Exploring EFL learners’ emotions: A comparative study of cooperative podcast creation and general language learning

This study concerns a cooperative podcast creation task undertaken by second-year bachelors students enrolled on an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) vocabulary course in Belgium. While a handful of studies have documented the perceptions of language learners engaged in podcast production, the few that have explicitly focused on emotions have been anxiety-centered, mirroring research in computer assisted language learning (CALL) contexts and language learning more generally. This study compared the socio-emotional experiences of 38 EFL learners in two conditions – a podcast creation task and during general language learning – to explore how emotions and their potential sources differed across contexts. Open-ended responses were analyzed alongside items from validated foreign language anxiety and enjoyment scales. The quantitative analysis found that students reported higher levels of enjoyment than anxiety in both conditions. Item-level analysis revealed that while students reported similar levels of anxiety in both conditions, the findings for enjoyment showed more variance, with social enjoyment being significantly higher in the podcast condition. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data highlights that creative small-group tasks that involve extended peer interaction and result in joint, concrete outcomes can cultivate positive emotions such as enjoyment, gratitude, and (group) pride while preventing boredom, shame, and hopelessness. Laughter played a cementing role in group cohesion and helped to diffuse negative language learning emotions. Nevertheless, instances of group-related anxiety and frustration point to the importance of explicitly teaching groupwork skills.