Title: TESOL as happiness praxis
Authors: Reza Zabihi; Saeed Ketabi; Mansoor Tavakoli
Addresses: Department of English, Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Isfahan, Hezar Jirib Street, Isfahan, 81746-7344, Iran ' Faculty of Foreign Languages, Department of English, University of Isfahan, Hezar Jirib Street, Isfahan, 81746-7344, Iran ' Faculty of Foreign Languages, Department of English, University of Isfahan, Hezar Jirib Street, Isfahan, 81746-7344, Iran
Abstract: Within the full register of positive states studied in positive psychology, happiness enjoys a unique stature. Many countries have now begun to realise that happiness is the true sign of human flourishing and have attempted to incorporate happiness into their national curricula. In this article, we shall take the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) as a striking example where a pedagogy of happiness can be adopted. The arguments we will bring together in this paper suggest reasons why positive psychology is extremely relevant to second language (L2) learning environments to assist in the development of high levels of happiness in learners. We put forward three arguments hypothesising that TESOL's field-specific features, drawn from well-established L2 research findings, can smooth the way for the enrichment of the three criteria of authentic happiness (i.e., pleasure, engagement, and meaning) through the design and implementation of appropriate happiness-increase programmes.
Keywords: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages; TESOL; positive psychology; positive education; happiness pedagogies; Martin Seligman; authentic happiness; humanising L2 education; second languages; language teaching; language learning; pleasure; engagement; meaning.
International Journal of Happiness and Development, 2013 Vol.1 No.3, pp.302 - 310
Received: 22 Feb 2013
Accepted: 30 Apr 2013
Published online: 19 Jul 2014 *