Scaling emotions and identification: Insights from a scholarship student

In alignment with more recent work that has conceived of emotion as action instead of a static entity, I argue that an understanding of emotion as embodied action can be enriched through the use of timescales. By applying the construct of timescales to examine the language learning experience of a scholarship student, I illustrate how her desire and anxiety not only evolved over time but were also influenced by intersecting timescales that ultimately influenced her learning outcomes. Additionally, I maintain that issues concerning student voice and silence need to be addressed to fully understand the impact of emotions on language learning. The paper closes with suggestions on how to improve pedagogy in ways that would also harness the emotional work that goes on in classrooms.