Introducing positive psychology to SLA

• Published in: Studies in second language learning and teaching Vol. 4; no. 2; pp. 153 - 172
• Main Authors: Mercer, Sarah, MacIntyre, Peter D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kalisz Adam Mickiewicz University Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts 01.01.2014; Adam Mickiewicz University Department of English Studies; Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
• Subjects: Association (Psychology); Creativity; Educational Facilities Improvement; Educational Objectives; Educational Practices; Educational Research; Educational Trends; Emotions; Expertise; Helplessness; Humanism; humanistic education; Individual Characteristics; Language Acquisition; Language Teachers; Language teaching methods; Learning Processes; Mental Disorders; Motivation; Positive Attitudes; positive emotion; positive psychology; Psychological Patterns; Psychology; Scholarship; Second language instruction; Second Language Learning; Self concept; the good language learner; Theory Practice Relationship; Well Being
• ISSN: 2083-5205; 2084-1965
• DOI: 10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.2

Positive psychology is a rapidly expanding subfield in psychology that has important implications for the field of second language acquisition (SLA). This paper introduces positive psychology to the study of language by describing its key tenets. The potential contributions of positive psychology are contextualized with reference to prior work, including the humanistic movement in language teaching, models of motivation, the concept of an affective filter, studies of the good language learner, and the concepts related to the self. There are reasons for both encouragement and caution as studies inspired by positive psychology are undertaken. Papers in this special issue of SSLLT cover a range of quantitative and qualitative methods with implications for theory, research, and teaching practice. The special issue serves as a springboard for future research in SLA under the umbrella of positive psychology.