Is Transparency an Illusion? An Idiodynamic Assessment of Teacher and Peers’ Reading of Nonverbal Communication Cues of Foreign Language Enjoyment

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to assess to what extent moments of experiencing enjoyment in communicating in English as a foreign language is transparent to the teacher and the peers within the ecology of the classroom using an idiodynamic approach. To do this, we explored four university students’ self, teacher and peers reading of nonverbal language enjoyment cues in terms of their face, gesture, gaze, vocalics and posture in a course of general English. The participants prepared for a short presentation on a favourable subject and were video recorded to self-rate themselves immediately after the presentation using Anion Variable Tester V2 software. Two peers, one among the participants’ inner circle friends and the other an outer-circle classmate, and the teacher rated the videos of the presentations. The ratings were compared to find points of convergence indicating the extent of transparency of enjoyment in communication. The findings of the study indicate mixed and dynamic outcomes which, confirming the unstable and complex nature of enjoyment, show that transparency of enjoyment in foreign language communication seems to be an illusion.

Keywords:

• Foreign language enjoyment
• teacher
• peers
• non-verbal cues
• idiodynamic approach