Shame and collaborative learning in second language classes
Shame and collaborative learning in second language classes

Summary/Abstract: The threat that many students perceive to be present in the foreign language classroom can have a debilitating effect on their learning. The present paper identifies shame as central to this negative influence and considers the tendand-befriend response as a potential remedy to such a threat. It is further argued that shame is a master emotion as the usual defensive responses to the shame that is experienced in socially threatening situations, including the second language (L2) classroom environment, are fight, flight and fright, which elicit other emotion responses including fear, anger and depression. The negative effects of shame and these other emotions on L2 learning are further discussed, including the particularly harmful influence that some of these emotions have on working memory capacity, which has been identified as a feature of L2 performance. Tend-and-befriend is presented as a more constructive response to perceived threat in the L2 classroom as it has the potential to overcome, through collaborative group work, the negative emotional effects that arise from the fight, flight and fright responses.

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