Humanising Language Learning

Abstract

This book presents a radical turn in Second Language Acquisition research by introducing a conceptual paradigm that challenges rationalist, instrumental and empiricist approaches to language learning theory. It argues for a shift in focus from measuring the effectiveness of language learning processes to humanising the language learning experience. This new paradigm explores the force of affect, the imagination and creativity and their roles in assembling language learners' intimate worlds. 'The personal' is reclaimed and acts as driving force for language learning and the sphere in which learners engage both their minds and bodies in a constant socialization of feelings and emotions. The author provides examples from real language learners using a variety of modern languages to provide insights on the kind of personal worlds that languages compel us to inhabit. This book will be of interest to those working with language learning and language education theory, language teachers, and researchers and students who are interested in issues of identity and intercultural communication in language learning. Cristina Ros i Solé is a Visiting Lecturer at King's College London and the Open University, UK. She is an applied linguist and a language education specialist, and has published extensively in the area of language learning and intercultural communication. Foreword; References ; Acknowledgements; Contents; Chapter 1: Introduction: From€Sense to€Sensibility; References; Chapter 2: Humanising Language Learning; Moving on€from€Enlightenment Rationalism; Reuniting Body and€Mind; The Humanities in€Current SLA Theory; Challenging the€Remit and€Scope of€SLA; A New Paradigm for€Language Learning; References; Chapter 3: Lines of€Thought; 'Bildung' or the€Cultivation of€the€Self; Romanticism; Aestheticism; Nomadism; Phenomenology; References; Chapter 4: Identity Reimagined; Romantic Dispositions: Creativity and€Imagination; Identity Itineraries in€SLA. Socio-Cultural and€Poststructuralist Theories of€IdentityPatchwork Identities; Subjectivity; Languages of€the€Heart; Lifestyles; Moving Through Languages; Figuring identity; Rhizomatic Figurations; Notes; References; Chapter 5: Brave New Lifeworlds; Dwelling in€another language; Lifeworlds and€Spracherleben; Nomadic Lifeworlds; References; Chapter 6: The Social Promise of€Emotions; Language Learning as€Emotional Possibility; The Instrumentalisation of€Emotions; Krashen's Legacy; Are There Good and€Bad Emotions for€Language Learning?; Multiple Languages, Multiple Emotional Selves. The Humanisation of€EmotionsEmotions as€Discursive Spaces; Emotions as€Intersubjective Phenomena; Emotions 'Outside In'; Emotion Objects; Objects as€Emotional€Possibility; Nostalgia in€a€Moroccan Treasure Box; Liberation, the€Romantic Novel; The Allure of€the€Exotic; Emotions as€the€Seat of€Language Learners' Sociality; Reconceptualising Emotions in€SLA; References; Chapter 7: Life in€a€Caravan; The Flâneur; The Tourist; The Pilgrim; The Cosmopolitan; Notes; References; Chapter 8: Conclusion: The€Arts of€Language Learning; The 'Arts of€Language Learning Manifesto'; Learners' Information.