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The imagination is powerful, in part, because of the emotions that can be activated by imagining future states. Imagined future states are a key feature of the L2 self-system proposed by D rnyei, and emotion may be the key to the motivational quality of the imagined future self. In particular, this paper focuses on positive anticipated and anticipatory emotions related to language learning. It is argued that, in general, positive emotion has a different function from negative emotion; they are not opposite ends of the same spectrum. Based on the work of Fredrickson, we argue that positive emotion facilitates the building of resources because positive emotion tends to broaden a person's perspective, opening the individual to absorb the language. In contrast, negative emotion produces the opposite tendency, a narrowing of focus and a restriction of the range of potential language input. This article draws a framework for finding a balance between the positivebroadening and negative-narrowing emotions in the language classroom,

This interview study sought to clarify the relationship between foreign language anxiety and perfectionism. The comments of anxious and non‐anxious language learners were audiorecorded as they watched themselves interact in a videotaped oral interview. By examining the reactions of the language learners to their actual oral performance and analyzing the audiotapes for instances of perfectionism, evidence was gathered suggesting that anxious and non‐anxious learners differ in their personal performance standards, procrastination, fear of evaluation, and concern over errors. Because the results of this study indicated a link between language anxiety and perfectionism, the article ends with a discussion of procedures that have been used to overcome perfectionism and that may also be helpful to anxious foreign language learners.

In this article we introduce Positive Psychology (PP), a relatively new subfield of psychology, and outline its development since the year 2000. We describe ways in which PP represents an exciting addition to the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) literature and the ways it is already influencing trends in education generally, thus creating promising expectations of its impact on language teaching and learning. After reviewing the progress made thus far under the rubric of PP in SLA, we offer suggestions for an agenda to move forward with theory, research, and practice.

Language learning is an emotionally and psychologically dynamic process that is influenced by a myriad of ever‐changing variables and emotional “vibes” that produce moment‐by‐moment fluctuations in learners' adaptation. This individual‐level study triangulates physiological, idiodynamic, interview, and self‐report survey data of three high and three low anxiety language learners to examine their language anxiety, its triggers, and the interpretations of rapidly changing affective reactions over a short period of time. Participants were videorecorded giving a presentation, while wearing heart monitors, in their Spanish as a Foreign Language class. Using the idiodynamic method, participants self‐rated their moment‐by‐moment anxiety 42 times over three and a half minutes and later explained their reactions in an interview. The strong relationship observed among the various converging data sources demonstrates the strength of considering language learners on an individual level using triangulated quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study generated pedagogical implications for dealing with both positive and negative emotions, facilitating the reinterpretation of physiological cues, planning “escape routes” that allow participants to remain active in communication exchanges, and invoking the positive power of preparation, planning, and rehearsal.