A Case Study On Beginning EFL Teachers’ Emotional Labor In Rural Junior Secondary Schools

Despite impressive development in compulsory education in China,the rigorous requirements and professional pressures can lead to significant emotional labor among teachers.Beginning teachers,especially those in rural areas,are subject to more professional difficulties and challenges that make their emotional labor more complex.This excessive emotional labor potentially leads to a higher intention to quit,which in turn increases teacher attrition rates.There have been extensive studies on the emotional labor of foreign language teachers abroad,but this research strand is still in its infancy in China.Previous research on EFL teachers’ emotional labor focuses on experienced teachers and university teachers.Research is scarce on beginning secondary junior school teachers,especially those in rural schools.In response to the research gaps,the present study aimed to explore emotional labor strategies performed by beginning teachers,factors influencing teachers’ emotional labor and the consequences of emotional labor on teachers,based on Bronfenbrenner’s(1979,2005)ecological system theory.Three research questions in the study are as follows:1.What emotional labor strategies are adopted by beginning EFL teachers in rural junior secondary schools?2.What are the influencing factors to their emotional labor?3.What are the consequences of teachers’ emotional labor?The study employed a case study approach.Three beginning EFL teachers from a rural junior secondary school were recruited as participants through purposive sampling.The study collected data through interviews,non-participant observations,documents and artifacts.Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data.The results showed that the three beginning teachers predominantly used surface acting,with frequent use of genuinely expressing and the least use of deep acting.Various factors influenced their emotional labor strategies,including professional competence,personality traits,interpersonal relationships,school policies,social context and time changes.These factors interplay at different layers of Brofenbrenner’s ecological system.Emotional labor was related to beginning EFL teachers’ psychological well-being,teaching efficacy and physical health.Surface acting and deep acting,when employed over a long period of time,can lead to emotional exhaustion and low job satisfaction;genuine expressions of positive emotions could bring high job satisfaction but negative emotions might lead to low job satisfaction.In addition,the use of surface acting had a negative impact on teaching efficacy,while genuinely expressing had a positive effect and deep acting had no significant effect.Long-term use of surface acting may be detrimental to teachers’ physical health.Finally,the study offers practical implications for beginning teachers,school administrators,educational policymakers and researchers.It helps beginning teachers improve their emotional regulation skills,increase job satisfaction and promote professional development.