Positive Psychology in SLA

Positive psychology is the scientific study of how human beings prosper and thrive. This is the first book in SLA dedicated to theories in positive psychology and their implications for language teaching, learning and communication. Chapters examine the characteristics of individuals, contexts and relationships that facilitate learning: positive emotional states such as love, enjoyment and flow, and character traits such as empathy, hardiness and perseverance. The contributors present several innovative teaching ideas to bring out these characteristics among learners. The collection thus blends new teaching techniques with cutting-edge theory and empirical research undertaken using qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches. It will be of interest to SLA researchers, graduate students, trainee and experienced teachers who wish to learn more about language learning psychology, individual differences, learner characteristics and new classroom practices.

Autorentext

Peter D. MacIntyre is Professor of Psychology at Cape Breton University, Canada. His research examines emotion, motivation and cognition across a variety of types of behavior, including interpersonal communication, public speaking and learning.

Tammy Gregersen is Professor of TESOL at the University of Northern Iowa, USA. She studies emotion and affect as it relates to second language learning, methodology and nonverbal communication.

Sarah Mercer is Professor of Foreign Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria. Her research interests include all aspects of the psychology surrounding the foreign language learning experience, focusing in particular on self.

Inhalt

1. Tammy Gregersen, Peter D. MacIntyre and Sarah Mercer: Introduction
   
   2. Rebecca Oxford: Toward a Psychology of Well-Being for Language Learners: The EMPATHICS Vision
   3. Sarah Mercer: Seeing the World Through Your Eyes: Empathy in Language Learning and Teaching
   4. Joseph Falout: The Dynamics of Past Selves in Language Learning and Well-Being
   5. Ana Maria Ferreira Barcelos and Hilda Simone H. Coelho: Language Learning and Teaching: What's Love Got to Do with It?
   6. Tammy Gregersen, Peter D. MacIntyre and Margarita Meza: Positive Psychology Exercises Build Social Capital for Language Learners: Preliminary Evidence
   7. Phil Hiver: The Triumph over Experience: Hope and Hardiness in Novice L2 Teachers
   8. Éva Czimmermann and Katalin Piniel: Advanced Language Learners' Experiences of Flow in the Hungarian EFL Classroom
   9. Jean-Marc Dewaele and Peter D. MacIntyre: Foreign Language Enjoyment and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety: The Right and Left Foot of the Language Learner
   10. J. Lake: Accentuate the Positive: Conceptual and Empirical Development of the Positive L2 Self and its Relationship to L2 Proficiency
   11. Zana Ibrahim: Affect in Directed Motivational Currents: Positive Emotionality in Long-Term L2 Engagement
   12. R. Kirk Belnap, Jennifer Brown, Dan P. Dewey, Linnea P. Belnap and Patrick R. Steffen: Project Perseverance: Helping Students Become Self-Regulating Learners
   13. Marc Helgesen: Happiness in ESL/EFL: Bringing Positive Psychology to the Classroom
   14. Tim Murphey: Teaching to Learn and Well-Become: Many Mini-Renaissances
   15. Candy Fresacher: Why and How to Use Positive Psychology Activities in the Second Language Classroom
   16. M.C. Fonseca-Mora and F. Herrero Machancoses: Music and Language Learning: Emotions and Engaging Memory Pathways
   17. Peter D. MacIntyre, Tammy Gregersen and Sarah Mercer: Conclusion