Emotions before reading comprehension in English as a Foreign Language: analysis of Spanish university students

Abstract

Emotions are a major factor in the learning process. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the emotions experienced by students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) as regards reading comprehension. The sample, composed by 194 university students of Education, completed the EFL Skills Emotions Scale (Pishgadam et al., 2016) in which they indicated their emotions about reading. The results show that the most present emotions are positive, fun and hope, followed in frequency by two negative ones, anxiety and boredom. Comparing the students, we found significant differences in the emotions experienced between those who are getting prepared to be English teachers and those who are not. We conclude that there is a need to favour a methodological change in the teaching of reading comprehension for their work to connect emotionally with the students.