Identifying dietary patterns in different environments attended by children is relevant to guide public politics. The aim of this study was to analyse the factors associated with dietary patterns of children under 2 years of age in childcare centres and at homes. This transversal study was enrolled in municipal childcare centres of Guaratuba, Paraná, Brazil. Food consumption data from 256 children were obtained by the food record method. From the consumption data, four dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis using the principal component method in each environment. ‘Traditional’ patterns were observed in both environments; the ‘less healthy’ pattern was found only at homes. Other patterns identified in childcare centres include ‘snacks’, ‘nutritive’ and ‘pasta and meats’; at homes, it was possible to identify patterns such as ‘milk and cereals’ and ‘mixed’. Children over 12 months presented higher scores for all the patterns in both environments. Obese children had lower scores for all the patterns in childcare centres. There was an association between maternal age below 21 years and higher adherence to a ‘less healthy’ pattern, maternal level of education less than 8 years and lower adherence to the ‘mixed’ pattern and lower familiar income per capita and higher adherence to the ‘snacks’ and ‘traditional’ patterns in childcare centres. In conclusion, adherence to dietary patterns was associated with socio-economic, demographic variables and nutritional status and further studies are needed, especially those with a longitudinal design, enabling the monitoring of dietary patterns. Studies also indicate that dietary patterns in the first years of life are maintained during infancy–4 and can remain steady until adult life.Epidemiologist studies have become common to make the use of dietary patterns to evaluate food consumption, since such studies consider the habitual feeding in a global form and recognise that people consume a combination of both food and nutrients, effects in the intelligence quotient,8, cognitive ability, modification of bone mineral density, alteration of corporal composition,11,12 and obesity.Scientific evidence has demonstrated the association between dietary patterns of children and their impacts on theirs health, such as the presence of respiratory disease symptoms–16. At homes, children tend to follow less healthy dietary patterns, especially when they are inserted in a family context filled with vulnerabilities, including low income and lower levels of education of the parents.Childhoods’ feeding is directly affected by the social environment. Scholar feeding programmes aim to improve the school performance and learning by supplying meals. Thus, the school environment can assist the promotion of healthier eating habits. However, some studies recognised the need to adequate the scholar meals, so that they can reach the nutritional requirements recommended by the specific legislation,20.Educational institutions, in which children receive health and feeding cares, also play an important role in food consumption, and only one has evaluated dietary patterns in both cases. It is relevant to identify dietary patterns in different environments attended by the children in order to guide public politics and to allow the development of educational actions on health and nutrition. The objectives of this study were to identify the dietary patterns of children under 2 years of age in childcare centres and at homes and to analyse the association between socio-economic and demographic conditions and the nutritional status.There are few studies that have simultaneously investigated the food consumption of children in those two environments, school and home,24.This is a cross-sectional and analytical study carried out in Guaratuba, Paraná, Brazil, from February to September 2014, which is part of the ‘Alimentary and Nutritional Security in School Environment’ project. Further information on this project can be found elsewhereAll children of both sexes under 2 years of age were considered eligible to participate in the study. They had to be enrolled and had to attend all the five municipal childcare centres of Guaratuba during the data collection period, except exclusively breastfed children or the ones following special diets. The parents or caregivers had to sign the Written Informed Consent Form. This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki, and all procedures involving human subjects were approved by the Committee of Ethics in Research of the Sector of Sciences of the Health of the Federal University of the Paraná (11312612.5.0000.0102).There were nineteen losses (6⋅9 %) out of 275 eligible children: one for not having the weighted food record data; ten for not bringing back the estimated food record; one for not fulfilling correctly the estimated food record and seven for not having the authorisation of the parents or caregivers to participate in the study, which resulted in a total of 256 children.Weight and length measures were taken in duplicates by trained researchers. To achieve these, children wore the minimum of clothes possible and were bare-footed. Weight was measured in grams by a pediatric Plenna® scale of Tinn 00038 model with a capacity of 15 kg and 10 g graduation; length was measured in centimetres through a Tonelli® stadiometer with an amplitude of measure from 0 to 1000 mm.Z-score of body mass index was based on age, body mass index by age (BMI/A), and divided into four categories: underweight (<−2); normal weight (≥−2 and ≤+1); overweight (>+1 and ≤+2) and obesity (>+2).The nutritional status classification was performed using WHO Anthro® software version 3.2.2. The , divided in tertiles .A structuralised and previously tested questionnaire of socio-economic and demographic data was administered to the parents and the caregivers of the children. The following variables were considered: sex ; age in months ; birth weight in grams ; breast-feeding (yes/not); age of the mother in years ; level of education of the parents in years  and familiar income per capita in the minimum wage, effective in the period of data collection, R$724⋅00/US$321⋅80. The weighted food record was collected by the field team for all the meals offered during the permanence of the children in childcare centres in two non-consecutive days (weekdays). To quantify the total food consumed by the children, the repetitions were added to the amount served, and the remnant portions were subtracted from the meals. A portable digital Plenna® scale with a capacity of 5 kg and 1 g precision was used for food weighing. A measuring cylinder with a capacity of 250 and 10 ml graduation was used in order to quantify the liquids.Data related to food consumption were obtained by means of the food record method (estimated and weighted).A 3-d estimated food record was filled by the parents and caregivers in order to collect information about the meals that the children had at homes, from the moment which they left the childcare centres until the moment which they returned on the following day, as well as one weekend day, specifically on Sundays. The estimated food record provided illustrations of utensils, referred to the type and the size, to assist the parents or caregivers to estimate the size of the portions during the meals. Intending to achieve the amount of breast milk consumed, an average breast milk consumption guide for children in complementary feeding was considered according to the age and the recommendation of the World Health OrganizationOut of 256 children, 252 (98⋅4 %) presented data related to 2 d in the childcare centres of weighted food record and at homes from estimated food record; 206 (80⋅5 %) had proceeding data from 3 d, and twenty-five (9⋅8 %) of 2 d. It was possible to obtain seventy-eight different foods from the childcare centres and 191 foods from homes. After that, the foods were divided based on nutritional similarity degrees, culinary use and consumption frequency. The groups were named according to the food items in them. A total of twenty-one and twenty-three groups related to childcare centres and the homes were created, respectively. The food groups’ composition presented small differences between the environments, once foods taken at home showed a greater variety in relation to the ones taken in the childcare centres..Adjustments in intra- and inter-individual variability related to food quantification in the groups, which were categorised by the environments, were performed in order to obtain the usual consumption by the multiple source method. This method esteems the usual consumption by means of a procedure of three steps. First, the probability of an individual consuming a given food or nutrient on a random day is estimated. Secondly, the usual amount of food or nutrient ingestion in 1 d of consumption is esteemed. Thirdly, the final numbers resulting from those two steps are multiplied by each other to estimate the usual daily ingestion for each individual. From the individual calculation, the method constructs the food consumption distribution of the studied populationFood groups, which presented low correlation with other groups (Spearman's correlations less than 0⋅20), and, therefore, not reached the patterns, were excluded from the analyses. Accordingly, three food groups were excluded: one proceeding from childcare centres (‘breast milk’) and two from homes , thus resulting in twenty and twenty-one groups, respectively. were used to evaluate the adequacy of the sample, being considered acceptable a value of P ≤ 0⋅05 and a coefficient of >0⋅6, respectively. This study also considered the eigenvalue criterion >1, the scree plot test, and the interpretability of the components in order to determine the number of factors to be extracted. Food groups with factor loadings of >0⋅30 or <−0⋅30 were considered in order to compose each dietary pattern. The factors were submitted to Varimax orthogonal transformation for greater data interpretability. The internal consistency between the items of each pattern was evaluated through Cronbach's α coefficient. The dietary patterns identified were named in accordance with the characteristics of the food groups with higher factor loadings.Dietary patterns were derived by means of factor analysis using the principal component method distinct for each environment. The tests by the Sphericity of Bartlett and Kaiser–Mayer–Olkin coefficientScores for each factor were generated in order to verify the adherence of the children to the dietary patterns. Such scores were calculated by the addition of the standardised values in the Z-score of the food groups of each pattern and were weighted according to their respective factor loading. A higher score indicates a higher adherence to the respective dietary pattern. Values for each factor were categorised into tertiles to represent three levels of adherence to each specific dietary pattern. Associations between the tertiles and the socio-economic and demographic conditions, as well as nutritional status, were investigated by ordered logistic regression, expressed by proportional odds ratio (OR) of being at the higher tertile of adherence, compared with the bottom, and its 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI).Statistical analyses were performed by Stata® software, version 14. A significance level of 5 % was considered.Four dietary patterns were observed in each environment, which could explain 58⋅8 and 40⋅2 % of the total variance in the childcare centres and at homes, respectively. These patterns are presented in Regarding childcare centres, the first pattern presented positive loadings for biscuits and breads, margarine and butter, coffee and teas, and fruits, with negative loading for formula, which was labelled the ‘snacks’ pattern. The second pattern is composed of natural juice, tubercles, roots and cereals, vegetables and dairy products. It presented negative loading for breakfast cereal and configured the ‘nutritive’ pattern. Furthermore, the ‘pasta and meats’ pattern is the third one, and it had positive loadings for pasta, sauce, meats and eggs, and dainties. The fourth pattern includes rice, beans, processed meats, milk and sugar; it had negative loading for soup, and it was called ‘traditional’ pattern .At homes, the first pattern presented positive loadings for rice, beans, meats, eggs and fish, fruits, pasta and sauce, being named as ‘traditional’ pattern. The second pattern had positive loadings for processed meats, dainties, sugar drinks, sugar, pasta and salty, biscuits, breads and cakes, margarine and similar, and dairy products. It was labelled ‘less healthy’ pattern. The third pattern was constituted by milk and breakfast cereal, and it also presented negative loadings for breast milk and received the name of ‘milk and cereals’ pattern. The fourth pattern was composed of coffee and teas, vegetables, tubercles, roots and cereals, and formula. This pattern was called ‘mixed’ pattern and was the only one whose internal consistency presented a Cronbach's α value below 0⋅6 .The four dietary patterns, in the childcare centres, were associated with the age of the child and nutritional status. In addition, the ‘snacks’ pattern showed an association with per capita family income and childcare centres in which the child was enrolled. The ‘nutritive’ pattern was associated with the birth weight and childcare centres, and the ‘traditional’ pattern showed an association with the current breast-feeding situation, per capita family income and childcare centres. Regarding the age, children older than 12 months presented higher odds of being at the highest quantile of adherence for all dietary patterns identified in the childcare centres. Furthermore, the odds of a higher level of adherence to the dietary patterns increase with nutritional status classification until overweight. On the other hand, obese children presented lower scores for all patterns in this environment. Breastfed children showed lower odds for ‘traditional’ patterns. Concerning childcare centres, number two had higher scores for the ‘nutritive’ pattern, number four had lower scores for ‘snacks’ and ‘nutritive’ patterns and number five showed lower scores for ‘snacks’, ‘nutritive’ and ‘traditional’ patterns. The children with higher birth weight had more odds of adherence to ‘nutritive’ pattern, and also those whose families had lesser per capita income had higher scores for the ‘snacks’ pattern .Table 4At homes, there was an association between ‘traditional’ and ‘milk and cereals’ patterns and the age of the child and current breast-feeding situation. Also, the ‘less healthy’ pattern showed an association with the age of the child, current breast-feeding situation and age of the mother, whereas the ‘mixed’ pattern was associated with the age of the child and education level of the mother. Concerning the age, children older than 12 months also presented higher scores for all dietary patterns identified at home. Besides, breastfed children showed lower scores for ‘traditional’, ‘less healthy’ and ‘milk and cereals’ patterns. Children, which mothers presented lower levels of education, had lower scores for the ‘mixed’ pattern. Finally, children with younger mothers presented higher scores for the ‘less healthy’ pattern .Table 5et al. in a study with American children of 6 and 12 months of age. Aside from these finding, four dietary patterns were found by Kristiansen et al., in a study that followed Norwegian children of 24 months of age, and by Lim et al., in which the consumption of Singapore's children aged from 6 to 12 months was evaluated.In the present sample of south Brazilian children under 2 years, four dietary patterns were identified in childcare centres and at homes. These dietary patterns were associated with socio-economic/demographic variables and nutritional status. The number of dietary patterns reached in this study was similar to the one found by Wen ,35,36. Internationally, traditional patterns for children younger than 2 years of age have been identified and are basically composed of typical foods, thus differing from the Brazilian patterns in terms of food composition. Traditional patterns of European countries, such as Denmark, England and Norway, have been characterised by diverse foods, including potatoes, vegetables, meats, eggs, fish, breads, butter, sauces and puddings,34,37,38. In addition, traditional patterns of Singapore, an Asian country, are based on pasta, eggs, seafood, dry fruits and tofu. These results support the theory that dietary patterns are influenced by geographic localisation, local culture and ethnicity.The ‘traditional’ pattern, characterised by the presence of rice and beans, was common in both environments. Other Brazilian studies with children have also found the consumption of a similar traditional pattern,36,40. However, in some studies, ‘snacks’ is composed of less healthy foods, for example, candies and soft drinks, and for this reason, this pattern has a negative connotation,41.The first pattern derived from the childcare centres was ‘snacks’, which gave rise to the largest variance value (27⋅5 %). This pattern is composed of foods that are commonly consumed between the main meals, do not require long preparation time, and are served in the school environment as breakfast or an afternoon snack, such as biscuits and breads, margarine and butter, coffee and teas, and fruits. Other studies carried out with children have also identified similar patterns called ‘snacks’.On the other hand, the ‘less healthy’ pattern – composed of foods rich in sugar, sodium and fat, such as dainties, sugar, sugar drinks, processed meats, pasta and salty, and margarine and similar – was not identified in the childcare centres. This observation could be explained by the fact that there is a law that establishes prohibitions and limitations in relation to the nutritional quality of foods served in childcare centres. The Brazilian legislation related to scholar feeding allows the inclusion of only two portions of candies or sweets per week, limiting the daily amount of added sugar, fat and sodium and prohibiting the acquisition of artificial refreshments and soft drinks. This legislation explains the reason why ‘sugar drinks’ group was not found in any of the patterns identified in this environment. Similar less healthy dietary patterns have also been identified in other studies with children under 2 years of age ,38,44–47.Conversely, the ‘less healthy’ pattern was found at homes. The Brazilian food guideline for children under 2 years of age recommends avoiding such types of foods during the first years of life, since they may lead to health issues, such as anaemia, overweight and allergies. Such foods may also hinder the acceptance of healthy ones, for example, vegetables, which are essential nutrient sources for proper growth and child developmentFurthermore, another pattern identified in childcare centres was the ‘nutritive’ one that is composed of foods rich in vitamins, minerals and fibres, such as natural juice and vegetables and it had negative loading for breakfast cereals. The ‘nutritive’ pattern is similar to the ‘mixed’ one identified at homes, and the similarity is due to the presence of tubercles, roots and cereals, and vegetables. However, the ‘mixed’ pattern is also composed of coffee, teas and formula, and it was the only one that presented a weak internal consistency (Cronbach's α <0⋅6).. Although most of the children in this study are over 12 months of age and the recommendation for this age is to offer the same feeding from the family, the food consumption of this pattern was frequent for most of the children. On the other hand, this pattern presented negative loading for breast milk, indicating that the children who were breastfed had less consumption of milk and breakfast cereals.It was still possible to observe a ‘milk and cereals’ pattern at homes. Breakfast cereals, mainly composed of industrialised products with added sugar, are usually offered in milk-based preparations and may often substitute main meals composed of different alimentary groups, such as vegetables, meats and tubercles. Moreover, the ‘milk’ group was predominantly constituted by cow's milk, which is not suitable for children less than 1-year-old due to its high dose of proteins and electrolytes, causing impairment in the absorption of micronutrients, thus leading to allergies and anaemia due to iron deficiency.To the best of our knowledge, only one study described dietary patterns of children inside and outside school. It corresponds to a Brazilian multicentre study, which also identified four dietary patterns in the school environment, named ‘traditional’, ‘dual’, ‘snacks’ and ‘bread with butter’ patterns. The main difference compared with this study is that it evaluated both public and private schools, in which children were more way to consume a ‘snacks’ pattern consisting of foods with lower nutritional quality but also for children exclusively breastfed in the first 4 months. Furthermore, it was observed higher scores for the ‘unhealthy’ pattern for precocious weans,47, and lower scores were associated with longer breast-feeding periods.Children over 12 months of age presented higher scores for all dietary patterns identified in both environments. A possible explanation is that children over 12 months of age consume foods independently from their parents and caregivers, thus gain access to a greater variety of foods. Besides, only 26⋅4 % of such children were breastfed, whereas 53⋅3 % of the children under 12 months of age were still being breastfed, which can result in a lower consumption of others types of foods in the breastfed group. This is supported by the at-home observations of this study, in which breastfed children presented lower scores for the ‘traditional’, ‘less healthy’ and ‘milk and cereals’ patterns. Studies that investigated the association between dietary patterns and breast-feeding duration found higher scores for the ‘healthy’ pattern not only for longer breast-feeding periods,44,45,48. Younger mothers can be less inclined to cook and have less knowledge on healthy eating habits enabling them to offer easy to prepare foods, which might contribute to a higher consumption of industrialised foods.There was an association between the age of the mother and dietary patterns only at homes. The younger the mother, the higher the scores for the ‘less healthy’ pattern. The outcomes found at homes agree with other studies,45,48,49. Mothers with a lower level of education may not have the necessary knowledge on appropriate eating habits, which might lead to less healthy eating habits in children.It was possible to verify an association between the educational level of the mother and dietary patterns only at homes, in which children whose mothers had lower levels of education presented lower scores for the ‘mixed’ pattern. Different studies carried out with children under 2 years of age have found an association between higher adherence to healthier dietary patterns and a higher level of education of the mother,46,47, as well as an association between higher family incomes and an increased adherence of the ‘healthy’ pattern,11,48.In the childcare centres, it was possible to verify an association between lower family incomes per capita and higher scores related to the ‘snacks’ and ‘traditional’ patterns. In other studies, in which associations between the dietary patterns of children under 2 years of age and the familiar income were investigated, it was observed an association between lower family incomes and an increased adherence to the ‘less healthy’ pattern. It is common for children to adjust their energy intake throughout the meals, keeping it constant. Therefore, the acceptance of foods offered in the childcare centres may decrease due to greater consumption at homes. Other studies have also observed the association between higher Z-scores of BMI and lower adherence to different dietary patterns identified as ‘Transition food’, ‘Family food’ and ‘Health-conscious’.Obese children showed lower scores for all dietary patterns identified in childcare centres. A possible explanation for such a result may be the lack of consumption in the childcare centres compensated by the high energy density foods consumed at homes. In a previous research conducted with the same population of children investigated in this study, it was noticed that food consumption at homes corresponded to the higher amount of energy and nutrient intakeset al., not following the menu instructions is a common practice observed in the school environment. The practice of foods on the menu not being served is explained mainly because of a lack of stock control or failure in the supply.In addition, adherence to dietary patterns was different depending on the childcare centres investigated, probably due to differences in their menus. Possible reasons can be the differences in the period during which data were collected in each place, or since the food suppliers do not follow the menu proposed by the nutritionists responsible for the scholar eating programme. According to Issa . This age range would be important to analyse eating habits according to age and would show variations in the type and amount of foods consumed by the children, especially during their transition phase. To reduce the limitations of the subjective decisions, scientific literature was reviewed in order to choose the most used methods in other studies, which performed factorial analysis and Varimax rotation. The number of retained factors was based on the combination of quantitative criteria and interpretability of the components in agreement with Fransen et al..This study, however, has some limitations. The transversal drawing is insufficient to infer causal relations between dietary patterns and the associated variables. The analysis of dietary patterns involves some subjective decisions (biases), which may influence the result of the dietary pattern, such as the formation of food groups, selected methods to generate dietary patterns, the number of factors to be extracted and the denomination of the identified patterns. Some patterns remained related to each other, even though they have been used in the orthogonal rotation recommended for favouring the identification of less correlated patterns. The application of the oblique rotation method also presented a similar result. Another aspect was the impossibility to carry out independent analyses according to age due to the small number of children under 1 year of age, and therefore, values were below the estimated minimum number of children per food groups. Thus, it was not possible to introduce multivariate analysis for age. Also, the inclusion of all children under 2 years of age were enrolled and attended all childcare centres during the period of collection, reinforcing the internal validity of the data.The strengths of this study include the method of weighed food recordings in order to obtain data related to food consumption in the childcare centres, as it is considered one of the most accurate methodsWe identified four dietary patterns in each environment. In both environments, the ‘traditional’ pattern was observed; only at homes, it was possible to find a ‘less healthy’ pattern. Adherence to dietary patterns was associated with socio-economic, demographic variables and nutritional status. Obese children showed lower scores for all patterns in the childcare centres. There was an association between maternal age and higher adherence to the ‘less healthy’ pattern, as well as an association between the level of education of the mother and lower adherence to the ‘mixed’ pattern, and between lower familiar income per capita and higher adherence to the ‘snacks’ and ‘traditional’ patterns in childcare centres. It is noteworthy that in the present study, it was not identified neither the ‘less healthy’ pattern nor the sugar drink food group in childcare centres. This fact may be explained by the impact of the national public scholar feeding policy, which establishes rules regarding the purchase and supply of some food groups. Given such results, it is relevant to create an intersectional dialogue between health and education in order to offer educative actions of health promotion in the school and at home. In addition, further studies are needed, especially those with longitudinal designs, to enable the monitoring of dietary patterns.


The second wave of positive psychology (PP 2.0) focuses on the way positive and negative psychology complement each other in social contexts. It offers a balanced interactive model that aims at enhancing the optimal learning outcome through the interplay of positive and negative emotions. Building on a large qualitative study of students’ and teachers’ experiences in EFL classrooms in China, this paper argues that adopting the principles of PP 2.0 could deepen our understanding of learners’ emotional experience in SLA. Using one illustrative case, it shows the dynamic and complexity of students’ shifting emotions as they interact in the classroom over a span of 2 months. One major finding is that the students’ positive emotions could transcend negative emotions and influence their engagement in classroom interaction. This study contributes to the existing research into emotional experiences of classroom interaction that integrates the observable, reflective, and participatory. It draws on interrelated sets of data, including a student and teacher profile questionnaire, classroom observation and recording, student and teacher reflective journals documenting their classroom interaction experiences, and stimulated recall interviews based on recordings and reflective journals. The study in the first place has implications for English teachers and teacher trainers in China and abroad as well as researchers interested in the role of emotional experience in English language learning and teaching. Language learning is an emotionally charged experience. Until the 21st century, the field of second language acquisition was dominated by studies and narratives focusing on learners’ negative emotions, such as learning anxiety e.g., . HoweverExtensive survey studies and structured interviews could, to some extent, offer a comprehensive and more nuanced picture of students’ emotions in foreign language classrooms. However, such methods may fail to recognize the dynamics of learners’ emotional experience in the immediate context of interaction. It is thus worthwhile to adopt multiple perspectives and explore immediate learning environments to better understand students’ emotions in classroom interaction, which is also the focus of this paper.The emotional experience of Chinese learners may not necessarily be the same as that of learners in a different cultural context . In the Although communicative language teaching (CLT) was advocated in China when it emerged, its feasibility and practical value have been questioned. Its limited success led to a re-employment of the traditional approach. Thus, some researchers later proposed an eclectic model that combines the two approaches. However, four decades have passed, and the traditional approach remains prevalent in English language classrooms in China today. It shows that educational reforms inevitably affect teachers, their teaching practice, and consequently, students’ experience in interaction. However, the issue of students’ emotional experience in interaction remains largely unexplored under the dual influence of the teacher-oriented approach and CLT.In this paper, interaction refers to acts of verbal communication, including observable social exchanges between students and the teacher as well as private, unobservable interactions. Informed by sociocultural theory , it coulA glance at the research on SLA in the Chinese context reveals that the question of students’ emotional experience of classroom interaction has been largely underexplored. Clearly, there is a need for a holistic perspective to investigate how diverse emotions interact in learning contexts. Therefore, inspired by principles of PP2.0, this paper rests on the belief that learners’ emotional experience, both positive and negative, and anything in-between in classroom interactions, need to be further explored within the context of interaction to gain a better understanding of the process of EFL classroom language learning. Here the context includes both the immediate context of interaction and the broader educational and sociocultural context. Students’ emotional responses before and after interactive classroom activities may be different. This study seeks to deepen our understanding of students’ emotional experiences in EFL classroom interaction. The findings could provide implications for researchers and practitioners within the specific Chinese context and, more generally, for English teachers, teacher trainers, and researchers whose work is focused on understanding interaction in English language learning and teaching.right in life  and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA). It was not until recently that some other emotions were explored. Take, for instance, recent research on the boredom of Chinese university students in English classrooms from the perspective of the control-value theory . In a stBesides the survey studies, there have been studies that use a mixed-method by supplementing some qualitative data. As discussed above, there is still a gap in understanding participants’ experience in second language learning holistically in the Chinese context. In particular, a more detailed description of how individual learners’ emotions change and interact in a short or a more extended period is worth exploring. Thus, this study uses triangulations and combines different data sets in EFL classrooms in China  to explore how students experience classroom interaction emotionally from students’ and teachers’ perspectives.In bridging the gap identified in the literature review above, this paper aims to address the following research question: how do students experience classroom interaction emotionally in EFL classrooms in China? Drawing upon the principles of PP 2.0, this study considers both positive and negative emotions and explicitly focuses on the interaction between the two.+ to B2 in language proficiency level , typical for such English major programs in China. Most of them had passed the TEM-4 test, which is equivalent to CEFR B1cy level . They caThe teacher of this compulsory course is a Chinese man in his thirties. He holds a Ph.D. and has 6 years of teaching experience. He has once worked as a teaching assistant at an American university and has been awarded a prize for excellence in teaching. He summarized his teaching style as “American,” which differed from the style preferred by what he called “ancient teachers.” By characterizing himself in that way, he wished to strictly distance himself from the traditional teacher-led teaching model and consciously promoted more student-interaction interaction in his classroom, which may also link to his previous working experience.Intensive Reading for Contemporary College English, Book Four, in which Text A is the main focus in each unit. The final exam is based on textbook content, so the teacher follows the textbook closely. At the same time, the course instructor tries to organize related activities to encourage students’ involvement in classroom interactions.The intensive reading course was chosen because it takes the most credits required by the national English teaching syllabus in China. As a compulsory course, it aims to develop students’ overall English proficiency, not being limited to reading comprehension. Students are required to take this class in four modules over their first two academic years. They attend it three times a week, each lasting 90 min. The coursebook is In order to have a more comprehensive picture of participants’ experiences in classroom interaction, the ongoing data collection was guided by the grounded theory approach, following the “all is data” principle , p. 145.The data collection process can be divided into four phases . Phase OIn Phase Two, the researcher observed and audio recorded classroom interaction while taking field notes. As explained in the introduction, this paper is based on a larger study exploring participants’ interaction experience, following the grounded theory approach, and the researcher was an unmotivated observer. The field notes were mainly used to locate the segment of recordings highlighted in students’ reflective journals and used as stimulus material in Phase Four. Therefore, the researchers’ priming effect of prior knowledge of influencing the results of observation was avoided.In Phase Three, the students and the teacher wrote reflective journals and sent them to the researcher on the same day. They were asked to identify two or three “interactions of particular importance” from that particular session. Then, the researcher identified the episode of interaction mentioned in the journal.In Phase Four, stimulated recall interviews were conducted the following day. The researcher played the recording identified in Phase Three and asked open-ended questions. The last three phases took place concurrently. During this process, priority was given to participants’ experience, which drove the following data collection. To be more specific, priority was given to what participants said and thought. For example, students’ reflective journal was first analyzed after observation to identify and locate corresponding classroom recordings later used in stimulated recall interviews.via email once a week on the same day after the observation. Then a stimulated recall interview was scheduled one day after the observation to allow enough time for rest.The whole data collection cycle (phases 2–4) was run three times over a month. The researcher’s understanding reached a more profound level in this iterative process. To minimize the risk of participants growing exhausted and affecting their responses’ validity, their reflective journals were sent to the researcher In order to collate and analyze the four data sets, the researcher used a software program called NVivo. This computer-facilitated qualitative analytical tool ensured that data around each identified interaction could be retrieved. While preparing to import the data into NVivo, the researcher also transcribed classroom recordings and interviews. The preparation of data also involved translating the Chinese passages in the transcript and journals into English. When importing the four data sets to NVivo, students’ and teachers’ names were removed and replaced with numbers and pseudonyms.In order to integrate the four data sets, the researcher developed a construct of “interactional events.” This concept has been developed based on the sociocultural theory (SCT) of interaction, Erving Goffman’s work on the primary framework and the authors’ prior and emerging understanding resulting from data analysis. Informed by SCT, interaction is highlighted in mediation through culturally constructed artifacts , p. 73. Interactional event is an analytical tool that allows studying one instance of interaction from multiple perspectives while considering immediate and sociocultural contexts. In each interactional event, the observational data provides insights into how the interaction was accomplished. The unobservable reflective data can reveal how participants feel and what they think. Combining these aspects brings together their past experiences to the immediate context, which in turn offers insights into the complexities of experiences in interaction.The process of identifying one interactional event started with an analysis of the journal entries and the creation of a node in NVivo. Then, relevant information was first identified from the students’ journals and gathered under this node from the students’ and teachers’ journals, interviews, and corresponding classroom transcripts. The whole project concluded with the identification of 92 interactional events. When ordered, the number of sources of files was gathered around each interactional event. The most representative case, which ranked number one with 18 files, was “involve me, I learn.” Each data set provided a different lens for understanding the participants’ experience. NVivo software makes it possible to retrieve the original data, compare different perspectives, and maintain sensitivity to the context of specific events.While coding the data, the study followed a thematic analysis pattern and a constructivist grounded theory approach through initial coding, focused coding, and theoretical coding . TheoretWhile processing the gathered material, the researcher repeatedly immersed and interacted with the data throughout the data collection, transcribing and reading the data back and forth and keeping memos. The aim at that stage was to identify the most prevalent themes that would bring us closer to understanding the participants’ experience. While coding the data across interactional events, the integration of the four data sets was maintained in generating codes shared across events by these participants. The coding process was led by the reflective data, confirmed by the observational data, and supplemented by the profile data.In this section, one interactional event— “involve me, I learn”— is presented as an illustrative case. First, the context of the interactional event serves as a background for participants’ experiences. Second, classroom interaction transcripts are provided to show participants’ experiences from the perspective of observers. Then, reflective data shows participants’ emotional experiences from both students’ and teachers’ perspectives.Soldier’s heart in the textbook. During this interaction, Meng’s and other students’ emotional experiences were also revealed in the data. When this interaction happened, the researcher observed this class three times, collected two rounds of reflective journals, and conducted two rounds of stimulated recall interviews with the teacher and students. Based on the profile data, Meng passed the TEM-4 (62), which was below the class’s average score (66). She explained that she chose to major in English because she was fond of her former English high school teacher. Her specific aim for the intensive reading course was to polish up her speaking, reading, and English grammar skills, which corresponds with the self-evaluation of her four skills, as she ranked her speaking and reading to be weaker than writing and listening.The interactional event “involve me, I learn” focuses on one student called Meng and her teacher as they discuss an article entitled In Meng’s first reflective journal, she considered her performance in that session to be a “failure” [Meng CJ1]. She explained that she had not previewed the lesson and was afraid of being called upon by the teacher and not understanding his question. In the interview, she stated that she would preview the lesson before the next session, and she made up her mind to “speak up at least once in that session.” It suggests that her frustration could motivate her toward positive change.She also explained that her disengagement in other cases was because she tended to overthink and thus missed opportunities to speak up. As she had it, “I hesitated and pondered over every word” . However, in her second reflective journal Meng admitted she “enjoyed” the lesson when she “dared to answer a question voluntarily.” Her participative role changed from a passive listener to an active speaker, which resulted in her emotional experience moving from negative to positive.Soldier’s heart. Unlike in the traditional teacher-centered model, the teacher asked each student to read one paragraph aloud and then asked a question or provided some comments. The teacher explained that this activity aims to encourage students’ engagement in interaction and create an inviting atmosphere for interaction.In the following interactional event, which occurred during the session after the second interview, Meng seemed to be more active than in the previous session as she voluntarily participated three times. She also appeared to be more confident. The illustrative case featured the second interactional event involving Meng as a speaker. In this session, the teacher guided the students through the article In the first interactional event in that session (“remember the war history”), when the students discussed why young people “cannot remember” war history, Meng argued that since ordinary people never experienced war, they might be indifferent to it . She disagreed with other students’ ideas by saying, “I did not agree with you totally” . However, what she meant to say, as she explained in the interview, was, “I disagree with you partially” . The teacher was confused, but he realized that she intended to express a partial negation. Meng confirmed that she was “a little embarrassed” due to his misunderstanding . However, it did not affect her later participation in that session. She appeared to be resilient, which may stem from her prior experience of overcoming adverse situations.The second interactional event that Meng participated in was a detailed discussion of paragraph 22 in the same article. They primarily focused on one sentence: “The men and women I worked with in universities were pale and unreal in comparison.” One student asked why the word “pale” was used here. Meng was involved in this discussion.The following excerpt is the transcript of the classroom recording showing the interaction between the teacher and the student Meng who asked for clarification.Excerpt 1:236 T: … “The men and women I worked with in universities were pale in comparison.” So ‘the university teachers and staff they were pale” =237 S1: = Why “pale”?-[C]  I’m not sure if I am one of them.238 T: They were like, ok. Why pale? Good question. When somebody is weak, when somebody has just recovered from illness, you might say this person looks pale. Pale means powerless at least or weak. So the people in the university are weak and powerless, and also unreal. They are fake. Ok? [C]-239 Class: No. $$ (laughter)240 T: Maybe I am becoming one. Maybe I am becoming one. “They were hollow and filled with words.” (Meng puts up her hand.) Yes, please. (Meng stands up)241 Meng: From this paragraph, I think experience is, err, very important. Take our class as an example.242 T: Uh-huh.243 Meng: Listening to our teachers can give us a shallow understanding of this article, but engage us in this class by talking about our ideas, can make a better understanding.244 T: Ok.245 Meng: Err, if we experience the war and …246 Ss: $$ (laughter)247 T: $ I can engage you in a war if you like.248 Ss: $$ (laughter)249 Meng: We will, we will, maybe we will understand things better than the author.251 Ss: $$ (laughter) Ah. Yes.252 T: Are you following me? Do you know what I am talking about?253 Ss: Yes.254 Ss: $$ (laughter)255 T + Ss 1: Tell me I forget, show me I remember, involve me, I learn. 2: show me I remember, involve me, I learn.256 T: Ok. I think this is a good way because when I ask you, you can have any questions or comments. I share your understanding, and also I know where your puzzles are. Ok? And it feels like we are learning this one together. Ok. And I am still filled with words, but I am not “hollow”$.The teacher welcomed the student’s question and reacted positively, saying “good question” (line 238). Then he went on to explain the meaning of the word and elaborated on its use in line with the author’s opinion: “they were weak and powerless and also unreal’ (line 238).” After that, the teacher switched to Chinese, ensuring his students understood the more profound message behind the article.In what followed, the teacher started to mock himself, saying, “I am not sure if I am one of them…Maybe I am becoming one.” This utterance made the whole class laugh. The laughter throughout this excerpt indicates the enjoyment and positive emotion in this interaction. It seems that the teacher’s self-revelation and mockery lightened the mood and drew all participants closer. This inviting atmosphere also encouraged Meng to take part in the interaction. In line 245, Meng compares war experiences to learning in a classroom to explain why the people in the article who had no first-hand experience of war felt hollow. The teacher replied by making a joke: “I can engage you in war if you like” (line 247). His remark lightened up the atmosphere and made the whole class laugh (line 248). Though not directly linked to the intended pedagogical aim, the joke attends to students’ emotions and shortens the distance between students and teachers. The teacher summarized Meng’s idea and extended it to a famous Chinese saying. The repetition of the quote in the chorus also suggests a harmonious relationship between the student and the teacher. The phrase “Tell me, I forget; show me, I remember, involve me, I learn” is essential for understanding the process of interaction and the role of positive emotions in fostering learner engagement.The above observational data reveal the participants’ positive emotions in the interactional event. The following section presents students’ perspectives of this interaction based on corresponding reflective data.Meng’s emotions in this interactional event can be revealed in her reflective journal and interview. She also reflects on her shifting attitudes and the influence of that shift on her participation. Most strikingly, Meng came to the researcher after the session and said excitedly, “can you interview me now? I have so much to say.” She could not wait to share the positive emotions she had experienced.Excerpt 2:In this process, the teacher nodded and said “hmm” whenever I finished one sentence (laughter). I noticed when I participated in the interaction for the second time and mentioned, “be engaged in our class,” the teacher said, “Ok. Good.” I was delighted. The teacher changed a word, which showed that he agreed with my opinion. I might have said something that he also wanted to say, so I was thrilled at that time. Then when I was about to say my third point, the teacher interrupted me and said something else. The teacher thought of something that could boost the classroom atmosphere. All the students laughed because of the teacher’s sentence. Students who did not pay much attention to my response would listen to me carefully after that.Meng expresses positive emotions  when the teacher agrees with her opinion by nodding and saying encouraging words. She appreciates the teacher’s humorous remark as an effective means of creating a vibrant, positive atmosphere for interaction. Meng believes that the teacher stimulated positive emotions and created a relaxing atmosphere that could positively affect students’ active involvement (lines 7–8). Her excitement after this session formed a considerable contrast with the previous disengagement in the previous class meeting. Her previous negative emotions, such as “nervousness,” “shame,” “frustration” [Meng CJ1], motivate her to participate actively in a later session. However, those negative emotions changed into positive ones upon receiving the positive appraisal from the teacher. She was “thrilled” and “delighted,” which testifies to the teacher’s significant influence on students’ engagement and emotion in interaction. In the interview, she also comments on her emotional change when comparing her two involvements in the same session.Excerpt 3:I thought I was ridiculous in the previous instance (laughter), but the second time was relatively fluent. Although it seems just ok when I listen to it again now, however, compared with the previous one, this time is a bit better. So when I spoke for the second time, I was not as nervous as the first time. This time, I made my point clearer and expressed what I wanted to say, although I did not use complicated words as I thought $ (laughter). I used a lot of simple words. When I sat down, I did not notice that I made any grammatical mistakes. So I was pretty satisfied.She first reflects on her performance in the first involvement, in which she made a grammatical mistake. She intends to express partial agreement, but she uses the phrase “totally disagree,” a mistake which she explains in the journal is due to her extreme nervousness. However, in the second instance, she reports being more relaxed and confident by consciously monitoring and evaluating the accuracy of her answer while taking the seat. She explains that she used to be obsessed with avoiding making grammatical mistakes, which affected her speaking fluency. This time, she was satisfied with her performance as she made no obvious grammatical mistakes, which shows her level of negative emotions in interaction has dropped, while her positive emotions became prominent.Explaining the effect of this emotional change, Meng said that the positive emotion helped her perform better in the second round. She was no longer discouraged and embarrassed. On the contrary, she continued to participate actively with excitement and enjoyment. She even voiced her opinion for the third time in a 45-min session, which is rare in large class size with more than 20 students. When Meng spoke for the third time, the teacher asked her a follow-up question. Instead of answering the question, she threw the question back to the teacher: “What is your opinion?” . She explained that she could not express herself clearly, so she sought the teacher’s help. Her response reveals the relaxed atmosphere and rapport between the student and teacher. In the traditional teaching model based on Confucian values, students are expected to respect the teacher and seldom challenge them; they also apologize to the teacher if they fail to answer a question.Nevertheless, in this case, the teacher was not offended. Instead, he accepted the challenge. The teacher’s perspective on this incident will be presented in the next section.The satisfaction and confidence obtained in the previous interactions motivated Meng to engage in the session actively. Her positive emotions might also result from adopting the “student’s question and comment” interaction pattern. As Meng reflected, “the more I participated verbally, the more confident I would become” . Importantly, this positive learning experience might also impact her future class participation and enhance her self-esteem. As Meng admitted, “When I was excited to the point that the excitement overcame the nervousness, I will say it better” . Clearly, positive emotions surpass negative emotions in the learning context and prompt better performance in classroom interaction. This resonates with a balanced interactive model of PP 2.0, which may involve transcendence in the adaptive process toward growth and development .Another student, Piao, who was involved in this interaction as a hearer, also stressed the role of positive emotions in fostering engagement. However, unlike Meng she did not experience any strong negative or positive emotions. Similarly, instead of hindering participation, negative emotions could promote participation if the motivation is strong.Excerpt 4:Maybe other students have the same thoughts because we are too shy and eager to reach perfection. When we were in senior high school, our teachers would ask us to answer questions in class. Most of us are familiar with this teaching method, so we still wait for the teachers’ asking in university. However, our teaching method is different from the past, so we should try to gain the chances ourselves. Our hard work is the foundation of our courage. If we want to express our feelings and have good communication with our teachers, we must prepare before class. Thus, I think all of us should work hard and overcome ourselves at first.[Piao CJ3]In Piao’s reflective journal entry, she explains the traditional teacher-led question and answer pattern of interaction deeply rooted in the English language classrooms in China. Negative emotions are associated with the traditional teaching method, suggesting that students’ emotions are also culturally sensitive. Having been accustomed to the traditional model, which was prominent in high schools, Piao senses the need to adapt to the new way her university teacher promotes. She describes the complexity of students’ emotional experience, which involves negative emotions, such as tension due to shyness and striving for impeccable performance at the same time. There is a cultural aspect to this emotional turmoil, as the students want to provide correct answers and avoid mistakes for fear of losing face.Meanwhile, as Piao points out, students consider active participation as “chances to gain by ourselves” and are eager to communicate with the teacher. This shows that their awareness transcends negative emotions: they believe in positive results from active participation. In order to overcome her shyness, the student believes that preparation and hard work could equip her with courage for active participation, which is similar to Meng’s view, which makes it her priority to participate actively at least once in a session. It shows that the tensions at the interpersonal level may lead to a change of emotions and attitude toward class participation.Students’ emotions fluctuated as they performed and switched their participative roles. Students who volunteered to participate in an interaction expressed more positive emotions than negatives. Meng expressed higher levels of positive emotions as a volunteer student, which stood in stark contrast to her negative experiences in the previous session. Other students who participated voluntarily also reported to have “enjoyed” the classroom interaction. For instance, Tian said she felt better prepared and found it “less threatening” . Peng felt “fantastic” when the teacher asked her to explain a word in English, and she gave a correct answer, which left a deep impression a few days after the occurrence . Their positive emotions resulting from active engagement in class discussions may also include the sense of achievement upon hearing the teacher’s approval.Students who were called to answer expressed negative emotional experiences. In one such case, Lan was “nervous” because her “spoken English was not very good,” and she was afraid of making mistakes . When she was called on, she was timid due to “lack of confidence” . Meng explained she was afraid of being laughed at by others and losing face .Students involved in the interaction as hearers may also feel stressed and frustrated when they witness their peers’ active participation. As Jun reported, “They put up hands all the time, and they made me stressed” . Highly motivated students sensed that they were losing opportunities. They either “envied” others’ comments [PiaoJ3] or “admired” someone who received the teacher’s positive feedback .The students’ responses demonstrate that learners’ emotions are influenced by their own perceptions, others’ reactions and cultural expectations. For example, some students were “thrilled when the teacher showed acceptance to their answers” . They sensed that “teachers favor those active students in the class” . They also reflected that they “gained confidence” and would be willing to participate in similar activities in the future .The pattern of interaction also affected their emotional experience. The students described the teacher’s attempt to encourage “students’ questions and comments” as “interesting” and also “useful” for their learning [Piao J2]. Their observation suggests that their positive emotions are stimulated by teachers’ attempts in arousing their interest, especially allowing students to take the initiative in interaction. The students did appreciate the various attempts that the teacher made to make his class more engaging. They found the new pattern more challenging than traditional teacher-led interaction, but they also understood its learning benefits.Students’ perspective illustrates the role of positive emotions and the complex interplay of positive and negative emotions in language classroom learning, which adds to the simple observation of what is going on as perceived by researchers. In addition, the teacher’s perspective is also equally important in understanding what is going on in the classroom.As for the teacher, he was aware of the importance of promoting students’ engagement by avoiding tasks and actions that could arouse students’ negative emotions. As he explains, the purpose of the new interaction pattern was to keep students’ emotional needs in mind.Excerpt 5:“Students’ questions and comments” is a kind of active interaction. Let every student feel that he or she is valued in the classroom, so students will be enthused to learn. Otherwise, the traditional way may make interaction fall into a trap: the teacher tends to ask a few active students, which only accounts for a quarter of the students at most. Then you repeatedly ask them to answer your questions. It is a good cycle for these students in the longer term, but it will be a downward spiral for other students. Those inactive students may think they are already like this and they will not cooperate with you. Interaction should be with the whole class. The teacher should let them feel the class is very democratic. Like I said, if you don’t know, you can ask a question. At least, he has something to say. If he/she knows, then he/she can explain that idea and show it to other classmates. I try to make sure every student has a distinct voice or discourse power.The teacher regards this pattern as an “active interaction” that aims to stimulate students’ positive emotions by providing more opportunities and flexible choices or a certain degree of freedom for students. He intends to avoid the “downward spiral.” Inactive students remain inactive and unmotivated or even keep silent, all of which trigger negative emotions. It is often the case if students do not feel equally “valued.” Although such students may not be judged as “inactive” in a traditional Chinese classroom, they may not be willing to participate. Their negative emotions may persist, which may prevent them from making any progress. The teacher also stresses the need for students of different proficiency levels to participate. He believes that the broader coverage of the students could create a more “democratic” classroom. This excerpt shows that the teacher paid particular attention to students’ emotional experience in interaction. He also intended to create a relaxing and friendly environment for promoting positive emotions for classroom interaction, which the ongoing English educational reform might influence in China and the influence of communicative language teachers.The teacher also reflects on Meng’s performance, especially when Meng challenged him and threw the question back at him.Excerpt 6:When I asked her, she said she didn’t know. Then she said, “teacher, what is your opinion?” Such, I would say…This behavior was based on the premise that she was pretty familiar with the teacher and was quite democratic. Given a relatively stern teacher, if the teacher asked you a question and you don’t know but threw it back to him, the teacher would be angry. However, I get along well with my students, so I don’t mind her saying, “I don’t know. Help me answer it.” It’s not a problem.The teacher explains how a traditional Chinese teacher would behave instead of how he and his student acted. From a traditional Chinese point of view, teachers are highly respected and disobedient students need to be disciplined. A more conservative teacher would be angry with Meng. However, the teacher in the study positions himself as a more “westernized” teacher who advocates democracy in classrooms and uses humor to create positive emotions. In this excerpt, the teacher is pleased to accept the challenge and explain rather than take offense. He interprets the student’s behavior as caused by the friendly student-teacher relationship and a relaxing atmosphere.On the other hand, the teacher’s reflective data also shows that he is aware of protecting students’ faces and ensuring they feel at ease in the classroom. He worries that the students’ positive emotions might change into negative ones if he gives corrective feedback or negative evaluation. As the teacher explained in another interview, “If something is wrong with his answer, while he is trying to express something, I normally do not interrupt him because I fear that correction may affect his enthusiasm.” He also commented on the relaxed atmosphere of that session, which to some extent, explained why Meng behaved so actively.Excerpt 7:They thought they were more relaxed and in a good state that day. The interactional atmosphere was sometimes like a competition. It might be just several students who were in a good state. Then, they competed to have the floor before others. Other students were also affected and did not want to keep silent anymore. They all want to stand up and say something. This situation has happened before.The teacher seems satisfied with the atmosphere and the students’ overall performance. He also explains why students’ positive emotions led to their active participation. As he believes, they “competed to have the floor,” which vividly reveals their emotional state and the interaction atmosphere as perceived by the teacher. The teacher observes that this collective positive emotion was usually stimulated by “several active students.” Their active engagement would influence other classmates. Even students who were usually reluctant to participate would also be affected and thus persuaded into more active involvement. It shows that the emotions of an individual student change in interaction. Their emotions are socially constructed during student-teacher interaction. Students’ emotions may be affected by their teacher, their peers, and the ongoing interaction.The study found that student-teacher interaction affected the students’ emotional responses in EFL classrooms in different ways. To be more specific, various levels of enjoyment and anxiety were revealed when the students were involved in different participant roles and patterns of interaction and when they held different self-perceptions of their performance.First, students’ dynamic participative roles in interaction affected their emotions. A volunteer student like Meng intends to experience a more intense level of enjoyment after her active participation in class. She expressed confidence and was excited as a result of her engagement. The students whom the teacher called to answer, experienced negative emotions, such as stress or fear. However, the teacher’s positive feedback or ending of student-teacher interaction could ease their negative emotions to some extent. The students also reported that their emotions changed after classroom interaction, which usually involved fear before the session and possible enjoyment and satisfaction after the interaction.Students who acted as hearers or just as the audience in classroom interaction may also experience negative emotions because they may experience frustration for losing learning opportunities. Secondly, patterns of student-teacher interaction affected students’ emotions. Some participants reported more negative emotions concerning the teacher-led interaction, which is common in this educational context. The teacher’s effort to introduce a more student-centered interaction pattern, such as “students’ questions and comments,” resulted in lowering students’ negative emotions. Thirdly, students’ positive and negative emotions were affected by their evaluation of their performance and their language proficiency. If they hold a low self-evaluation or perform less satisfactorily, they tend to be more anxious. This confirms previous findings on the correlation between academic enjoyment and self-perceptions .Thus, the nature of students’ emotional experience in interaction is complex and dynamic. This finding is consistent with Informed by PP 2.0 in SLA, Researchers should focus on the weaknesses, strengths, and resources these diverse learners bring to interaction and learning. Teachers and researchers also need to be sensitive to the participants’ past experiences and cultural values in understanding their emotional experience in interaction for language learning.As for the interplay of positive and negative emotions in interaction, the study found that a certain level of negative emotions may lead to a higher level of positive emotions. As in Meng’s case, her previous frustration and anxiety caused by her unsatisfactory performance heightened her later excitement and enjoyment. This finding confirms PP 2.0 ’s view on the balanced interactive model of positive and negative emotions . It alsoIt suggests no one-to-one relationship in which positive emotions lead to learning, and negative emotions hinder interaction. Students’ positive emotions were usually expressed when students reflected their emotions after engaging in interaction. The reflective data suggests that students’ positive emotions stimulate verbal exchanges with others. When it comes to negative emotions, teachers try to avoid them as hindrances to active participation. However, students’ reflective data suggests that they can both inhibit and promote interaction. Students’ negative emotions that emerge in interaction do not always prevent students from participating in-class activities. On the contrary, when the motivation is strong enough, based on students’ self-perception, motivation, and interpretation of the interaction situation, the negative emotion can stimulate students’ active participation. As Considering positive and negative emotions and anything in-between, a broader spectrum of emotions can offer a more holistic understanding of students’ emotional experiences. What is more, how students’ negative emotions transfer or transcend into positive emotions is more important in this quest, harnessing the possible benefits of negative emotions for individual learners. As the study suggests, students’ emotional experience, despite individual differences, may be influenced by the change of interactional pattern and the teacher’s feedback. Therefore, teachers need to provide encouragement and constructive feedback and create enough space for interaction and reflection for emotions which is beneficial for classroom engagement and learning.The triangulation of this study made it possible to understand different perspectives on emotional experiences. We were, to some extent, able to identify both students’ overt and covert emotional experiences based on the observational data. As discussed in the previous section, the Chinese educational context affected the management of their emotions. A given student may always have private, hidden internal emotions as well as publicly displayed emotions. Therefore, observational data could only provide a partial picture. From students’ and teachers’ reflective data, more positive and negative emotions and changes of emotion can be revealed. In addition, students and teachers were also constantly interpreting and evaluating each other’s feelings. Students tried to read their teacher’s emotions and decide on their subsequent interactions. This finding supports It can also be observed that the teacher in our study aimed to promote students’ positive emotions and eliminate possible negative emotions, which they believed might hinder interaction. This finding is consistent with previous survey studies on various internal and external factors affecting FLE and FLCA . TeacherMost of the students’ negative emotions were identified through reflective data. Compared with the positive emotions, which can be observed, most negative emotions were expressed in the reflective data. It is especially in their reflective journals that students took account of their emotions, change of emotions, and its influence on participation. Students’ positive emotions may also emerge from the chance to provide self-reflection after classroom activities.Therefore, the study suggests that researchers need to elicit multiple data sets that provide different perspectives to understand students’ emotional experiences. For example, the design of this study enables eliciting the views from the observer, teachers, students in speakers’ and hearers’ roles. Multiple perspectives may converge, but their mutual interpretation may also reveal mismatches . found tIn addition, students’ multiple interviews conducted over a certain period were collected in the three cycles of data analysis, which provides chances for changes to appear. When viewed as a metatheory, this study has confirmed that PP enables and encourages SLA researchers to adopt a wide range of approaches , which pAs for the pedagogical value, the findings of this study have implications for foreign language learning, teaching, and teacher training. First of all, given the dynamic nature of students’ emotions, teachers and teacher trainers need to promote a positive classroom ecology by using humor or adopting different interactive patterns and activities. The study found that some negative emotions, such as stress or anxiety, may also be changed into positive emotions through interaction. Teachers need to be aware of students’ emotional changes in interaction. They should also encourage students to involve in meaningful interactions. Secondly, teachers should guide students to better prepare for classroom content and emotions, inviting them to reflect on their learning outcomes. It has been observed that students’ better preparation before class may lead to more confidence, and the sense of achievement from previous experiences may lead to positive emotions.Positive psychology 2.0 in SLA offers a balanced model of investigating the interplay between positive and negative emotions. The triangulation of the present study enables individual students’ observable and unobservable emotions to be analyzed around classroom interactions within specific immediate, cultural and educational contexts. By analyzing a representative interactional event and looking across interactional events, we explored how individual students’ emotions fluctuate and how positive and negative emotions interact and stimulate different active tendencies.Based on the previous data analysis and discussion, implications were derived from students’ and teachers’ understanding of emotional experience in interaction. First, students’ emotional experience in EFL classroom interaction is complex, dynamic, and context-sensitive. Learners constantly interpret others’ emotions and manage their feelings, reflecting the con-constructive nature of emotional experience. Secondly, to capture its complexity, the relationship between positive and negative emotions needs to be understood in terms of a specific individual, immediate and educational contexts. The focus either on positive or negative emotions alone fails to provide a clear picture. An understanding of positive psychology in learning needs to include the transformation of negative emotions. Thirdly, students’ emotional experience needs to be discussed from different perspectives, which means that observational and reflective views can reflect different dimensions of their emotional experience. Students’ roles and the immediate context also need to be considered when we look at students’ experiences. The “interactional event” construct provides one way of extending researchers’ and English teachers’ current understanding of students’ emotional experience in interaction holistically.This study responds to the call  to applyThis study has some limitations. First, its scope is restricted to one location in China; thus, it only accounts for the experience of interaction in one particular context. Secondly, though the construct of “interactional events” is helpful to explore the experience of interaction in a more holistic way, its boundaries might be subject to different researchers’ understanding. Thirdly, gender may be a key factor influencing students’ experience in interaction, but this issue has not been addressed here.Though this study is limited to the Chinese context, its findings may apply to EFL classrooms in other Asian countries. It will be noteworthy to adapt the construct of interactional events and the design of this study to investigate students’ emotional experiences in another educational context. As for future research directions, the discussion of emotional experience in interaction may focus on the emotions that emerge in interaction and the benefits of positive emotions for learning through interaction.The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by University of South Australia. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.YW conceived and designed the study, collected and analyzed the data, and drafted the first manuscript. MM revised the manuscript. Both authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.