Language Learner Immunity in SLA: A Positive Psychological Study on University Students Majoring in English

Since the inception of positive clinical psychology in recent years, there has been a trend towards research into positive emotions in the field of second language acquisition. This study seeks to explore the concept of language learner immunity and its development in language learners in an EFL context within purview of positive clinical psychology. To this end, positive psychology interventions such as positive writing, savoring and also emotional resilience exercises were used to study their effectiveness in the development of language learner immunity. Out of 182 university students majoring in English at the graduate and postgraduate levels, 35 (out of the 42 participants chosen for the study based on their scores on the Foreign Language Enjoyment and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety questionnaires) took part in the interventions. After 4 weeks of positive writing (writing 3 good things) and savoring exercise, 31 participants showed their willingness to participate in the focus group discussion sessions,followed by one -to-one interviews almost 2 weeks later. The interview data indicate that language learner immunity - the ability to recover from unpleasant situations successfully with determination and perseverance – can be developed (if learners lack it) and one way to do so is the application of positive psychological interventions. Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that to be successful, language learners need to develop immunity to protect themselves against negative situations and overcome them and that learning institutions can benefit from embedding positive psychological interventions into their educational system

کلیدواژه ها:

Language learner immunity ، positive clinical psychology ، SLA ، positive psychological interventions ، emotional resilience