The recent introduction of positive psychology (PP) to second language acquisition (SLA) has led to increased interest in researching the relationship between language learning and various positive emotions. Despite this, the concept of learner altruistic teaching has been relatively understudied, compared to other PP aspects. In particular, studies on learner altruistic teaching and English reading comprehension skill have been notably absent. To address this gap, this intervention study aimed to investigate whether learners’ altruistic teaching had a significant effect on their English reading comprehension skill. The study used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design with a comparison group pretest–posttest experimental design. It involved 116 Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). The study included three internet-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT) reading sections, reflective frames, and semi-structured interviews. The results of independent-samples t-tests and repeated-measures ANOVAs suggested that altruistic teaching had an instructional effect on learners’ English reading comprehension skill. Additionally, the results of the qualitative data pointed to several themes, including enjoyment, responsibility for one another, intimacy, engagement, motivation, success, and self-appreciation in learners. Altogether, the study suggested that learners’ altruistic teaching can significantly enhance their English reading comprehension skill by creating a sense of enjoyment, responsibility, intimacy, engagement, motivation, success, and self-appreciation among learners. The article concludes by discussing the theoretical and pedagogical implications of the study. Finally, it offers suggestions for further research and highlights limitations.
Bohn-GettlerC.M. (2019). Getting a grip: The PET framework for studying how reader emotions influence comprehension. Discourse Processes, 56, 386–401.
2.
Bohn-GettlerC.M.McCruddenM.T. (2021). Effects of emotions, topic beliefs, and task instructions on the processing and memory for a dual-position text. Discourse Processes, 59, 52–75.
3.
CarrellP.L. (1989). Metacognitive awareness and second language reading. The Modern Language Journal, 73, 121–134.
4.
CohenJ. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Erlbaum.
5.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.
6.
DerakhshanA.ZareJ. (2023). The impact of altruistic teaching on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ emotion regulation: An intervention study. Brain Sciences, 13, 458.
7.
DeverD.A.WiedbuschM.D.CloudeE.B.LesterJ.AzevedoR. (2021). Emotions and the comprehension of single versus multiple texts during game-based learning. Discourse Processes, 59(1–2), 94–115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2021.1950450
8.
DewaeleJ.M. (2019). The vital need for ontological, epistemological and methodological diversity in applied linguistics. In WrightC.HarveyL.SimpsonJ. (Eds.), Voices and practices in applied linguistics: Diversifying a discipline (pp. 71–88). White Rose University Press.
9.
DewaeleJ.M.ChenX.PadillaA.M.LakeJ. (2019). The flowering of positive psychology in foreign language teaching and acquisition research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2128.
10.
DewaeleJ.M.LiC. (2018). Emotions in SLA. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8, 15–19.
11.
DewaeleJ.M.LiC. (2020). Emotions in second language acquisition: A critical review and research agenda. Foreign Language World, 196, 34–49.
12.
DörnyeiZ. (2009). The psychology of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press.
13.
DuncanS.BarrettL.F. (2007). Affect is a form of cognition: A neurobiological analysis. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 1184–1211.
14.
El-KilabiA. (2005). The place of reading comprehension in second language acquisition. In Proceedings of the Fifth National ELT Conference (pp. 198–207), Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, 20–21April.
15.
FredricksonB.L. (2004). The broaden–and–build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: Series B: Biological Sciences, 359, 1367–1377.
16.
FredricksonB.L.BraniganC. (2005). Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought–action repertoires. Cognition and Emotion, 19, 313–332.
17.
Gabryś-BarkerD. (2021). (Positive) Affectivity in a foreign language classroom: trainees’ response to an introductory course in positive psychology. In BudzińskaK.MajchrzakO. (Eds.), Positive psychology in second and foreign language education (pp. 187–205). Springer.
18.
GaoL.G.ZhangL.J. (2020). Teacher learning in difficult times: Examining foreign language teachers’ cognitions about online teaching to tide over COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 549653.
19.
GregersenT. (2016). The positive broadening power of a focus on well-being in the language classroom. In Gabryś-BarkerD.GałajdaD. (Eds.), Positive psychology perspectives on foreign language learning and teaching (pp. 59–73). Springer.
20.
GregersenT.MacIntyreP.D.MezaM. (2016). Positive psychology exercises build social capital for language learners: Preliminary evidence. In MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (Eds.), Positive psychology in SLA (pp. 147–167). Multilingual Matters.
HabratA. (2018). The role of self-esteem in foreign language learning and teaching. Springer.
23.
HamediS.M.PishghadamR.SalehiJ. (2019). The contribution of reading emotions to reading comprehension: The mediating effect of reading engagement using a structural equation modeling approach. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 19, 211–238.
24.
KendeouP.van den BroekP.HelderA.KarlssonJ. (2014). A cognitive view of reading comprehension: Implications for reading difficulties. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 29, 10–16.
25.
LazarusR.S. (2003). Does the positive psychology movement have legs?Psychological Inquiry, 14, 93–109.
26.
LeDouxJ. (1998). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. Simon and Schuster.
27.
LeungC.Y.MikamiH.YoshikawaL. (2019). Positive psychology broadens readers’ attentional scope during L2 reading: Evidence from eye movements. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2245.
28.
LyubomirskyS. (2008). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. Penguin.
29.
MacIntyreP.D. (2002). Motivation, anxiety and emotion in second language acquisition. In RobinsonP. (Ed.), Individual differences and instructed language learning (pp. 45–68). John Benjamins.
30.
MacIntyreP.D. (2016). So far so good: An overview of positive psychology and its contributions to SLA. In Gabryś-BarkerD.GałajdaD. (Eds.), Positive psychology perspectives on foreign language learning and teaching (pp. 3–20). Springer.
31.
MacIntyreP.D. (2021). Exploring applications of positive psychology in SLA. In BudzińskaK.MajchrzakO. (Eds.), Positive psychology in second and foreign language education (pp. 3–17). Springer.
32.
MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT. (2012). Emotions that facilitate language learning: The positive-broadening power of the imagination. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2, 193–213.
33.
MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (2016). Conclusion. In MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (Eds.), Positive psychology in SLA (pp. 374–379). Multilingual Matters.
34.
MacIntyreP.D.MercerS. (2014). Introducing positive psychology to SLA. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4, 153–172.
35.
MensinkM.C. (2021). Emotional responses to seductive scientific texts during online and offline reading tasks. Discourse Processes, 59, 76–93.
36.
MercerS. (2011). Towards an understanding of language learner self-concept. Springer.
37.
MurpheyT. (2013). Value-added English learning. Journal of the Saitama Educators, 3, 1–8.
38.
MurpheyT. (2016). Four social neuroscience on-going requisites for effective collaborative learning and the altruistic turn. TESL-EJ, 19, 1–14.
39.
OxfordR.L. (2016). Toward a psychology of well-being for language learners: The ‘EMPATHICS’ vision. In MacIntyreP.D.GregersenT.MercerS. (Eds.), Positive psychology in SLA (pp. 10–87). Multilingual Matters.
40.
OxfordR.L. (2017). Anxious language learners can change their minds: Ideas and strategies from traditional psychology and positive psychology. In GkonouC.DaubneyM.DewaeleJ.M. (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and educational implications (pp. 177–197). Multilingual matters.
41.
PavlenkoA. (2013). The affective turn in SLA: From ‘affective factors’ to ‘language desire’ and ‘commodification of affect’. In Gabrys-BarkerD.BelskaJ. (Eds.) The affective dimension in second language acquisition (pp. 3–28). Multilingual Matters.
42.
PekrunR. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18, 315–341.
43.
PekrunR. (2018). Control-value theory: A social-cognitive approach to achievement emotions. In LiemG.A.D.McInerneyD.M. (Eds.), Big theories revisited 2: A volume of research on sociocultural influences on motivation and learning (pp. 162–190). Information Age Publishing.
44.
PekrunR. (2022). Emotions in reading and learning from texts: Progress and open problems. Discourse Processes, 59, 116–125.
45.
PekrunR.GoetzT.FrenzelA.C.BarchfeldP.PerryR.P. (2011). Measuring emotions in students’ learning and performance: The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ). Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36, 36–48.
46.
PetersonC. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. Oxford University Press.
47.
PishghadamR.EbrahimiS.BigdeliI. (2020). Introducing the emotioncy profile and examining its relationship with individual and social attitudes. Journal of Social Cognition, 9, 79–110.
48.
PlonskyL.OswaldF.L. (2014). How big is ‘big’? Interpreting effect sizes in L2 research. Language Learning, 64, 878–912.
49.
PriorM.T. (2019). Elephants in the room: An ‘affective turn’, or just feeling our way?The Modern Language Journal, 103, 515–544.
50.
RobinsonM.TamirM. (2011). A task-focused mind is a happy and productive mind: A processing perspective. In SheldonK.KashdanT.StegerM. (Eds.), Designing positive psychology (pp. 160–174). Oxford University Press.
51.
SeligmanM.E.P. (2002). Positive psychology, positive prevention, and positive therapy. In SnyderC.R.LopezS.J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 3–9). Oxford University Press.
52.
SeligmanM.E.P. (2011). A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Free Press.
53.
SeligmanM.E.P.CsikszentmihalyiM. (2014). Positive psychology: An introduction. In SeligmanM.E.P.CsikszentmihalyM. (Eds.), Flow and the foundations of positive psychology (pp. 279–298). Springer.
54.
ShahianL.PishghadamR.KhajaviG.H. (2017). Flow and reading comprehension: Testing the mediating role of emotioncy. Issues in Educational Research, 27, 527–549.
55.
ShaoK.PekrunR.MarshH.W.LodererK. (2020). Control-value appraisals, achievement emotions, and foreign language performance: a latent interaction analysis. Learning and Instruction, 69, 1013–1056.
56.
ShaoK.PekrunR.NicholsonL.J. (2019). Emotions in classroom language learning: What can we learn from achievement emotion research?System, 86, 102121.
57.
Sharwood SmithM. (2017). Introducing language and cognition: A map of the mind. Cambridge University Press.
58.
TeimouriY.GoetzeJ.PlonskyL. (2019). Second language anxiety and achievement: A meta-analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41, 489–425.
59.
TrevorsG. (2021). The roles of identity conflict, emotions, and threat in learning from refutation texts on vaccination and immigration. Discourse Processes, 59, 36–51.
60.
WangY.DerakhshanA.ZhangL.J. (2021). Researching and practicing positive psychology in second/foreign language learning and teaching: The past, current status and future directions. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 731721.
61.
WhiteC.J. (2018). The emotional turn in applied linguistics and TESOL: Significance, challenges and prospects. In Martínez AgudoJ. (Ed.), Emotions in second language teaching (pp. 19–34). Springer.
62.
ZareJ. (2023). The impact of L2 learners’ altruistic teaching on their task engagement in English essay writing. System, 118, 103137.
63.
ZareJ.Aqajani DelavarK.DerakhshanA. (2023). The impact of altruism on the emotions and English summary writing skills of L2 learners: An intervention study in light of positive psychology. Language Teaching Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688231151632
