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The emotions of language teachers: A systematic review of studies between 2015 and 2024

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2025

Jian Tao Open the ORCID record for Jian Tao [Opens in a new window] ,
Yueting Xu Open the ORCID record for Yueting Xu [Opens in a new window] ,
Shiyao Wang  and
Xuesong (Andy) Gao Open the ORCID record for Xuesong (Andy) Gao [Opens in a new window]
Jian Tao
Affiliation:
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, China
Yueting Xu*
Affiliation:
South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
Shiyao Wang
Affiliation:
School of Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Xuesong (Andy) Gao
Affiliation:
School of Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
*
Corresponding author: Yueting Xu; Email: traceyxuyt@m.scnu.edu.cn
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Abstract

In the past decade, there has been increasing scholarly interest in language teachers’ emotional experiences, how they regulate and manage their emotions, and how their experiences and emotion-related practices are related to their cognition, practice, well-being, and professional development. A systematic and critical review is needed to help language teaching professionals to benefit from the insights generated by these studies. This review aims to explore this growing body of research on the emotions of language teachers published between 2015 and 2024 by outlining four major research themes: 1) emotional experience; 2) emotion labour; 3) emotion regulation; and 4) emerging emotion-related concepts. This review critically discusses these themes and draws on relevant research findings to visualise the results in an emotion-focused map of language teachers’ professional development. It concludes by proposing a research agenda to stimulate further inquiry into the emotions of language teachers.

Keywords

language teacher emotionsemotion labouremotion regulationemotion-focused map of language teachers’ professional development

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Type
Review of Recent Scholarship
Information
Language Teaching , Volume 58 , Issue 4 , October 2025 , pp. 450 - 473
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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