Contributions of an emotion-oriented professional development course to the ecology of language teacher agency Mostafa Nazari a,* , Zahra Keshvari b , Guangwei Hu a a Department of English and Communication, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong b Department of English Language Teaching, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Language teacher emotion Language teacher agency Professional development Ecological perspective ABSTRACT Informed by an ecological perspective, the present study explored the contributions of an emotion-oriented professional development course to eight Iranian English language teachers’ agency. Data were collected in two rounds: one round before, during, and after the course using interviews, narrative frames, and reflective journals, and another round one year later using interviews and narrative frames in order to track the longitudinal effects of the course. Data analyses revealed that the course enabled the teachers to find better space for their autonomy and motivation, both being significant contributing factors to their enhanced agency. Furthermore, the teachers were able to develop more emotional empowerment through greater emotional regulation in their professional work. We discuss implications for teachers and teacher educators to use emotion-oriented professional initiatives in teacher education courses to positively enhance professional agency. 1. Introduction In recent years, research on the emotion of language teachers has increased exponentially (e.g., Barcelos et al., 2022; Benesch, 2018; De Costa et al., 2018; Song, 2016). This ever-growing line of research has linked emotion to different ecologies 1 such as teachers’ personal features, in-class events, institutional particularities, and sociocultural contextualities. Furthermore, research has indicated that emotion is connected to teachers’ identities, agency, autonomy, and wellbeing (e.g., Kayi-Aydar, 2015; Mercer, 2021; Nazari & Karimpour, 2023a; Yazan & Lindahl, 2020). A common thread in this literature is that first, emotion is not just personal but also co-shapes contextual ecologies; second, emotion relates to teachers’ agency, identities, and other professional features; third, emotion should be of more focal interest in teacher education courses to (re)shape teachers’ professional performances and growth procedures (e.g., Barcelos et al., 2022; Benesch, 2017). In this study, we respond to the need for situating emotions in teacher education courses by reporting on how a professional development course structured around sharing and discussing emotions contributed to Iranian English language teachers’ agency. Although the interconnection between agency and emotion has been explored in previous research (e.g., Benesch, 2018; Nazari & Kamali, 2024; Nazari & Hu, 2024), little is known about how putting emotion(s) at the center of teacher education courses could shape teachers’ agency. In this regard, agency has been conceptualized as an emotion-laden process that is significantly shaped by the way * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: Mostafanazari136969@gmail.com (M. Nazari), zkeshvari1376@gmail.com (Z. Keshvari), guangwei.hu@polyu.edu.hk (G. Hu). 1 In this study, ecology is defined as the levels and relations of factors that shape teacher professionalism such as teachers’ personal backgrounds and beliefs as well as organizational and sociocultural factors. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect System journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/system https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2024.103542 Received 29 July 2024; Received in revised form 10 October 2024; Accepted 9 November 2024 System 127 (2024) 103542 Available online 13 November 2024 0346-251X/© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.