Student emotional response to teacher classroom behaviors may offer a theoretical framework for explaining student learning. Such a framework may encompass other models, such as arousal/motivation or identification, in offering an explanation of why students learn when teachers exhibit certain behaviors. Emotional response has provided explanations for human behavior in several communication contexts. Research has sought to explain student learning using emotion theory, originally developed by A. Mehrabian and further refined by J. A. Russell. Based upon assumptions of human emotional response offered by R. Buck and others, emotions are influenced by implicit teacher communication behaviors. In the classroom implicit behaviors may include both verbal but especially nonverbal teacher behaviors. Student emotional response can be conceptualized along three dimensions: pleasure, arousal, and dominance. These three dimensions, as documented in several lines of research, can account for emotional responses and can be operationalized using 7-point scales. Using the emotional response paradigm is not without limitations and challenges. New methods need to be found to measure human emotional response. (Contains 63 references and a figure illustrating the emotional response model.) (Author/RS)