A Systematic Review of Poststructuralist-Discursive Research on Language Teachers’ Emotion Labor: Themes, Methods, and Implications

Language teacher emotion labor has recently gained traction as more educators recognize the importance of addressing institutional power dynamics. The present contribution is a review of poststructuralist-discursive research on language teacher emotion labor. The rationale behind a particular focus on poststructuralist-discursive perspective lies behind the recent proliferation of studies framed within this framework. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Page et al., ۲۰۲۱), the content of ۵۷ studies published from ۲۰۱۸ to November ۲۰۲۴ was analyzed for their themes, methods, and implications. The findings revealed that emotion labor experienced by language teachers in online and face-to-face instruction, the interplay of emotion labor, identity, and motivation, emotion labor caused by top-down assessment policies, and emotion labor due to institutional expectations in transnational and EMI/EAP/ESP contexts were among the most frequently investigated themes in the relevant body of literature. It was also observed that language teacher emotion labor has predominantly been examined through qualitative research paradigms, including case studies and (auto)ethnographies. Semi-structured interviews, document analysis, narrative frames, short stories reconstructed based on narrative data, vignettes, and visuals comprised the most prevailing data collection instruments deployed in this area of research. Furthermore, the implications of the existing literature mainly signified the need for institutional reform and raising language teachers’ awareness of the complexities of emotion labor through teacher education programs. The current review calls for more longitudinal, observational, cross-cultural, and mixed-methods explorations of language teacher emotion labor in the future.

کلیدواژه ها:

emotion labor ، discursive ، feeling rule ، institutional pressure ، language teacher ، poststructuralist ، power imbalance