
Scott, R. (2015). Practices to welcome and support ELLs. Retrieved Jan 21, 2025 from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/practices-to-welcome-and-support-ells-robyn-scott.
Smith, S. (2023). Social emotional learning in ELT classrooms: Theoretical foundations, benefits, implementation, and challenges. American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research (AJHSSR), 7(0), 187-195.
Swain, M. (2013). The inseparability of cognition and emotion in second language learning. Language Teaching, 46(2), 195-207. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444811000486
The Navigate360 Editorial Team (n.d.). What is CASEL?: A comprehensive guide to social-emotional learning. Retrieved Jan 8, 2025 from https://navigate360.com/blog/what-is-casel
Zadorozhna, I., Datskiv, O., and Levchyk, N. (2018). Development of pre-service foreign languages teachers’ emotional intelligence by means of reflection. Advanced Education, 5, 62–68. https://doi.org/10.20535/2410-8286.144538