Trajectory

Perspective is one of the factors involved in the diversification of schema. The viewpoint from which one looks at a scene somehow affects the process of semantic representation of that scene. Every sentence has its special schema drawn upon the scene in question, and adopting different points of view towards the same event will result in the speakers’ choosing different linguistic structures to express the event. Therefore, perspective is one of the most salient structure-formation processes that has received much attention from cognitive linguists. Cognitivists interested in linguistic impacts of perspective, following Langacker (), have laid their study on the assumption that the relative status and the angle of vision influence what language is used in describing certain situations. However, the question in this regard is whether or not the two parameters meet the adequacy required both for describing and for explaining different scenes linguistically. The answer seems to be that the specific perspective taken by the speaker is itself very much based on some further elements as animacy, dynamicity, size, and speaker. Present article is therefore written in order to question the problem of perspective, and the elements that are likely to bear upon its linguistic representation in Persian. Furthermore, it will also be taken into question if, according to what cognitive linguists argue for, there is such a universal cognitional framework common to all the human beings. For this purpose, a body of Persian written and spoken data, gathered from narrative dialogues and everyday talks, is to be examined inductively. Although this is an unprecedented study on some fundamental cognitive-semantic issues, the results would pretty hopefully apply in much more detailed semantic analyses of sentence perspective as well.

The present research explores the trajectory of changing emotions throughout the lifelong experience of English language learning and language use among English-as-an-Additional-Language (EAL) students at a Vietnamese university. It employs a qualitatively-driven mixed methods research design with two phases of data collection using initial and exploratory self-designed questionnaires, followed by semi-structured interviews and reflective journals. The quantitative data, collected from English majored students aimed to capture the range of emotions the participants experienced in speaking English. The qualitative data, collected from the students recruited from the questionnaire phase, revealed the complexity and dynamism of their emotions in the process of language learning and use. The findings show that the participants experienced shifting emotions across the different contexts of language learning, including school, out-of-school, and tertiary contexts. The emotions were seen to be dynamic, socially and contextually constructed, emerging from their social circumstances and interaction with others. They were interwoven with self-concept, language learning success, perceived standing in different communities, and relationships with others. The results also provide theoretical and practical implications for emotion research and pedagogies of EAL teaching and learning.