Emotions Are Not Extra in Language Learning
Most language classrooms are very good at helping students notice what went wrong. Much less time is spent helping them notice what helped. That imbalance matters. Over time, it shapes how learners experience risk, error, feedback—and ultimately, the language itself.
This is where gratitude enters the picture, though not in the way it is often understood. In the language classroom, gratitude is not about politeness or forced positivity. It is about attention—the ability to notice what supported learning while it was happening, rather than only what fell short afterward. In a humanistic TESOL context, gratitude is better understood as an attentional practice: a way of noticing value, effort, and relational contribution in real time.