9781783095346

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Positive psychology is the scientific study of how human beings prosper and thrive. This is the first book in SLA dedicated to theories and research methods in positive psychology and their implications for language teaching, learning and communication. Chapters examine the learner characteristics that facilitate learning: positive emotional states such as love, enjoyment and flow, and character traits such as empathy 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.