Esplorare le relazioni tra la competenza emotiva e il linguaggio dei docenti: un'analisi sequenziale mista nell'ambito della Certificazione di Esperto dell'Apprendimento Linguistico

The present study investigates how teachers' emotional competence is expressed in their language during the oral examination of a certification for teachers seeking training in inclusive language education and examines whether these manifestations are associated with assessment scores. The design employs mixed methods, incorporating a sequential exploratory structure. It includes a post-test qualitative and quantitative comparison between two paired subgroups, distinguished by their completion of emotional competence training. The analysis process transforms qualitative categories into a set of comparable data, thereby facilitating the execution of between-subject comparisons and multi-variate analyses. The data were sourced from a corpus of simulated interviews with a parent figure and an ad hoc scenario-based questionnaire grounded in Goleman's five-component model of emotional competence. Interactions are annotated with three validated conversational schemes and analysed through lexical, morphosyntactic and pragmatic indices. The aim of this study is to identify recognisable linguistic manifestations of emotional competence, examine their correlation with certification assessment, and discuss implications for instructional design. It proposes to consider emotional competence as a constitutive component of teachers’ professional competences and to provide criteria and tools to observe, describe and document it, by making linguistic indicators explicit in assessment criteria and contributing to the debate on how to render the relational dimension of teaching practice observable. From this standpoint, emotional competence can be regarded as a resource for teachers' professional wellbeing, with positive implications for students' wellbeing. In conclusion, this approach facilitates the establishment and design of training pathways, addressing the necessity to engage both candidates and evaluators.