Emotions that facilitate language learning: The positive-broadening power of the imagination

Abstract

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,

The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom

“…Enjoyment might be the emotional key to unlocking the language learning potential of adults and children alike; if a teacher, parent, friend, or mentor creates an enjoyable context, they likely have gone a long way towards facilitating learning. As Fredrickson (2001Fredrickson ( , 2013 suggests, the broadly-defined resources that are built during play, such as specific skills and relationship bonds, endure long after the joyful feeling has dissipated; therein lies the power of a positive-broadening emotion (MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012).…”

“…These were typically activities that empowered student choice, such as a topic of discussion or debate that was relevant to their concerns and interests. Learners described not wanting to be treated like passive recipients of knowledge, but enjoyed being allowed to have a sense of autonomy and to use their imagination to make progress in the FL (MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012). As Arnold (2011) pointed out, in general, choice is motivating.…”

“…MacIntyre and Gregersen (2012) argued in favour of the latter position: "Positive emotion has a different function from negative emotion; they are not opposite ends of the same spectrum" (p. 193). They argue that learners' imagination has positive-broadening power, a perspective that is consistent with Fredrickson's (2001) description of positive emotions as actively promoting health and well-being and not simply being the absence of negativity.…”

Editorial

“…Influenced by the positive psychology movement (Fredrickson, 2001), there has been a shift away from an exclusive focus on negative emotions in SLA to a more holistic analysis of both negative and positive emotions among learners (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014;MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012;MacIntyre, Gregersen, & Mercer, 2016;MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014). We are not claiming that nobody had considered positive emotions and affect in SLA before 2012, as indeed many researchers prepared the ground (e.g., Arnold, 1999;Broner & Tarone, 2001;Cook, 2000;Dewaele, 2005;Kramsch, 2006).…”

Intentionality and Complex Systems Theory: A New Direction for Language Learning Psychology

“…The latter approach is beginning to happen in language learning psychology, including, e.g. work on learner agency and self-concept (Mercer, 2011(Mercer, , 2012, language learning motivation (Dörnyei, 2014;Dörnyei, MacIntyre, & Henry, 2015;King, 2011), willingness to communicate (MacIntyre & Legatto, 2011), and language anxiety (Gregersen, MacIntyre, & Meza, 2014;MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012). The present exploration of the combined potential of intentionality and CST is similarly an attempt to develop domain-specific theory within the field of language learning psychology.…”