Dewaele, Jean-Marc and Chen, X. and Padilla, A. and Lake, J. (2019) The flowering of positive psychology in Foreign Language Teaching and Acquisition research. Frontiers in Psychology 10 (212), ISSN 1664-1078.
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Abstract
The present contribution offers an overview of a new area of research in the field of foreign language acquisition, which was triggered by the introduction of Positive Psychology (PP) (MacIntyre and Gregersen, 2012). For many years, a cognitive perspective had dominated research in applied linguistics. Around the turn of the millennium researchers became increasingly interested in the role of emotions in foreign language learning and teaching, beyond established concepts like foreign language anxiety and constructs like motivation and attitudes toward the foreign language. As a result, a more nuanced understanding of the role of positive and negative learner and teacher emotions emerged, underpinned by solid empirical research using a wide range of epistemological and methodological approaches. PP interventions have been carried out in schools and universities to strengthen learners and teachers’ experiences of flow, hope, courage, well-being, optimism, creativity, happiness, grit, resilience, strengths, and laughter with the aim of enhancing learners’ linguistic progress. This paper distinguishes the early period in the field that started with MacIntyre and Gregersen (2012), like a snowdrop after winter, and that was followed by a number of early studies in relatively peripheral journals. We argue that 2016 is the starting point of the current period, characterized by gradual recognition in applied linguistics, growing popularity of PP, and an exponential increase in publications in more mainstream journals. This second period could be compared to a luxuriant English garden in full bloom.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | emotion, positive psychology, foreign language acquisition, language learners, language teachers |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication |
| Depositing User: | Jean-Marc Dewaele |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2019 12:13 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Jul 2025 18:05 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/29059 |
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