A psychodiscourse analysis of affective aspects of learning experience: A triangulated mixed design

Educational psychology research suggests that learning is an affective experience. Thus, this study is interested in exploring the holistic affective aspect of adult learners’ educational/learning experience. In doing so, a triangulated method was employed, three tools were utilized, namely, (1) the Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised (AGQ-R; Elliot & Murayama, 2008), (2) the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, and (3) the Martínez-Sierra’s (2015) semi-structured interview. Quantitative analysis was utilized to examine the two surveys. Qualitative content analysis, on the other hand, was employed to examine the responses of the interview, employing the Russell’s (1980, 2003) circumplex model of affect, to uncover the different ranges of emotions experienced by students. The participants were level eight students of the Department of English at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. The wellbeing scale showed that there is a positive correlation between the number of years students spent at the department and their wellbeing. However, there is a negative correlation between students' GPAs and their wellbeing. In addition, the achievement goal scale showed that the majority of the students adopted the performance-avoidance goal approach, which might increase the level of stress. With reference to the content analysis results, students' most frequently expressed negative emotions are anxiety, tension, fear, pressure, fatigue, boredom. On the other hand, the positive emotions students experienced are confidence, interest, and satisfaction. Some of the negative activated emotions were partly a result of the faculty members' high expectations and high competition.