Recognising and Expressing Emotions - Difficulties of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Learning a Foreign Language and How to Resolve Them

Oct 15, 2026

The paper examines how children with autism spectrum disorder struggle with recognizing and expressing emotions through facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language. Because emotional expression patterns differ across individuals, emotional recognition is positioned as a key factor for effective, personalised intervention and improved social interaction. It reviews how emotions influence motivation and learning success in foreign-language education, outlines challenges and opportunities, and identifies future research directions in this emerging field.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Emotional recognition and expression in ASD

Diagnostic criteria and assessment overview

Purpose and scope of emotion-focused foreign language learning

DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1382](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1382) Recognising and Expressing Emotions: Difficulties of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Learning a Foreign Language and How to Resolve Them Ayşe Tuna1 • Recognising emotions, facial expressions and tone of voice and body language, expressing and managing their own emotions, and understanding and responding to other people’s emotions are often difficult for children with autism spectrum disorder. Since the emotional codes of individuals with autism spectrum disorder are different, those people will possibly be awkward in expressing some throughout their lives. Although it might seem that children with autism spectrum disorder do not respond emotionally, the ability to understand their facial expressions could lead to an improvement in their social interaction difficulties. In addition, since autistic expressions might be unique to each child, recognising their emotions is important when delivering a personalised intervention to a child with autism spectrum disorder. In recent decades, researchers have become increasingly interested in the role of emotions in learning and teaching a foreign language beyond heavily investigated topics such as foreign language anxiety and motivation and attitudes towards the foreign language. In this paper, how emotions impact the motivation and success of children with autism spectrum disorder while they are learning a foreign language is presented. Challenges, opportunities and future research directions in this domain are given. Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, emotions, recognition, foreign language 1 Trakya University, Turkey; [aysetuna@trakya.edu.tr](aysetuna@trakya.edu.tr). 206 recognising and expressing emotions: difficulties of children with autism Prepoznavanje in izražanje čustev: težave otrok z motnjo avtističnega spektra pri učenju tujega jezika inkako jih rešiti Ayşe Tuna • Prepoznavanje čustev, obrazne mimike in tona glasu ter govorice telesa, izražanje in obvladovanje lastnih čustev ter razumevanje in odzivanjena čustva drugih ljudi so za otroke z motnjo avtističnega spektra pogosto težavni. Ker so čustvene kode posameznikov z motnjo avtističnega spektra drugačne, bodo mogoče ti posamezniki v svojem celotnem življenju okorni pri izražanju nekaterih emocij. Čeprav se mogoče zdi, da se otroci z motnjo avtističnega spektra ne odzivajo čustveno, lahkozmožnost razumevanja njihove obrazne mimike pripelje do izboljšanja njihovih težav pri socialni interakciji. Nadalje, ker so avtistični izrazi lahko edinstveni za vsakega otroka, je prepoznavanje njihovih čustev pomembno pri izvajanju prilagojene intervencije za otroka z motnjo avtističnega spektra. V zadnjih desetletjih se raziskovalci vedno bolj zanimajo za vlogo čustev pri učenju in poučevanju tujega jezika, ne le zamočno raziskane teme, kot so: strah pred tujim jezikom ter motivacijain odnos do tujega jezika. V tem prispevku je predstavljeno, kako čustvavplivajo na motivacijo in uspeh otrok z motnjo avtističnega spektra pri učenju tujega jezika. Podani so izzivi, priložnosti in prihodnje raziskovalne usmeritve za to področje. Ključne besede: motnja avtističnega spektra, čustva, prepoznavanje, tuji jezik Introduction People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have persistent difficulties in social communication and interaction, including deficits in empathy, facial expression, eye contact and body language, and have a lack of interest or difficulties in making friends and social relationships (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) . In addition, they exhibit restricted and/or repetitive patterns of interests, behaviour, or activities, such as fixation on certain topics and insistence on rigid routines. Moreover, atypical responses to sensory stimuli are a new criterion in DSM-5 for the diagnosis of ASD. Atypical sensory behaviour can be manifested in the form of hyper-or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual sens

FAQs

What emotional difficulties do children with autism spectrum disorder face in foreign language learning?

They often find it difficult to recognize emotions and related cues such as facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language. They also struggle to express and manage their own emotions and to understand others’ emotional responses.

Why is recognizing facial expressions important for social interaction?

Understanding emotional facial expressions can improve social interaction difficulties. It supports more accurate interpretation of how a child with autism spectrum disorder communicates internally and socially.

How do emotions relate to motivation and learning success in foreign language education?

The paper presents emotions as influencing both motivation and success for children with autism spectrum disorder learning a foreign language. It highlights relevant challenges, opportunities, and future research needs in this area.

Oct 15, 2026

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