Purpose

With social emotional learning (SEL) increasingly becoming a significant trend in international education, research indicates that SEL effectively enhances emotional regulation, self-awareness, and learning motivation, particularly benefiting low-achieving students. Since the implementation of the 108 Curriculum Guidelines in Taiwan, competency-based curricula emphasizing the integration of knowledge, skills, and emotional literacy have been promoted. However, practical teaching strategies and empirical research targeting low-achieving students remain limited. This study aimed to: (1) compare the effects of integrating SEL into Chinese language curricula on language learning outcomes among junior high students with different language proficiency levels (high, medium, and low); and (2) specifically analyze changes in language performance and socio-emotional linguistic features in the written outputs of low-achieving students.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing a mixed-methods design, the study involved 55 seventh-grade students from a municipal junior high school in Taiwan, grouped into low (n = 18), medium (n = 19), and high (n = 18) proficiency levels based on pre-test scores. An eight-week SEL-integrated language curriculum was implemented, with pre- and post-tests measuring language skills and analyses of emotional vocabulary and linguistic structures. Data were analyzed using paired sample t-tests, descriptive statistics, and qualitative analyses.

Findings/results

The findings indicated: (1) the SEL curriculum significantly improved overall language skills in low-achieving students, notably in language knowledge and text comprehension; (2) low-achieving students demonstrated a more concentrated score distribution in the post-test, and their reflections indicated increased use of emotion regulation and self-management strategies; and (3) linguistic analyses demonstrated a positive correlation between increased average sentence length and improved text comprehension among low-achieving students, with noticeable increases in emotional vocabulary related to self-awareness and social awareness.

Originality/value

The originality and value of this study lie in providing empirical evidence within Taiwan’s educational context on the positive impacts of SEL on low-achieving students’ language learning. The combination of quantitative and qualitative methods highlights the theoretical and practical bases for integrating SEL into language education and promotes the feasibility of differentiated instructional strategies.

Implications for policy/practice

The study recommends that language educators design extensive writing tasks and emotional expression exercises for low-achieving students to enhance language internalization. Additionally, educational policy should strengthen professional SEL training for teachers and create supportive learning environments to reduce achievement gaps, thereby promoting educational equity and holistic student development.