Individual differences researchers have recently begun to investigate the concept of emotions and their role in language learning (MacIntyre, Gregersen, & Mercer, 2016). Our aim is to report on a project exploring English majors' feelings related to their use of foreign languages. Using a qualitative research design, participants were asked to write a paragraph in their mother tongue (Hungarian) describing their emotional experiences in connection with foreign languages and one of the four language skills. Our database comprised altogether 166 paragraphs from 31 male and 135 female students, with 43 texts on listening, 35 on speaking, 47 on reading, and 41 on writing. With the help of content analytical techniques, the texts were divided into thematic units and coded by the two authors. A framework of academically-relevant emotions (Pekrun, 2014) was used to guide our initial coding and the categories were modified where it was felt necessary. Results indicate that the two emotions most frequently experienced by English majors are predominantly related to enjoyment and language anxiety, and these emotions vary not only according to the skill involved but also depending on the context of language use (in class or outside class).

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Our study describes the relationship of second language learning motivation, self-efficacy, and anxiety; that is, how motivation, cognition, and affect might interact during the process of second language learning. Questionnaire data were collected from 236 Hungarian students studying at various secondary schools. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the proposed circular relationship of students' motivated learning behavior, language learning experience, self-efficacy beliefs, and both debilitating and facilitating anxiety. Our results indicate that: (a) the process of motivation is complex and influenced by other individual difference (ID) variables, and (b) the investigation of ID variables in constellations rather than in isolation seems to be more fruitful in understanding language learner differences.

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Deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) learners have the right to equal access to knowledge and information which entails equal opportunities in learning foreign languages (FLs). As part of a larger project, the present study aims at exploring how students in eight specialised institutions across Hungary perceive the challenge of learning a FL. Following the principles of qualitative research, semistructured interviews were conducted with 31 14-19-year-old D/HH learners. A purposive sample aiming at maximum variety was selected from a cohort of over 100 learners with the help of a previously validated questionnaire that focuses on D/HH learners' FL learning motivations, strategies and beliefs. The interviews tapped into the following five topics: (1) the importance of learning a FL;(2) beliefs about the FL and about learning it; (3) learning modalities; (4) motivated learning behaviour and the use of learning strategies; (5) future goals and the envisaged role of the FL in the participants' future. Our results indicate that in spite of low levels of initial motivation, many of the interviewed D/HH learners aspire to work abroad, where they hope to use the FL learnt. A frequent source of difficulty seems to be respondents' perceived gaps in their own abilities to learn FLs; however, most participants claim that by seeking help and studying harder they can overcome these obstacles. It is also noteworthy that several of our participants find their knowledge of Hungarian inadequate for learning another spoken language. While producing and comprehending speech in the FL is a real challenge, learning to read and write is identified as an attainable goal. The use of Hungarian Sign Language for enhancing in-class communication seems both necessary and inevitable.