Browsing by Author "Mercer, Sarah"
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Item Editorial(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2013-10) Mercer, Sarah; Ryan, StephenItem Editorial(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2015-06-01) Mercer, Sarah; Ryan, StephenThis is the second of two special issues of Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching emerging from the first Psychology in Language Learning (PLL) conference, which took place in May 2014 at the University of Graz, Austria. In the first special issue, we observed how much research into the psychology of language learning and teaching is expanding both thematically and methodologically. In this second special issue, we hone in on some of the core issues that we believe are likely to feature prominently on the future research agenda, namely, emotions, the self, and contexts.Item Introducing positive psychology to SLA(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2014-06) MacIntyre, Peter D.; Mercer, SarahPositive psychology is a rapidly expanding subfield in psychology that has important implications for the field of second language acquisition (SLA). This paper introduces positive psychology to the study of language by describing its key tenets. The potential contributions of positive psychology are contextualized with reference to prior work, including the humanistic movement in language teaching, models of motivation, the concept of an affective filter, stud- ies of the good language learner, and the concepts related to the self. There are reasons for both encouragement and caution as studies inspired by positive psychology are undertaken. Papers in this special issue of SSLLT cover a range of quantitative and qualitative methods with implications for theory, research, and teaching practice. The special issue serves as a springboard for future research in SLA under the umbrella of positive psychology.Item Notes on Contributors(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2013-10) Pawlak, Mirosław; Mystkowska-Wiertelak, Anna; Bielak, Jakub; Kwiatkowski, Krzysztof; Ryan, Stephen; Mercer, SarahItem The self as a complex dynamic system(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2011) Mercer, SarahThis article explores the potential offered by complexity theories for under-standing language learners’ sense of self and attempts to show how the self might usefully be conceived of as a complex dynamic system. Rather than presenting empirical findings, the article discusses existent research on the self and aims at outlining a conceptual perspective that may inform future studies into the self and possibly other individual learner differences. The article concludes by critically considering the merits of a complexity perspective but also reflecting on the challenges it poses for research.Item Working with language learner histories from three perspectives: Teachers, learners and researchers(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2013-06) Mercer, SarahRecent developments in SLA, such as learner-centredness, social constructiv- ism, the postmethod era, and complexity perspectives, have highlighted the need for more localized, situated understandings of teaching and learning and greater recognition of learner individuality and diversity. In this article, I suggest an effective way of meeting these needs is to employ learner histo- ries. This powerful form of writing allows learners to use their L2 to engage in authentic, personally meaningful communication with others about their identities, experiences, perceptions and emotions related to their language learning histories. As a text type, they are able to facilitate a more holistic perspective of the learner’s life and reveal the unique interconnections that an individual makes across various domains. They also enable the situated, contextualised and dynamic nature of their learning experiences to become apparent and provide learners with a genuine, motivating purpose for writ- ing. Exploring data generated in Austria with tertiary-level EFL learners, I seek to illustrate some of the rich potential of these text types from three perspectives, namely, those of the teacher, learner and researcher.