Topic of this session:

How overcoming negative emotions can empower language learners

1. "...mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams..."  (from one of Albert Einstein's teacher)
2. "...hopeless as a composer..." (Beethoven's violin teacher)
3. Walt Disney got fired by a newspaper editor for "lack of ideas"
4. "I have an idiot for a son"(Auguste Rodin's father)          the statue of The thinker       "This boy is unable and unwilling to learn"(Auguste Rodin's uncle)

Remarks:

1.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.

                      (Maclntyre & Mercer 2014)

2."Adult learners ... have a powerful reflex called the 'fear response' deeply ingrained in their brains. We feel that reflex in moments of existential threat such as hunger, pain or danger - and quite frequently in the classroom equivalent, shame."

                                               (Perry, 2016)

Two terms about the brain:

1.Nucleus accumbens    

    GO!(positive emotions)

2.Amygdala     

    STOP!(negative emotions)

A psychological definition of Resilience:

Resilience is the ability to successfully spring back from adversity. Language learners need resilience in times of emotional, cognitive, and/or physical stress. (Oxford, 2015)

Second language acquisition(SLA) rarely deals with these topics at present; however, their relevance in the field is immediately apparent when one considers the practical, human, and social demension of language learning. Many language educators are aware of the importance of improving individual learner's experiences of language learning by helping them to develop and maintain their motivation, perseverance, and resiliency, as well as positive emotions necessary for the long-term undertaking of learning a foreign language.

                      (Maclntyre & Mercer 2004)

Research shows

• A learner's resilience is determined by their mindsets ('fixed vs. growth mindset')
• The way we interact with our students has an impact on their mindsets.
• Mindsets are flexible and can change; there is evidence that we can help students modify them.
• The pre-frontal cortex plays a key role in the development of resilience.
• Story telling and story sharing can have a positive influence on students' resilience.

Two terms about Limbic System:

1.Frontal Lobe (logical thinking)

2.Cerebral Cortex