The field of second language acquisition (SLA) research had long been governed by a paradigm that prioritized cognition over emotion. Recently, increased attention has been drawn to the role of "perezhivanie" in language development as Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (SCT) brought together emotion and cognition, thereby offering an analytical tool to explore the interplay of emotion and cognition in a holistic way. The present study seeks to explore and capture the notion of "perezhivanie" in three Chinese learners of L2 English in the free teacher education program and its link for their language development. Utilizing multiple sources of data, including questionnaires, narrative frames and interviews, this study conducts a thematic analysis of the cognitive and emotive elements in the data. The study reveals that the three participants shared the same purpose in learning English: to become English teachers in either primary or high schools. It also demonstrates that during the language learning process, predominantly negative emotions, while not inevitably hindering progress, can slow down the pace of language development, whereas positive emotions consistently foster language development.