What can we learn about strategies, langugae learning, and life from the two extreme cases: The role of well-being theory

• Authors: Rebecca L. Oxford
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article presents two foreign or second language (L2) learner histories representing the extreme ends of the spectrum of learner well-being. One story reflects the very positive learning experiences of a highly strategic learner, while the other story focuses on a less strategic learner’s negative, long-lasting responses to a single traumatic episode. The theoretical framework comes from the concept of well-being in positive psychology (with significant adaptations). In addition to contrasting the two cases through the grounded theory approach, the study suggests that the adapted well-being framework is useful for understanding L2 learning experiences, even when the experiences are negative.

Keywords

EN

well-being theory; positive psychology; language learning experiences; positive and negative emotions; learner histories

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 593-615

Dates

cover

2014-12

Contributors

author

Rebecca L. Oxford

• Oxford Associates, Huntsville AL USA

Identifiers

DOI

10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.4.2