Damian Sendler: The purpose of this conceptual review paper is to respond to the recent Frontiers in Psychology special issue on “Positive Psychology in Foreign and Second Language Education: Approaches and Applications,” which calls on language education researchers around the world to study positive emotions, positive personality traits, and positive institutional tendencies and their implications for language education systems, stakeholders, and policy practices To put it another way, we explain how positive emotions can lead to flourishing and growth in any area of life, including L2 learning and teaching, by drawing on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. When it comes to L2 learning and teaching, we introduce and conceptualize seven instances of positive psychology variables such as academic engagement, joy, regulation of emotions, grit, love of pedagogy, resilience, and well-being. Thus, theoretical and pedagogical implications for improving language education systems and their various stakeholders are derived. Conclusions and recommendations for future research are provided to expand the existing literature on positive psychology in the field of L2 education are provided at this juncture.
Damian Jacob Sendler: The purpose of this conceptual review paper is to familiarize language education researchers, practitioners, instructors, and learners with the main tenets of positive psychology and their application in second/foreign language (L2) education research, which is addressed in a recent Frontiers in Psychology special issue. Instead of introducing the origins, principles, and theoretical contributions of positive psychology to L2 education, we present some key factors that merit further empirical investigation and evidence from a positive psychology perspective. This review differs significantly from that of Dewaele et al. (2019a) in this regard. Emotions in Second Language Acquisition: A Critical Review and Research Agenda by Dewaele and Li (2020) differs from this review in that they focus on emotions, their different phases, theories, methodological issues and an agenda for L2 education.
Dr. Sendler: Educational researchers have spent a long time investigating negative emotions like anxiety (Marcos-Llinás and Garau, 2009) and burnout (Vaezi and Fallah, 2011) in the educational context. After becoming dissatisfied with the constant emphasis on negative emotions, researchers inspired by the positive psychology movement realized that not everything is negative and set out to investigate and promote eudemonic well-being. Seligman and Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) introduced positive psychology in their seminal work, which aimed to advocate a shift in the focus of psychology from merely focusing on fixing the negative and problematic aspects of life to developing positive qualities (Gao et al., 2020). (MacIntyre, 2021). Later, Peterson (2006) defined “the scientific study of what goes right in life, from birth to death and at all stops in between” as “the positive psychology of what goes right” (p. 4). A similar argument has been made by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2014), who argue that psychology should shift its focus away from identifying and solving problems to the subjective experiences that are valued by individuals.
Positive psychology (Mercer, 2021) focuses on people’s strengths rather than their flaws when dealing with life’s challenges (Mercer, 2021). (Jin et al., 2021). Positive psychology, on the other hand, focuses on the positive emotions, strengths, and aspects of human experience and psyche that have been overlooked in psychology for decades (Oxford, 2016). The goal of positive psychology is to bring out the best in each person, to focus on their unique strengths, and to create an environment that encourages their growth and happiness (Lopez, 2008). As a result, positive psychology focuses on the growth, fulfillment, flourishing, and resilience of individuals in all aspects of their lives, including education (Seligman, 2011).
According to Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2014), the foundations of positive psychology are positive institutions, positive personality traits, and positive experiences, all of which include positive emotions. Positive institutions are the least studied of the three, as psychological research has focused on positive character traits and feelings (MacIntyre, 2016). As a result, researchers in this field focus on three aspects of emotions: (1) the individual (i.e., positive personality characteristics or traits), (2) the subjective (i.e., positive emotional experiences), and (3) the group (i.e., positive support from institutions and society) (Gabry-Barker, 2021). Empathy, happiness, contentment and contentment, as well as optimism, tolerance, flow and love can all contribute to a person’s sense of satisfaction, self-efficacy, and success (Seligman, 2011; Fathi et al., 2021).
The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, which emphasizes how positive emotions like love, interest, joy, and contentment broaden one’s “momentary thought-action repertoire,” is the theoretical foundation of positive psychology (Fredrickson, 2004, p. 1367). Emotions that are positive, rather than negative, can lead to the development of one’s physical, psychological, intellectual and social resources. This is in contrast to the narrowed mindsets that are triggered by negative feelings (Fredrickson, 2004). In his work, MacIntyre (2016) cites Snyder and Lopez’s (2009) work to present a partial list of 36 positive psychology factors, such as attachment security, benefit-finding, mindfulness, life longing, an optimistic explanatory style, personal control, positive growth, self-verification, happiness and resilience as well as a sense of humility and positive ethics.
Following a brief discussion of how positive psychology came to be in the first place, it is now time to look at how it can be applied to L2 learning and teaching.
Early researchers like Arnold (1999), Arnold and Fonseca (2007), and Arnold and Fonseca Mora (1999) highlighted the importance of positive emotions and affectivity in L2 learning and teaching (2011). However, a positive renaissance in language education did not occur until relatively recently, following the rapid emergence and rapid flowering of positive psychology in general education (MacIntyre and Gregersen, 2012; Lake, 2013). There has been a shift in focus from studying negative emotions like anxiety, boredom, and burnout (Marcos-Llinás et al., 2009), to the investigation of both positive and negative factors involved in the process of L2 teaching and learning (Pawlak et al., 2020). (Chaffee et al., 2014; Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014; Kruk, 2019, 2021). Instead of approving of negative feelings and separating them from their positive counter-parts, the broaden-and-build theory of psychology asserts that negative and positive feelings cannot be easily separated and, in many instances, even complement each other. Applied positive psychology in L2 education disputes this assertion (MacIntyre and Gregersen, 2012). Learning and teaching a second language can be made more enjoyable and meaningful by positive emotions, which can help L2 instructors and learners cope better with various challenges in the instructional context (Gregersen, 2013).
It was thanks to MacIntyre and Mercer’s special issue on positive psychology and Sarah Mercer’s pioneering conference on Psychology of Language Learning in Graz in 2014 that the foundations of positive psychology in L2 education were strengthened. An important step in this direction was taken by this line of research, which was inspired by the discovery of “foreign language enjoyment” (Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014). Accordingly, in subsequent empirical studies, factors like anxiety in foreign language classes and a bad learning environment, as well as positive factors like happiness, emotional intelligence, love, and pride, were studied in order to realize the power of positive emotions in creating a balance (Chaffee et al., 2014; Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014; Gregersen et al., 2014).
MacIntyre et al. (2016), Gabry-Barker and Gaajda (2016), and the second conference on positive psychology in SLA at the University of Jyväskylä in 2016 all contributed to a rapid rise in the use of positive psychology in L2 education. Since 2016, there has been a significant increase in the number of applied linguistics research papers that adopt a positive psychology perspective in L2 education and are published in more prestigious journals (Dewaele et al., 2019a). Mercer (2016), Oxford (2016), MacIntyre et al. (2019) among others theoretically contributed to this field.
MacIntyre (2016) identifies four of the many positive psychology contributions that have been made over the past 20 years that have direct application in L2 education. Negative and positive emotions, as well as the role they play in the educational outcomes of L2 teachers and students, are two of the most promising topics in L2 education, and future research in this area will greatly benefit from the empirical and theoretical uniqueness of negative and positive emotions (Li et al., 2020). Character strengths model (Park et al., 2004) is the second major contribution to L2 education from positive psychology that could be applied. It summarizes strengths and virtues under six overarching categories of justice; transcendence, humanity; temperance, courage; and wisdom. Applied to L2 education, this model demonstrates how L2 teachers and students can thrive and flourish by enhancing their character strengths (MacIntyre, 2021).
The third contribution focuses on the transition from PERMA to EMPATICS in positive psychology as a means of understanding well-being (Oxford, 2016). Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning in life and Accomplishment (PERMA) are all components of the PERMA model introduced by Seligman (2011). There should be a positive interaction between all of these elements, as a result of which the individual’s well-being will be realized in this model (Mercer and Gregersen, 2020). Emotion and empathy, meaning and motivation, perseverance, including hope, resilience, and optimism, (4) Agency and autonomy, (5) Time, (6) Hardiness and habits of mind and (7) Intelligences, (8) Character strengths, and (9) Self factors were later added to the model and renamed EMPATHICS (self-verification, self-esteem, self-concept, and self-efficacy). New empirical and pedagogical horizons are opened for SLA researchers based on this theoretical model. As argued by Oxford (2016), EFL/ESL language teaching and learning have not addressed many of the EMPATHICS factors such as character strengths, hope, empathy and resilience, which means that positive psychology research can benefit from attention to these important factors.
One of the most important concepts in positive psychology is flow, which is discussed in this paper as the final contribution to L2 education research. flow is a state of positive well-being that occurs when individuals are operating at the edge of their capabilities, where abilities and challenges work together harmoniously, creating a feeling that one is so engrossed in the task at hand that he/she loses track of time. (Cikszentmihalyi, 1990). Even though little research has been done on flow in the domain of SLA (Liu and Song, 2021), it is a promising research avenue for a future as L2 learners’ experience of flow influences their attainment and success in L2 learning directly.
Seven examples of positive psychology factors that should be examined by researchers in the field of L2 learning and teaching are presented in the following section after we have explained their prominence in L2 education.
FLE was introduced by MacIntyre and Gregersen (2012), arguing that positive achievement emotion can help learners build resources for better language learning, broaden their perspectives, and increase their engagement in the language learning process (Pekrun, 2006), (Jin and Zhang, 2019). To achieve this goal, students must be confident in their ability to complete the task at hand (the control element) as well as have a positive attitude toward the learning material (the positive attitude component) (Mierzwa, 2019). People who enjoy what they’re doing tend to continue doing it, and this leads to greater success and fulfillment in life. Teachers can help their students overcome their fear of speaking a foreign language by focusing on positive emotions (Dewaele et al., 2018; Dewaele and Dewaele, 2020). There has been a great deal of study done on the foundational language element (FLE) in the context of language learning (e.g., Li et al., 2018; Jin and Zhang, 2019). FLE has been shown to improve academic performance (Jin and Zhang, 2018; Li et al., 2020), L2 motivation (MacIntyre, 2016), and social-behavioral learning engagement, according to the research that has already been done (Dewaele and Li, 2021).
There is a strong consensus among researchers that teacher-related factors play a more significant role in the success of FLE than learner factors. Teachers’ FLE was found to be influenced by emotional support, humor, friendliness, respect for students, tone of voice, and general upbeat mood (Dewaele et al., 2019c). This means that teachers have a significant impact on the ecology of foreign language learning by helping students have fun. According to a methodological perspective, the participants’ voices were heard in descriptions of FL classroom activities or in subsequent interviews (e.g., Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014, 2019; Li et al., 2018; Li, 2020).
“An underestimated and not fully explored emotion,” says Mierzwa in 2019. (Mierzwa, 2019, p. 173). However, recent studies on FLE have been conducted from a variety of perspectives, including scale development, expansion of the FLE nomological network, individual focus, and longitudinal focus (Elahi Shirvan and Taherian, 2018; Elahi Shirvan and Talebzadeh, 2018, 2020; Jin and Zhang, 2019; Elahi Shirvan et al., 2020, 2021; Talebzadeh et al., 2020). As a result, it’s no longer an undervalued feeling. FLE research can still move forward by expanding the range of time frames, shifting from simple correlational designs to more complex statistical techniques that capture the dynamic interactive variables, and conducting further exploratory and experimental research in classrooms.
Damian Sendler
Well-being is a key component of positive psychology. According to Oxford (2016), it is important to emphasize that “positive psychology is all about human well-being” (p. 21). Generally speaking, well-being refers to an individual’s sense of well-being, including their physical and mental health, as well as their ability to perform at work (Garg et al., 2014). Individuals flourish and grow as a result of well-being, which is a positive health-related outcome (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Positive interpersonal relationships, self-acceptance, personal growth, a sense of direction in life, environmental mastery, and self-determination are all included in Ryff’s (1989) definition of well-being. With Seligman’s PERMA model (2011), happiness is defined as the result of positive interactions between people, accomplishment, meaning, positive feelings and involvement with the ultimate goal of discovering meaning (Mercer and Gregersen, 2020). Understanding and promoting teachers and students’ emotional and psychological well-being is critical in the field of second language education because it is at the heart of language teaching and learning (Mercer, 2021). Teachers and students both benefit from well-being, which can lead to better emotional and academic experiences, such as students’ higher FLE (Proietti Ergün and Dewaele, 2021). (Greenier et al., 2021). Student well-being is a topic that has received less attention than teacher well-being. A promising avenue for future research in domain-specific areas such as L2 learning can be found in this direction.
Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: It has long been recognized that resilience is a dynamic, modifiable process that occurs over time and reflects the ability to adjust to different circumstances or situations and enhance one’s effectiveness when confronted with unfavorable conditions. This quality has a significant impact on the general and language education domains (Bobek, 2002). Resilience is essential for both teachers and students because teaching and learning are both stressful and emotionally draining (Gu and Day, 2013). A person’s ability to cope with adversity by utilizing all of his or her resources can be defined as resilience in the educational context (Gu and Day, 2013). To thrive rather than just survive in institutions, universities, or schools, teachers or students need to develop a resilience that allows them to deal with the challenges and stressors of the educational environment (Gloria et al., 2013). Teachers in the field of language instruction can develop their personal and professional resilience through the relationships they build with their students, which allows them to discover the meaning and purpose of their work and take meaningful action as a result (Hiver, 2018). Learner motivation, well-being, and teaching enjoyment have all been linked to resilience in the classroom (Kim and Kim in 2021; Proietti Ergün & Dewaele, 2021). In spite of its prominence, resilience needs more attention to its measurement, contributors, and potential consequences, as there is a limited body of research evidence on this concept in the literature on language education (Hiver, 2018).
When it comes to helping L2 students and teachers succeed in the educational environment, another aspect of positive psychology to consider is emotion regulation (Greenier et al., 2021). There are a variety of behavioral, physiological, and cognitive processes that one can use to control their emotional experiences and expressions (Gross and John, 2003). The process by which a person assesses, modifies, or regulates his or her emotions in order to achieve specific life goals is defined by Thompson (2008) as an extrinsic and intrinsic process. The ability to control when and how one expresses and experiences one’s emotions is seen by Gross (1998) as an interpersonal undertaking. Emotional regulation strategies are used frequently by both effective teachers and students. Even though some of the time they may down-regulate bad feelings, at other times they may up-regulate good feelings in order to enhance their performance and create a more enjoyable learning environment (Teng and Zhang, 2018; Greenier et al., 2021).
Emotional control in the language classroom is critical to the success of both teachers and students, as well as to the success of the teaching process itself (Ghanizadeh and Moafian, 2010; Teng and Zhang, 2016). It is only through the ability to control one’s emotions that educators are able to effectively confront difficult situations and come up with workable solutions (Ghanizadeh and Moafian, 2010). Research on emotion regulation in language education is scarce, despite its importance for educational outcomes and quality (Bielak and Mystkowska-Wiertelak, 2020). Dewaele and Dewaele (2020) believe that while emotions are key to language education, they have been largely ignored in SLA research. A variety of L2 academic factors, including psychological well-being, engagement, self-efficacy, reflection, and burnout have all been linked to improved emotional regulation, including research by Greenier et al. (2021) and Fathi et al. (2021) as well as Fathi et al. (2021). (Ghanizadeh and Royaei, 2015). There are hopes that following the recent blossoming of positive psychology in L2 education, more studies on how L2 teachers or students up-regulate or down-regulate their positive and negative emotions, respectively, will be conducted in the near future following the recent flowering of this field.
Emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of academic engagement are all considered desirable student experiences in the language learning domain (Jiang and Zhang, 2021; Khajavy, 2021). (Reschly and Christenson, 2012). Learners’ behavioral engagement refers to how eager they are to take part in tasks and lessons in real life (Mercer, 2019). Students’ feelings of devotion and attachment to a task are considered emotional engagement. In order to be cognitively engaged, one must be sufficiently challenged intellectually and absorbed in their work (Reschly and Christenson, 2012). As Reschly and Christenson (2012) put it, engagement is “a new kid on the block” in comparison to other well-established and extensively researched constructs like motivation (Hiver et al., 2021). (p. 4). Encountering students has grown in popularity in educational research despite its relative youth (Mystkowska-Wiertelak, 2020).
Damien Sendler: Scholars in SLA, such as Hiver, have made significant contributions to extending student involvement into L2 education. A language learner’s level of L2 engagement is defined by Hiver et al. (2021) as the extent to which the learner is engaged in the task at hand. Mercer and Dörnyei (2020) asserted that the development of communicative language ability necessitates the active participation of language learners who are willing to engage. Many language education stakeholders believe that fostering student engagement is a key factor in increasing L2 students’ long-term success and attainment (Mercer, 2019). Survey instruments designed and piloted by Hiver et al. (2020b) to measure the level of engagement in the language learning context across behavioral, emotional and cognitive dimensions have sparked the expansion of research in this area. The field of language learning research is still young, having only begun to investigate L2 involvement in relation to learning different languages in various contexts and cultures (Hiver et al., 2020a). There is a strong correlation between students’ L2 engagement and their teacher’s care and rapport, nonverbal immediacy, and credibility behaviors (Derakhshan et al., 2021a), emotional grit (Khajavy), and enjoyment (Dewaele and Li, 2021), willingness to communicate (Mystkowska-Wiertelak, 2021), and bilingual/biliteracy learning (Zhang et al., 2012).
In Duckworth et al. (2007), grit is defined as a person’s persistence, passion, and effort in pursuit of long-term objectives. Grit, to them, was a multidimensional quality that encompassed both a consistent level of interest and a persistent level of effort. The first dimension deals with the ability to remain engaged in a project despite setbacks and difficulties, while the second focuses on the willingness to put in extra time and effort even in the face of setbacks. Having a growth mindset is linked to greater academic success because of one’s perseverance (Steinmayr et al., 2018). Grit’s malleability is one of its best features; this means that it can be improved in the classroom through intervention and instruction (Clark and Malecki, 2019). L2 teachers can better prepare their students for the hardships and difficulties that come with learning a new language by making use of the malleability of grit. Grit has been found to have a positive effect on academic outcomes such as academic achievement, enjoyment, and willingness to communicate (Akos and Kretchmar, 2017). (Teimouri et al., 2020). Even though this non-cognitive concept has attracted the attention of language education researchers in recent years (e.g. Khajavy et al., 2020), there are still a few studies in this domain, and more research in this area is needed to expand our understanding of the role of this factor in language learning.
Damian Jacob Sendler
Positive psychology advocates love as a desirable emotion that can help people grow, develop, and find meaning in their lives (Fredrickson, 2004; Seligman, 2011). Specifically, in the educational context, love is viewed as a meaningful and positive learning experience that can be applied. According to Loreman (2011), students’ emotional and social development is greatly influenced by the presence of love in their lives. John Lock, a well-known educator, also believes that successful instruction can only occur in a loving environment. Freire, likewise, emphasized the fact that both studying and teaching are acts of affection (Yin et al., 2019). The importance of love is also reflected in Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy of needs: people can only achieve self-actualization if their belonging and love needs are met. When we talk about pedagogy that we love, we’re really talking about how much we care about our students. As a result teachers must be caring, supportive, and sensitive to their students, as well as respectful and understanding of them. Students’ functioning and potentials can be strengthened by a caring teacher’s guidance and encouragement. When it comes to language learning, love has the potential to be a motivating factor in the process, as well as an effective coping mechanism.
The goal of education, according to a loving pedagogical approach, is more than just the transmission of information. Pedagogy that encourages students and teachers to work together to find new information and pushes them to go beyond their own boundaries is a great way to teach (Yin et al., 2019). Loreman (2011) proposed a “pedagogy of love” model, which includes the nine main components of kindness, sacrifice, acceptance, bonding, forgiveness, empathy, community, passion, and intimacy. This topic has been understudied in both general and language education, despite its importance. A large, multinational study was conducted, to our knowledge, to revalidate the Dispositions toward Loving Pedagogy (DTLP) Scale in the context of L2 education and examine its relationship with creativity and work engagement of EFL/ESL instructors, to try to bring loving pedagogy into the realm of language education research for the first time (Derakhshan et al., 2021b). L2 researchers are encouraged to immediately shift their attention to this fledgling area of study in light of the significance of love in language pedagogy.
To begin with, there has been a lack of attention to the emotional and personal investment of ESL/EFL teachers in their professional performance up to this point. In order to effectively teach a language, one must not only convey content and pedagogical knowledge while employing the most up-to-date teaching methods and techniques (Pishghadam et al., 2019), but also engage students on an emotional level by engaging them in meaningful dialogue and fostering an enjoyable learning environment (Xie and Derakhshan, 2021). Educators and trainers of future and current language teachers can benefit from the information presented in this paper by incorporating positive psychology and its associated factors into their training programs, workshops, and courses. Teachers-in-training can learn about the movement of positive psychology, its main tenets, its prominence in L2 learning and teaching, and the potential teacher or student positive variables that may contribute to desirable academic outcomes in such programs (Gabry-Barker, 2021).
Aiming to improve both teachers’ professional effectiveness and students’ L2 achievement and success, teacher educators should arm future language teachers with a solid foundation of knowledge about positive psychology concepts like flourishing under adversity, resilience, and positive emotions. Teachers play a significant role in creating a learning environment that can help students succeed academically, according to previous research (Dewaele and Dewaele, 2020). As a result, pre- and in-service teachers should be instructed on how to create a fun learning environment by showing respect and care for students, building on positive teacher-student interpersonal relationships, and increasing interest in the target language, which will help learners sustain their engagement with L2 learning.
It is equally important that the criteria used by teacher recruitment committees to select high-quality educators include not only their content and pedagogical knowledge but also their interest in and commitment to their own professional development, as well as their familiarity with emerging educational theories and movements (such as positive psychology and the broaden-and-build theodicy). The committees can, for example, inquire of the teacher candidates about the methods they plan to use to improve FLE in their students. In previous studies, it has been found that teachers’ encouragement and friendliness to students can help foster the development of FLE in the classroom (Mercer and Dörnyei, 2020). Teachers who are aware of how important positive teacher-student relationships, positive emotional experiences, and positive environmental factors play a role in students’ success can be targeted by the authorities in charge of recruiting effective language teachers.
Positive psychology studies in L2 education, as documented in the existing literature, have some limitations that need to be acknowledged. Many positive educational factors have yet to be thoroughly studied. According to MacIntyre (2016) and Kim and Kim (2021), some positive variables like L2 motivation have been extensively studied worldwide (e.g., MacIntyre, 2016; Kim and Kim, 2021). (Hiver et al., 2020a). Language researchers and practitioners are obligated to investigate various positive educational variables across cultures, instructional contexts, teachers’ instructional experiences, learners’ stages of development, or grad students’ linguistic proficiency. (Seligman, 2011; MacIntyre, 2021) (Pishghadam et al., 2021b). A single study may be able to examine the effects of more than one such variable on a specific individual’s variables simultaneously, even in the future.
As for data collection methods, most empirical studies in this area have been quantitative, with close-ended questionnaires used to elicit participants’ opinions and perspectives on the variables being studied (e.g., Derakhshan, 2021; Khajavy, 2021). Student engagement has traditionally been measured through self-report surveys and questionnaires despite the fact that a few qualitative studies have used qualitative data collection instruments (e.g. Pavelescu and Petri, 2018; Dewaele and Pavelescu, 2021). However, because of the inherent limitations of this type of data collection method, such as the possibility of data skewness, participant bias, and the lack of real-time data, they recommend that educational researchers use other methods such as observations, expert ratings of engagement, interviews, and real-time sampling methods, they recommend that they use. Since quantitative studies using closed-ended questionnaires can only yield limited amounts of real-time data, it is recommended that future researchers switch to qualitative or mixed-methods research in order to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the phenomena they are studying. A variety of instruments, such as narrative writing, audio journaling and field notes or diaries, can be used in these types of research methods. More studies can be done in the future examining the perceptions or experiences of a few individuals and obtaining rich data from them, rather than conducting large-scale studies that collect data from a large sample. Individuals’ perspectives, experiences, and behaviors can shift or remain stable over time as a result of longitudinal studies.
In addition, while research has been conducted all over the world, it has been focused on a single location. Only Dewaele and MacIntyre (2014, 2019) and Dewaele et al. (2019b) studies with international samples have empirical evidence on cross-cultural studies, which seek to unravel how individuals from different cultural contexts conceptualize, perceive, and experience positive emotions and characteristics. This is critical because culture is a major factor in shaping and reshaping our mindsets (Pishghadam et al., 2021a). The authors of this study and their co-researchers have begun a new series of cross-cultural studies on positive teacher, student, or institution-related variables such as teacher rapport, credibility, care, stroking behaviors (a type of teacher care), work engagement, psychological well-being, students’ willingness to attend L2 classes, L2 engagement, and loving pedagogy in the Iranian, Polish, and other cultures (e.g., Derakhshan et al., 2021a,b; Greenier et al., 2021; Pishghadam et al., 2021a). However, there is still a need to investigate positive psychology issues in other cultural contexts. As a result, future L2 researchers are urged to continue this line of cross-cultural positive psychology research and expand the established theories and areas of research across the world.
Fourth, technological advancements have impacted every aspect of human life, and language education is no exception. For today’s language students and teachers, the digital world opens up a world of possibilities. In times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, where language instruction could be severely disrupted, online learning offers a convenient way to practice language skills with native and non-native speakers from a variety of cultural backgrounds (Wang and Derakhshan, 2021). In the literature on virtual language education, positive educational factors have a prominent place. Resilience, loving teaching, engagement, perseverance, and grit should be studied in both traditional and digital learning environments to understand how each of the two learning systems might affect language learning or teaching.
Few studies (Li and Xu, 2019) have examined how the positive psychology variables can be integrated into L2 education programs to improve key stakeholders, such as language teachers and students, in an effort to enhance their thinking and functioning. Studies have shown that positive traits like FLE, perseverance, and involvement can help students achieve their academic goals (e.g., Teimouri et al., 2020), but few studies have shown how these traits can be strengthened through intervention and instruction. Experimentation on a specific positive academic variable can be used to fill this research gap by exposing a group of language learners or instructors to the treatment and seeing how explicit instruction can enhance their perceptions and experiences.
There are many ways to incorporate positive psychology into L2 learning and teaching, but this conceptual review aims to show that it is still in its infancy. So this fertile area of research is eagerly open to empirical investigations on its under-represented aspects by language researchers around the world to precipitate the expansion of this line of research.