出版物 ｜Sophia Linguistica
Yimin Zhu
This paper explores the emotional experiences of two novice EFL teachers with
MATESOL background. Drawing on a post-structuralist understanding to emotions which
focuses on ideas and objects that emotions tend to adhere to more strongly in a given
context (Ahmed, 2004; Benesch, 2013), the study adopts the concept of “sticky objects”
in language classrooms around which teacher emotions tend to cluster (Benesch, 2013),
to investigate (a) what emotional episodes the two participants experience frequently
as novice EFL teachers and (b) how the emotional experiences affect their teacher
identity development differently and similarly in the process. Using narrative inquiry and
thematic analysis, the paper follows one Chinese and one Japanese high school English
teachers, respectively in Shanghai and in Tokyo, during their first six months in service
after graduating their MATESOL programs. The study identifies seven common “sticky
objects” in EFL classrooms that have attracted the most emotional episodes from both
participants, among which testing, grammar, and class dynamics appear the most salient
and likely to enact teacher agency. It also reveals that, despite different sociopolitical
contexts, the two participants have experienced more similarities than differences as
novice high school EFL teachers, constantly negotiating between their teaching ideal and
institutional constraints.
