Positive Psychology in SLA (A Book Review)

Abstract

Positive psychology is the scientific study of how people progress. It is a new branch of general psychology. Positive psychology has established its place in general psychology over the past decades. However, in second language acquisition (SLA), positive psychology is still in the beginning stage, and little research has focused on its application. The book “Positive Psychology in SLA” edited by Peter D. MacIntyre, Tommy Gregersen, and Sarah Mercer (2016) deals with positive psychology theories and their applications and implications in second language acquisition (SLA). The editors examine to find a balance between empirical and practice-oriented ways of positive psychology in SLA. The book explores theories in positive psychology and implications for language teaching, learning, and communication. Chapters of this book deal with the characteristics of individuals, contests, and relationships that help learning. The authors also present several innovative teaching ideas to bring out the characteristics, such as empathy, and hardiness among learners. This volume is a team work on positive psychological principles to applied linguistics and language learning attempts. The book shows a variable source of knowledge on research and positive psychology in special zones of foreign language teaching. MacIntyre et al. try to show that happiness, stress reduction, enjoyment, and success in language learning in this book are workable.