Applying principles of positive psychology in English teaching

林洪

【Abstract】The aim of this paper was to explore individual difference in English learning by using positive psychology at the class. And discuss approaches which can help English teachers to increase students positive emotion through lessons and activities on happiness， creativity， positive thinking，resilience etc.

【Key words】positive psychology； positive emotions； English teaching

1. What is positive psychology

A newly rising field of psychology research， Positive Psychology， which focuses on personal growth rather than pathology has started to take center stage in American at the end of the 20th century.

Positive emotions， positive individual traits， and positive institutions are the three issues of positive psychology， and the finding of it indicate that happiness is improved and affected in folk different ways. The goal of using positive psychology is to help people change their negative thinking as a way to vary their feeling.

2.The reason of using positive psychology in English learning

2.1 Current English learning and teaching situation

According to statistical data on education， Chinese students who are not native English speakers have difficulty in English learning， even some of them have a weak foundation in English， while the assigned teaching period is insufficient for the huge programme of English teaching.

2.2 The enlightenment of positive psychology to English teaching

As positive psychology focus on the potential human virtues， mental quality training， it can have a range of applications in areas including education.

Classroom teaching mode emphasizes in the concept of positive psychology： English class should based on students positive psychological development， pay attention to the “experiential” growth and development of students， and pursue the unity of prepared and unprepared teaching aims.

To build a scientific， standardized， effective and operable English classroom teaching mode towards the students' sustainable development， the different roles of teacher and students and the rich teaching activities， that is the class structure model of perception—activity—share—assessment of students' experiences.

3. Positive psychology used in classroom-based English teaching

3.1 Create good learning environment.

Combining with the teaching contents in class， English teacher can set up an interesting， high participation teaching games， so that make students have a new understanding of English classroom instead of “dull， stiff， boring” English classroom， willing to learn English. And outside the classroom， teachers can guide their English corner organization， classic English movie appreciation， drama performances， story telling， singing and other activities

3.2 Strengthen the positive experiences and feelings.

Teachers can teach students in accordance with their aptitude， striving to create the chance of success for their students， and let students to experience a sense of achievement and success. Meanwhile， teachers should pay attention to find the best in students and even a little progress to them not stingy praise， as praise seems to be an effective method of fostering English learning.

3.3 Mound positive personality.

Teachers should pay attention to the development of positive personality， including self-confidence， positive and optimistic， wisdom， intelligence， etc. In English teaching， teachers should arouse students' interest in learning English， and also build their confidence and form the good English-learning motivation and habits through continuous encouragement and support .

3.4 Attach importance to the guidance of study methods.

To Avoid “Learned Helplessness” in English learning， teaching English should follow these three teaching pattern： targeted teaching， study method teaching， and “get something new in looking over one's old studies”. Only students get the knowledge， then they have the interests in further learning.

4. Conclusion

To summarize， using the strategies from positive psychology， English teachers can motivate students and help them understand and develop their personal strengths， no question that students can arouse learning interest and enthusiasm， even achieve good results in English learning.

References：

[1]Djebbari，Z.（2016）.Positive psychology in language teaching.https：//www.morebooks.de/store/pt/book/positive-psychology-in-language-teaching/isbn/978-3-659-71148-0.

[2]張敏.如何在英語教學中滲透積極心理學[J].新課程：教育學術版，2009（8）.

[3]玄兆丹.積極心理學在初中英語教學中的應用研究[D].河北師范大學，2015.