Introducing positive psychology to second

language acquisition (SLA)

Positive psychology (PP) is the empirical study of how people thrive and
flourish; it is the study of the ordinary human strengths and virtues that make
life good.
Many language educators are aware of the importance of improving individual
learners’ experiences of language learning by helping them to develop and
maintain their motivation and positive emotions during the process of
learning.
In addition, teachers also widely recognize the vital role of positive classroom
dynamics between learners and teachers as well as a friendly atmosphere in
classes.
The implications of positive-broadening emotions for SLA can be profound.
 The two «Gs» and the three «Cs» help to explain
psychology of learning language
1. Learners need to have a Growth mindset and become Gritty about their
language learning. Learning foreign language is like a marathon, not a sprint. It
takes time and the progress may be slow with many setbacks along the way.
Language learners need to develop persistence and even in the face of
challenges, be able to tackle problem areas all over again– that is grittiness.
2. Growth Mindset. To have grit, language learners first need to have a growth
mindset. It is believed that their abilities in learning a language are not fixed but
can be developed. Not all learners will reach the same level of proficiency.
However, with the right kind of effort, strategies, and investment of time and
will, every learner can improve. With a growth mindset, learners believe that
their abilities can be developed.
 What are the 3 Cs?
In terms of the three 3 Cs, learners need to feel a sense of Competence,
Control, and Connectedness.
1. Competence. Learners need a sense of ‘I can’ in respect to learning a language.
Much of this can stem from their mindset; however, they also need to feel that
they are personally able to manage and cope with learning a language.
2. Control. A key part of that feeling can be generated when learners are
empowered with a sense of control. Learners benefit from being able to
intentionally select and initiate approaches to learning where possible in their
contexts.
3. Connectedness. The third «C» refers to learners feeling connected not only to
their teachers, but also their peers, their institution, and the target language.
When learners feel they belong in a group or institution and when they feel
cared, they are much more likely to engage and be active in their own learning.
 The readability of the textbooks
The extent of textbooks’ usefulness, however, is determined by how readable
and understandable they are to learners. Textbooks that are beyond learners’
reading competence, including their comprehension and vocabulary, only result
in frustration and will not lead to learning, because active processing is unlikely
to take place. Textbooks therefore have to be pitched at the right level of reading
competence.
Edgar Dale and Jeanne Chall provide the following definition of the concept
“readability”:
The sum total (including all the interactions) of all those elements within a given
piece of printed material that affect the success a group of readers have with
it. The success is the extent to which they understand it, read it at an optimal
speed, and find it interesting.
 Reading levels of texts
Burns, Roe and Ross (1988) identify three levels of text readability, namely
independent, instructional and frustration levels.
•If a reader is able to read and understand a book on their own, the book is said to be at
their independent reading level. For a text to be at this level, there should be 98-100%
word recognition in the text. Reading should proceed fluently, without hesitations of
more than five seconds.
•A book at the instructional reading level is accessible to learners with the teacher’s
help. Here, at least 90% of words should be known. The reader should register at least
75% comprehension of a text and that anything below this signifies reading at
frustration level.
•Texts at frustration level are better avoided. Because textbooks are normally used by
learners with the teachers’ assistance, they should largely be set at the learners’
instructional reading level, with some portions at the independent reading level.
 Factors affecting the readability of texts
• Vocabulary complexity;
• Sentence and text structure;
• Text length and elaboration;
• Coherence and unity;
• Familiarity of content and background knowledge required;
• Audience appropriateness;
• Quality and verve of writing;
• Interestingness.
 Content analysis
To understand whether we should use this or that learning material for our
students we should analyze its accessibility. In other words we need to find
out how the information is presented and explained in the material. For this
aim it is necessary to check
• Vocabulary, especially if the material contains technical words (words with a
specialised meaning and which are associated with a particular content area
or topic) were examined to see whether any effort had been made by the
textbook writers to assist learners’ comprehension of these words;
• Conceptual density. Concepts, like (technical) vocabulary, also need to be
defined and exemplified in order to make a text accessible. It is necessary to
identify whether concepts are mentioned only, defined only, or explained or
exemplified in order to make them comprehensible;
 Content analysis
• Graphics. Graphics are visual representations of ideas (concepts), including
drawings, graphs, maps or diagrams. According to Van Rooyen, graphics have
three functions, namely to give meaning to the text, reinforce learning, and
attract attention in order to help the reader find out more about the issue
under discussion. They need to be evaluated whether they fulfil these
functions.
• Familiarity of content. When reading material is familiar, it is easier to read
and comprehend. Familiarity equips readers with the requisite prior
knowledge of what they are reading to allow them to make inferences about
unfamiliar words and sentences.
The free online Text Readability Consensus Calculator can be used to
evaluate the material.
 Teaching grammar in context
Many foreign language programmes and teaching materials are based on a
linear model of language acquisition. This model operates on the premise that
learners acquire one target language item at a time, in a sequential, step-by-step
fashion.
An alternative to the linear model is an organic approach to second language
acquisition.
A strictly linear approach to language learning is based on the premise that
learners acquire one grammatical item at a time, and that they should
demonstrate their mastery of one thing before moving on to the next.
Metaphorically, learning another language by this method is like constructing a
wall. The easy grammatical bricks are laid at the bottom of the wall, providing a
foundation for the more difficult ones.
 Teaching grammar in context
Kellerman (1983), for example, says that it appears that, rather than being isolated bricks,
the various elements of language interact with, and are affected by, other elements to
which they are closely related in a functional sense. This interrelationship accounts for the
fact that a learner's mastery of a particular language item is unstable, appearing to increase
and decrease at different times during the learning process.
In textbooks, grammar is very often presented out of context. These exercises are designed
to provide learners with formal, declarative mastery. However, unless they provide
opportunities for learners to explore grammatical structures in context, they make the task
of developing procedural skill—being able to use the language for communication—more
difficult than it needs to be, because learners are denied the opportunity of seeing the
systematic relationships that exist between form, meaning, and use.
In genuine, in any form of communication beyond the classroom, grammar and context are
closely related so the only right grammar choices can be made with references to the
context.
 Some practical implications
There are many different ways of activating organic learning, and many 'traditional'
exercise types can be brought into harmony with this approach, particularly if they
are introduced into the classroom as exploratory and collaborative tasks.
1) In order to help learners see that alternative grammatical realizations exist in a
context we should give them authentic texts (ex. dialogs)
2) Describing picture, with all the guesses about its background using given
questions
3) Tasks with subordinate and co-ordinate closes can be helpful to be more aware
of the context
So what we need is an appropriate balance between exercises that help learners
come to grips with grammatical forms, and tasks for exploring the use of those
forms to communicate effectively.
 Lexical Transfer Errors
Studies of second language learning have revealed a connection between first
language transfer and errors in second language production. This influence often
manifests itself in lexical errors in oral and written production which are seemingly
difficult for the learner to eradicate.
The fossilization of erroneous lexical forms is especially likely when learners are in a
monolingual educational environment, as much of their exposure to English comes
from other language learners who share the same L1, such that the same errors are
reinforced and normalized.
Jarvis and Pavlenko (2008) identify nine categories of linguistic transfer:
phonological, orthographic, lexical, semantic, morphological, syntactic, discursive,
pragmatic, and socio-linguistic. Much of the literature focuses on grammatical
structure, perhaps because it is where the majority of negative transfer occurs.
 Lexical Transfer Errors
Lexical transfer errors deserve attention for two reasons:
• Lexical selection consists mainly of content words, and so errors of this
type are potentially very disruptive as they may impede
communication, in particular placing a greater burden
on the reader of written production;
• The second reason is that English language course books largely deal
with the types of grammatical errors speakers make, since these are
more universal in nature than the specific lexis which causes problems.
 Three ways in which negative lexical transfer from
L1 to English may occur
1. Overextension of analogy (false cognates). False cognates are words which have
identical or similar forms in English and Spanish, but which have different meanings. A
typical example is the Spanish word sensible, which means sensitive in English. The
overextension of analogy by Spanish speakers leads to mistakes such as: “I can’t go out in
the sun much, as I have very sensible skin”.
2. Substitution errors are seen as those in which the learner uses a direct translation of a
word or expression in Spanish in a context which is not appropriate in English. A common
example is the use of the word“know” in the sentence “I would like to know France”
(Quiero conocer Francia). Although conocer can be expressed by the word know in many
contexts, in this one, it is inappropriate.
3. Interlingual/intralingual interference errors refer to cases where there is word distinction
in l2 where none exists in l1. An example is the sentence “I arrived late because I lost the
bus.” The distinction is made in English between lose and miss, whereas in Spanish, only
perder. is used.
Considering the problems caused by negative lexical transfer,
and the difficulty of eradicating fossilized lexical transfer errors
in a monolingual English as a foreign language context, it is
important to consider how they can be dealt with in the
classroom. However, there seems to be little research in this
area.

Much of the literature on vocabulary acquisition has addressed

the comparative benefits of incidental versus intentional
vocabulary learning.
Facilitating the learning of new vocabulary
There are three important steps which facilitate the learning of new
vocabulary: noticing, retrieval, and generation.
1. Noticing can happen in a number of ways, but basically implies
decontextualization, whereby attention is given to a lexical item as part of
the language rather than part of the message;
2. Retrieval is when a learner needs to express the meaning of a certain
item and is obliged
to retrieve its spoken or written form;
3. Generation implies the production of the item in new ways and/or new
contexts. For Nation, these processes are essential for effective learning.
 Receptive and productive vocabulary
It is also important to understand that learners have a receptive and productive vocabulary.
Receptive vocabulary refers to all the words that can be understood by a person, including spoken, written, or
manually signed words.
Productive vocabulary generally refers to words that can be produced within an appropriate context and match
the intended meaning of the speaker or the signer.
Schmitt (2008) believes that words acquired by incidental learning are unlikely to be learned to a productive
level and that recall learning from reading is more prone to forgetting than recognition learning. He concludes
that for productive mastery to be developed, learners need to engage in productive tasks.
For Schmitt, the idea of engagement is central to the effectiveness of vocabulary learning. This encompasses a
range of factors, such as time spent on a lexical item, the attention given to it, increased noticing of lexical
items, manipulation of the target item, and a requirement to learn. He sees the promotion of high levels of
engagement with the lexis as a fundamental responsibility of researchers, materials writers, teachers, and
students.
 Receptive and productive vocabulary
Hulstijn (2001) highlights the importance for learners to attain quick and
automatic access to
vocabulary (automaticity). He points out that rich, elaborate processing on its
own is not sufficient for this, and that frequent reactivation of lexical forms is
also essential. For this, he proposes the allocation of sufficient classroom
time for deliberate rehearsal of problematic lexis and the recycling of
previously seen items.
Schmitt (2008) also highlights the importance of increasing the automaticity
of lexical recognition and production, noting that “knowledge of lexical items
is only of value if they can be recognized or produced in a timely manner that
enables real-time language use.