The inseparability of cognition and emotion in second language learning

Abstract

The scholarly literature about the process of second language (L2) learning has focused to a considerable extent on cognitive processes. Left aside are questions about how emotions fit into an understanding of L2 learning. One goal of this plenary is to demonstrate that we have limited our understanding of L2 learning by failing to take into account the roles played by emotions. A perspective which brings together cognition and emotion is that of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (SCT) of mind. Vygotsky saw the two as being inextricably interconnected. However, many in the Western world who have taken up Vygotsky's ideas, myself included, have focused on the cognitive side of learning and development. The second goal of this plenary is therefore to redress this imbalance.