Flora Komlosi-Ferdinand

Emotional intelligence (EQ), the capability to recognize, comprehend and conscientiously express emotions and to employ those emotions as a thought-facilitating tool (Brackett, Mayer & Warner, 2004) is heavily embedded in individuals’ original culture and world view. English language learners often face difficulties when their well-founded EQ skills do not necessarily function when using another language with people from other cultures. Not being able to recognize certain mannerisms or thought processes which are integral parts a foreign language may entirely bias or even prevent communication among the parties (Komlosi-Ferdinand, 2019). It is particularly important to start educating students from an early age. I propose five empirical teaching strategies that facilitate young learners’ understanding of some context-embedded behaviours. These strategies focus on 1) how spatial zones differ across cultures, 2) appropriate communication styles, 3) body language mirroring, 4) emotion recognition across cultures, and 5) being specific. This approach may provide a holistic understanding about the English language and its speakers, and promote successful communication skills.

English has undoubtedly become a global language. Within the last decades, however, societies and individuals have changed, became more complex, and identities, emotions and social spaces have been dramatically affected and renegotiated by globalisation (Heyward, 2004; Tanu, 2016). This opinion article focuses on the author's researches and experiences in Central Asia and Eastern Europe as a teacher and lecturer. Based on her previous researches and observations the author offers a new framework that addresses students' needs and preferences for learning Global English. According to the Adaptive Relatability Motivation Framework, learners should be provided with culturally less invasive, identitysafe and emotionally more accommodating learning environment, where they can become more engaged, autonomous and adaptive in their own learning processes. Thus, learners will be able to continually relate their needs, social spaces and motivations to the successful use of the target language. The framework's concepts are summarized in four points that give a more pragmatic view on its use. These four points are further detailed, offering how these ideas can be implemented in an empirical fashion by educators and students.

Education in bilingual schools aims to equip learners with balanced bilingualism, increased (bi)cultural capital and a global mindset. Nevertheless, in a growing number of countries only local children attend such institutions, where foreign teachers are the almost exclusive manifestations of 'globalness'. Dynamics among foreign and local teachers and students shape learners' attitudes, their learning outcome and identity formation to an unexpected degree. This often produces unhealthy perceptions and behaviour in the classroom, eventually resulting in students not benefiting from bilingual education to the expected extent. One of the oldest and one of the newest bilingual schools in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, were observed for this study. Local and foreign teachers of these schools contributed with their experiences in the form of unstructured interviews, while classroom observations shed light on students' attitudes. The findings reveal that students respect local educators more and display more respect and discipline with them. However, pupils are usually more emotionally attached to foreign teachers, confiding in them and seeking their company on a daily basis, yet refusing to be disciplined and to study for their classes. Students' unbalanced attitudes towards the two groups of teachers generated unease between the educators as well. This paradox created an unhealthy milieu in the schools and discouraged the development of a healthy perspective on (foreign) languages and identity. Teachers' attitudes further compromised learners' behaviour, as local educators stressed nationalism, while foreigners pressed towards the development of a more global mentality. Unfortunately, as none of the institutions had any policies to address this dilemma, eventually students developed behaviours contrary to the intended by the schools.

In the ESL classroom, students' attitudes and learning success are largely influenced by a variety of emotions experienced. The present research aims to investigate how emotions and perceptions on learning-autonomy shape Hungarian high school students' and educators' attitudes in the ESL classrooms. Results indicate that female students, as opposed to their male peers, have considerably lower confidence in their own capability of learning and using English, yet they are less dependent on the teachers' perceived likeability and more autonomous in their learning processes. Teachers reveal that they are aware of the differences in emotions between male and female students; however, they do not encourage students sufficiently to develop learner-autonomy. Implications from this study indicate that teachers should explore and implement more psychological content-based strategies to meet students' gender specific emotional needs and to avoid learning-dependence on the educator's person.

INTRODUCTION: Emotions experienced in the classroom significantly affect learners' and educators' motivation. In foreign language learning, emotions are of critical importance, since learners are acquiring not only a language but new structures of thinking and new cultural elements. METHOD: In this study, 70 Mongolian students and eleven teachers responded to questionnaires or interviews. The data from students were analysed by taking percentages of their responses by gender group, while narrative analysis was applied to the teachers' responses. RESULTS: The data suggest that male and female students display different emotions during foreign language acquisition. Both groups perceived educators' feelings similarly to their own emotions. They stated that a good or bad teacher could alter their learning success. Teachers experienced a variety of positive emotions, but their enthusiasm readily decreased if students did not reciprocate. Teachers perceived and understood learners' emotions, but were not always able or willing to take them into consideration. DISCUSSION: The present study finds that both students and teachers consider emotions in the classroom and towards one another to be crucial. Positive emotions are always conditioned by the other party's behaviour. Validation of (sometimes negative) emotions is regarded as a great motivational tool that can transform negative attitudes into positive ones.

English language learning in culturally isolated monolingual regions has very specific challenges. As foreign language learning does not necessarily happen with integrative motivation, thus not having a target culture to be taken as an example for cultural elements and thought-processing role model may challenge learners of the language. Nevertheless, a non-culture specific foreign language related emotional intelligence is needed in order to convey thoughts and attitudes properly. Twenty-three Mongolian university level English language learners were asked about their motivation to learn English and its relatedness to emotional intelligence. The results indicate that Mongolian students learn mostly grammar and have very limited access to foreigners to practice their skills. Although most Mongolian learners never heard of emotional intelligence, they displayed substantial adaptability and extreme flexibility about the nature of their motivation in order to communicate successfully and/or to adapt to varying circumstances. Moderate body-language mirroring was suggested as a first step to create a natural and relaxed atmosphere while interacting with individuals with different cultures, detecting the most convenient paths to display emotional intelligence.

Inspiration dynamics between students and teachers have great impact on learners' perceptions, attitudes and psychological well-being in the ESL classroom. Gender-based differences in opinions about foreign-language acquisition often shape students' approaches and learning structures. Nowadays, great emphasis is placed on the presence of native English-speaker teachers in English language teaching institutions. However, such teachers may struggle to understand local students' attitudes. Seventy-four university students were asked about their perceptions and preferences on English teachers' nationality and teaching-style in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. The data were analysed according to gender-based differences in opinions. The findings reveal that, in general, students have no preference for native or non-native teachers, yet prefer educators who teach exclusively through the medium of English. Female students expressed less self-confidence, more need for continuous reinforcement and social interaction in the classroom, while male students displayed more self-confidence, more autonomy and the need for practical knowledge-focused learning content and strategies.

Students' attitudes towards learning and the perception and beliefs behind them may have a profound influence on learning behaviour and learning outcomes. Teachers' awareness of such needs and preferences will result in more realistic and useful teaching strategies which, in turn, will have a facilitative effect on the learning process. Thus, learners should be given opportunities to express their own language learning preferences, especially in reference to the definition of objectives in general and awareness of strategies for learning. Moved with the conviction that learners and their preferences are of crucial importance in the development of learner autonomy, 74 students in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, were asked about their perceptions and preferences on ESL classroom activities. The results showed that learners were not always able to clearly define their preferences. This may be due to the fact that learning a foreign language is a culturally and psychologically different process than learning any other subject via the individual's first language. Thus, educators have the additional responsibility to help learners to find their learning strengths, and by cognitive training help students to expand their learning style preferences. Also, implications from this study clearly display that teacher training programmes should seriously examine and implement innovative ways of teaching English considering students' identity, character, and limitations.

This paper seeks to analyse the attitudes and motivation for learning English of students in the city of Surgut, in the Russian Federation. The investigation was carried out in November 2013 by means of self-completion questionnaires distributed to 30 students aged between 13 and 17 who had studied English for at least two years in private language schools although all of them had studied at least one foreign language within the Russian national education system. The students were divided into two main categories: students who are citizens of the Russian Federation who come from bilingual families (BF), such as Tatar, Bashkir, Ukrainian or others, and students from Russian monolingual families (MF). The results were analyzed from different motivational views, namely achievement, instrumental, integrative, extrinsic, and intrinsic motivations. This methodology allowed the researcher to acquire a multi-perspective vision of what impelled Russian students to learn English, what they expected of that knowledge, and whether there were differences between both groups. The results showed a high level of motivation among both genders of bilingual students and among girls from Russian monolingual families, while non-bilingual boys’ results were much more discreet. Although this research was
carried out in according to concrete standards of age and education, the results can increase the scientific understanding of motivation for second-language learning in contexts where that second language is not necessary, used or even known by the community in its daily life, as well as the perception of language learning by monolingual and by bilingual individuals.

“Like all educational practice, bilingual education is inextricably bound up with the socio-political context in which it arises and the purposes it serves” (Lo Bianco 2007: 47).

Ruiz (1984) proposes three basic perspectives towards language and its role in society as well as how it influences language planning in different situations: language as a problem, language as a right and language as a resource (Ruiz 1984: 15).

• Language as a problem: For some people, bilingualism and especially bilingual education may have negative effects within the community causing disunity, ethnic problems and political turmoil.

• Language as a right: Some other people feel that prejudices and discrimination need to be erased. These prejudices would include the linguistic ones. According to this orientation all people must have the right to learn and use their native language.

• Language as a resource: For a third group, bilingualism and bilingual education can be an asset for promoting national unity, since different linguistic groups within the country will be able to communicate with each other. Furthermore, bilingual education can empower people and communities to develop international relations.


As Baker (2011: 374) points out bilingual education can be perceived as “both part of the solution and part of the problem of achieving national unity, diversity or unity in diversity.”

Following the premises above, this presentation will prove that there is a political ideology behind different models of bilingual education using real cases in three different countries:

• Hungarian bilingual education in Slovakia: language as a problem
• Occitan bilingual education in the Aran Valley: language as a right
• Russian bilingual education in Kazakhstan: language as a resource

Mongolia is home to many international and bilingual schools that offer either full or partially international curricula. These schools employ foreign teachers from a large variety of countries and cultures. Most of the foreign teachers working in Mongolia have experience in teaching in their own country or in other foreign countries. Their teaching strategies are often based on their previous experiences and cultural background and they are oblivious to the fact that they should adapt their teaching style somewhat to the locally acceptable and used standards. When this reality is ignored, learning usually doesn't take place and frustration results for both teachers and learners. Six common misconceptions foreign teachers have are discussed here. The focus is on behaviours that hinder their success-and the appropriate strategies to improve their teaching experience while being respectful towards the cultural differences they may encounter.