Peter Macintyre

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Cape Breton University

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is most often defined as a negative experience that is harmful to successful performance, but potential facilitating effects of MPA often are acknowledged. The distinction between facilitating and debilitating effects often is attributed to various cognitive frameworks based on the quantity of anxiety, where smaller...

Although positive psychology (PP) is characterized as a tripartite approach to human flourishing that considers emotions, traits, and institutions, to date the role of institutions has been relatively overlooked. This is particularly problematic when exploring language teacher wellbeing because a teacher’s ability to thrive is also dependent upon t...

Flow reflects an optimal balance of challenge and skill, which is exhilarating and addictive. The current study investigates the role of three learner emotions (enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom) on the proportion of class time in flow among 165 Arab and Kurdish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in both in-person and online classes. Statis...

This book examines the communication behaviours of individuals in multilingual community contexts. Using a complexity lens and the presentation of a revised 3D pyramid model, the authors demonstrate the dynamic nature of willingness to communicate over time and shed new light on processes that affect communication, migration and well-being.

The paper examines anxiety as an important emotion for language learning and communication, using the intraindividual, dynamic emotional experience as a grounding for understanding the antecedents and consequences of anxiety arousal. The bulk of the existing literature, as reflected in three recent meta-analyses, treats language anxiety as a stable...

This study focuses on understanding language teachers’ lived experiences of their stressors and positive uplifts from a holistic perspective covering their professional lives in school, their personal lives beyond, and the connection between the two. The aim was to explore the nature of teachers’ experiences of stress and how they spilled over from...

The present study investigated the overall level and the underlying factors of pre-adolescent learners’ foreign language enjoyment. To this end, 277 Chinese primary school students in Years 3-6 completed a foreign language enjoyment scale and a questionnaire assessing nine student- and teacher-centered variables (Participants’ age was obtained from...

Gaelic is an endangered language, but the traditional music associated with it thrives. Among individuals committed to learning Gaelic as a heritage language who also engage in traditional music-making, intense experiences shape the connection between language and music. The present study examines the connection between intensely motivating ‘flow’...

Language is often used to demonstrate group membership and to establish cultural identity. When the language is not readily available or is at risk, individuals tend to turn to other markers to develop their cultural identity. Using Leximancer for thematic and conceptual analyses of interviews with ten accomplished musicians in Nova Scotia, Canada,...

Language teaching has been described as a “profession in crisis”; a situation likely worsened by the effects of an emergency conversion to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study examines two waves of data (from April and November 2020) on stress, coping, and well-being during those eight months. Results show increase in tea...

The present study adopted a mixed-methods approach using a convergent parallel design to focus on the role that positive and negative emotions have in the Foreign Language (FL) classroom on the ontogenesis of positive flow. Participants were 1,044 FL learners from around the world. They provided quantitative and qualitative data on FL enjoyment (FL...

Foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) is a popular construct in applied linguistics research, traditionally measured with the 33-item Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). However, recent studies have started utilizing the eight-item Short-Form FLCAS (S-FLCAS). There is therefore a need, which this study addressed in five sequential...

It is urgent that we learn how to motivate learners of threatened heritage languages. Motivational theories, however, are weakened when they consider heritage languages in isolation from the rest of the culture in which they are enmeshed. By drawing on psycholinguist Zoltán Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System to analyze interviews with ten tradit...

The present study focused on differences in intensity of Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE), Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA), and proportion of time in a state of flow among 761 English FL learners and 825 FL learners of Languages Other Than English (LOTE). Participants in the LOTE group reported significantly higher levels of FLE and a hig...

Considering the multiplicity of factors that can affect language learning and communication processes, it is possible to affirm that the role of emotions has been underestimated. In fact, although they play a prominent role in most motivational processes, it has only been recently that researchers have begun to study how they operate in second lang...

Emotion in second language acquisition (SLA) has recently received greater attention because it is largely implicated in daily conversations, which may affect second or foreign language (L2) use including listening comprehension. Most research into emotion and L2 listening comprehension is focused exclusively on anxiety, with an attempt to reduce i...

This brief, introductory paper contextualizes the special issue in relevant literatures in psychology, education, and SLA. In addition to describing the rationale for the special issue and providing a preview of the papers included, we identify the major themes and questions raised by the authors. Balanced against the conceptual, measurement, and p...

Willingness to communicate (WTC) reflects an intersection between instructed second language acquisition and learner psychology. WTC results from the coordinated interaction among complex processes that prepare second language (L2) learners to choose to use their L2 for authentic communication. Prior research has revealed considerable complexity in...

Objective The aim of this study was to better understand the role of students’ living arrangements (on campus, off campus, with and without their parents) on their health self-efficacy. Participants A sample of undergraduate students (n = 216) were recruited by using word of mouth and visiting classrooms in a small Atlantic Canadian university. M...

Foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) is a popular construct in applied linguistics research, traditionally measured with the 33-item Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). However, recent studies have started utilising the 8-item Short-Form Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (S-FLCAS). There is therefore a need, which this study address...

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been referred to as a disorder of dysregulation due to its paradoxical association with hyperfocus: periods of intense concentration, often during interesting tasks. However, existing descriptions and measures of hyperfocus might tap into related constructs like perseveration and/or flow. Furtherm...

This paper reports on a study that took a positive psychology approach to foreign language anxiety reduction. More specifically, it investigated whether reminiscing about language achievements could effectively diminish the learners’ foreign language classroom anxiety. It also explored the patterns nested in the reminiscing process. To this end, 88...

Positive psychology has been introduced to the applied linguistics literature with the broad goal of improving the experience of language learners and teachers through a variety of interventions (MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014; Gabryś-Barker & Gałajda, 2016). “The aim of positive psychology is to catalyze a change in psychology from preoccupation only wi...

In many contexts of multilingualism, language learners can initiate communication in the target language (TL), or a contact language (such as English). Patterns of use emerging from these choices affect TL development. They also vary between individuals. Willingness to communicate (WTC) needs to be investigated in ways that capture these variations...

In many contexts of multilingualism, language learners can initiate communication in the target language (TL), or a contact language (such as English). Patterns of use emerging from these choices vary between individuals and affect TL development. Willingness to communicate (WTC) needs to be investigated in ways that capture these variations. So fa...

Every person's response to adversity is unique. Whereas some come out stronger as a result of responding to a challenge, others find their fundamental assumptions about themselves and their lives severely challenged. In education, while some teachers might burn out and leave the profession precipitously, many survive the challenges and transform te...

The aim of the present study was to examine the dynamic relationship between willingness to communicate, foreign language anxiety, and foreign language enjoyment using experience sampling method. To this end, a total number of 38 freshman Iranian university students who were studying Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) as an academic majo...

The idiodynamic method is a relatively new mixed-method approach to studying in real time the complex dynamics of integrated affective and cognitive states that interact continuously with human communication. The method requires video recording a sample of communication from a research participant and then using specialized software to play the vid...

This chapter examines positive psychology and its potential application in second language acquisition (SLA). The chapter first reviews the origins of positive psychology as a sub-field and the reasons why it was developed. In defining what positive psychology is, the chapter also addresses what positive psychology is not and explicates the risk of...

Psychology has been influential in understanding language learning, from cognitive neuroscience to educational psychology’s approaches to designing pedagogy. Positive psychology (PP) is a relatively new subfield that was developed to complement the predominantly clinical “business-as-usual” approach to psychology. Humanistic psychology often takes...

How does a person decide whether she or he is willing to communicate? Dual-process theories have been influential in the literature on the psychology of making judgments and decisions. Dual-process theories make a distinction between cognitive processes that are fast, automatic, and unconscious (also called ‘experiential’ thinking) and those that a...

Learning a second/foreign language (L2) is a long process and L2 learners certainly will encounter setbacks and discouragements during this process. However, their reactions to these failures might be different based on their perceptions of L2 learning ability and their subsequent effort in L2 learning. Based on this, the present study aimed at exp...

This study focuses on understanding language teachers’ lived experiences of their stressors and positive uplifts from a holistic perspective covering their professional lives in school, their personal lives beyond, and the connection between the two. The aim was to explore the nature of teachers’ experiences of stress and how they spilled over from...

Teaching often is listed as one of the most stressful professions and being a language teacher triggers its own unique challenges. Response to the Covid-19 pandemic have created a long list of new stressors for teachers to deal with, including problems caused by the emergency conversion to online language teaching. This article examines the stress...

The quasi-experimental study reported in this paper investigated whether contracting students’ speaking in the foreign language (FL) classroom could effectively mitigate their FL classroom anxiety. It also explored the working mechanisms of this approach to the reduction of classroom anxiety and examined the attitudes FL students had toward it. To...

The dynamics underlying willingness to communicate in a second or third language (L2 for short), operating in real time, are affected by a number of intra- and inter-personal processes. L2 communication is a remarkably fluid process, especially considering the wide range of skill levels observed among L2 learners and speakers. Learners often find t...

The realisation of the linguistic rights of Deaf individuals is, to a considerable extent, dependent upon whether there are majority language speakers who acquire a sign language as an L2 and use their L2 skills. Still, the motivation of hearing persons in learning sign languages as L2s is a largely unmapped area. This study seeks to capture the mo...

Instrument used to collect data on FL enjoyment, anxiety and flow

This book brings together contributions from the leaders of the language learning motivation field. The varied chapters demonstrate how Gardner's work remains integral to a diverse range of contemporary theoretical issues underlying the psychology of language, even today, 60 years after the publication of Gardner and Lambert's seminal 1959 paper. T...

Some 60 years ago, Gardner and Lambert’s (1959) seminal paper, ‘Motivational variables in second language acquisition’, was published in the Canadian Journal of Psychology. The paper totaled seven pages with 20 references, yet its impact on the study of motivation in second language learning has been immeasurable. The 1959 paper represents the begi...

Willingness to communicate (WTC) has been considered an important part of the language learning and communication process, playing a pivotal role in the development of language learners’ communicative competence. Many studies have been conducted on the relationship between WTC and related variables in learning English as a foreign language. However...

Throughout this text are research findings that address specific questions teachers likely will face from time to time as they teach language day- today – reading, writing, vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, nonverbal communication, and so on. The information presented by the chapter authors was systematically collected, analyzed, and reviewed. As...

Background Communication in general, and public speaking in particular, are important means to exert influence over other people; control is an enduring motive for communication. People differ substantially in the amount of control they typically want; some seek control and others tend to avoid it. But is the desire for control (DC) redundant with...

We approach this volume with the core belief that the importance of research lies in its impact on improving the lives of people. Research on second language acquisition (L2A), development, and curriculum and instruction shares this fundamental purpose. Simply put, as researchers, we study learning and teaching-related phenomena to understand how p...

This chapter considers the affective dimension of Gardner’s socio-educational model and its associated Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). Like many psychometrically sound instruments, the AMTB uses balanced item keying, which requires reversing scores on negatively worded items. Recent work on emotions, however, suggests that positive and neg...

This brief report examines correlations between intense, highly motivating flow experiences, perceptions of competence, and willingness to communicate in both language and music, in the context of Scottish Gaelic and traditional music. The sample of 54 persons, mostly from Canada and Scotland, was contacted via Facebook groups. The frequency of flo...

This study uses a combination of anxiety/uncertainty management theory and communication accommodation theory perspective to examine differences in the ways women converse with men or with other women. The study uses an innovative approach, the idiodynamic method, to gather detailed data on a per-second timescale. Participants ( n = 24) were random...

In bilingual settings, the communication between majority and minority language speakers usually takes place in the majority language. This paper examines whether majority language speakers, who receive positive feedback from minority language speakers when accommodating to them, use the minority language more frequently for authentic purposes. We...

The volume offers critical reviews of the most relevant, current SLA theory and research about receptive (reading and listening), productive (speaking and writing), complementary (grammar and pronunciation) and nonverbal communication skills, as well as willingness to communicate. Each chapter is formatted to include five major topics about each la...

Background and purpose: Previous research showed that Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) were negatively correlated but essentially independent dimensions. The current study confirms this finding with new additional empirical evidence. Methods: This mixed-methods study is based on feedback from 750 FL lea...

R. C. Gardner’s work continues to exert an influence on applied linguistics. It was never just about integrative vs instrumental motives. Gardner’s socio-educational model is context sensitive, social-psychological approach to dealing with the social, political, and psychological dimensions of language learning. In this presentation, we review 3 st...

The present study further explores inter-individual variation in the occurrence of emotions in the Foreign Language (FL) classroom (Dewaele et al 2017). It focuses on the frequency of experiencing positive flow and anti-flow in Spanish FL classrooms (Csíkszentmihályi, 2003. A total of 232 current Spanish FL learners from around the world provided f...

Teaching is widely recognized as one of the most stressful professions (Johnson et al., 2005; McIntyre, McIntyre, & Francis, 2017) with high burnout rates across the globe (Byrne,1999; Farber,1991; Unterbrink et al., 2007). It is reported that up to 40% of teachers leave the profession within their first five years (Borman & Dowling, 2008). Languag...

In this article we introduce Positive Psychology (PP), a relatively new subfield of psychology, and outline its development since the year 2000. We describe ways in which PP represents an exciting addition to the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) literature and the ways it is already influencing trends in education generally, thus creating promisin...

This annotated bibliography was compiled to provide researchers and second-language (L2) instructors a brief outline of the progression in language-learning research, specifically of measures developed to quantify learners' willingness to communicate (WTC). Although this is not an exhaustive list of all possible current measures of L2 WTC, the meas...

In this paper, we discuss the notion of Positive Language Education (PLE), which stems from a combination of Positive Education and Language Education. We suggest that there are good reasons for language educators to engage in enhancing 21st-century skills alongside the promotion of linguistic skills. One key set of 21st-century competences that wo...

Following terror management theory (TMT), we hypothesized that listening to a disaster song could increase cultural worldview defenses in a manner similar to the mortality stimulating essay typically used in TMT research. Participants were divided into four groups. Two of the groups received death-related themes, one wrote an essay about dying and...

In Gardner’s Socio-Educational Model, motivation for language learning is supported by attitudes toward the language, the learning situation, and joining a valued community. Gardner used the term ‘affective’ factors to describe the interrelations among the multiple interacting motivational processes involved, with particular emphasis on attitudes a...

This symposium celebrates the legacy and continuing influence of Robert C. Gardner, the father of the second language (L2) motivation field, at the 60th anniversary of the seminal paper by Gardner and Lambert (1959). Gardner's contributions go beyond the one-dimensional integrative-instrumental dichotomy. A group of distinguished scholars were invi...

Gardner’s work continues to exert an influence on applied linguistics It was never just about integrative vs instrumental motives Gardner’s socio-educational model was context sensitive, social-psychological approach to dealing with the social, political, and psychological dimensions of language learning. We review 3 studies that link to currents o...

This symposium celebrates the legacy and continuing influence of Robert C. Gardner, the father of the L2 motivation field, at the 60th anniversary of the seminal paper by Gardner and Lambert (1959). Gardner's contributions go beyond the one-dimensional integrative-instrumental dichotomy. A group of distinguished scholars were invited to contribute...

Flow is a desirable state of consciousness and absorption in an optimally challenging activity. Prior research has investigated individual differences in flow. The present study investigates flow by contrasting physical versus mental activities, using a mixed-methods, sequential explanatory design. The sample from the quantitative phase included 20...

Emotions are a fleeting experience, sometimes lasting only moments before dissipating. Prior research in SLA has either ignored emotions, underestimated their relevance, or has studied them as a relatively stable individual difference variable. In contrast, the present study takes an idiodynamic approach to examine the rapidly changing relationship...

This symposium celebrates the legacy and continuing influence of Robert C. Gardner, the father of the L2 motivation field, at the 60th anniversary of the seminal paper by Gardner and Lambert (1959). Gardner’s contributions go beyond the one-dimensional integrative–instrumental dichotomy. A group of distinguished scholars were invited to contribute...

Recently, situated willingness to communicate (WTC) has received increasing research attention in addition to traditional quantitative studies of trait-like WTC. This article is an addition to the former but unique in two ways. First, it investigates both trait and state WTC in a classroom context and explores ways to combine the two to reach a ful...

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations between emotions, classroom environment, and willingness to communicate using the advanced quantitative methodological procedure of doubly latent multilevel analysis. To this end, 1528 secondary school students from 65 different classrooms in Iran participated in the study. Results of th...

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations between emotions, classroom environment, and willingness to communicate (WTC) using the advanced quantitative methodological procedure of doubly latent multilevel analysis. To this end, 1528 secondary school students from 65 different classrooms in Iran participated in the study. Results...

There is a pressing need to develop methodology to study complex dynamic systems. In this chapter we review 12 specific methods that offer solutions to the methodological challenges presented by a dynamic approach. Specific methods include several qualitative interview designs, longitudinal cluster analysis, Q methodology, the trajectory equifinali...