scholarly journals Factor Analysis of Subjective Well-Being Sustainability through Foreign Language Learning in Healthy Older Individuals

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1590
Author(s):  
Blanka Klimova ◽  
Marcel Pikhart ◽  
Szymon Dziuba ◽  
Anna Cierniak-Emerych
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Pharmacological Intervention ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
The Czech Republic

Healthy aging is one of the most important aspects of human life as it can significantly improve its quality. Therefore, it is necessary to promote successful aging as a significant and important part of maintaining physical and mental well-being in the elderly. One of the strategies to enhance the elderly’s well-being may be also foreign language learning. The purpose of this study is to compare and discuss what effect foreign language learning (FLL) might have on subjective well-being among healthy older individuals in the Czech Republic and Poland, using factor analysis as the primary statistical method. The research sample consisted of two experimental groups of seniors; one from the Czech Republic (n = 92) and another from Poland (n = 100). The main research methods included a questionnaire survey and factor analysis. The factor analysis revealed the four significant factors and their correlations with demographic variables, whose results showed the effect of FLL on seniors’ subjective well-being. In conclusion, learning a foreign language at an older age seems to be one of the key strategies to maintain a subjective feeling of happiness at a relatively high level in elderly people without necessary pharmacological intervention.

scholarly journals A Comparative Psycholinguistic Study on the Subjective Feelings of Well-Being Outcomes of Foreign Language Learning in Older Adults From the Czech Republic and Poland

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanka Klimova ◽  
Marcel Pikhart ◽  
Anna Cierniak-Emerych ◽  
Szymon Dziuba ◽  
Krzysztof Firlej
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Experimental Group

Positive psychology has recently seen unprecedented rise and has reached vast achievements in the area of quality of life (QoL) improvement. The purpose of this study is to show that there are different aspects of well-being that make healthy older people motivated to learn a foreign language at a later age. The research was conducted in the Czech Republic and Poland in two groups of learners aged 55 years and more. The experimental group consisted of 105 Czech respondents who were targeted with an online questionnaire with the aim to determine the level of FLL outcomes connected to QoL in healthy older adults in their L2 acquisition. The second experimental group (n = 100) was established of Polish seniors who attended similar language courses. The findings of the research clearly show that FLL has an irreplaceable role as one of several non-pharmacological strategies utilized to improve the aging process and reduce drawbacks of aging. The results indicate that seniors' overall satisfaction and subjective feelings of well-being are enormously high when attending foreign language classes at older age. FLL, therefore, creates an environment that can enhance QoL of older adults that can be supplemented by other means such as well-balanced diet, other social activities, sport and physical activity, music, or computer games. All these intervention methods can significantly improve QoL of older adults and the parties engaged and/or responsible for taking care of older generation should take it into serious consideration.

scholarly journals Shaping the quality of second language learning: Students’ perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 01071
Author(s):  
Irina M. Solodkova ◽  
Elena V. Grigorieva ◽  
Liliya R. Ismagilova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Learning And Teaching

The paper dwells on the problem of identifying the most crucial factors affecting the quality of foreign language learning from the students’ perspective. Quality foreign language education is a disputable issue in 21 century due to the increased global workforce competition. Human capital has a great impact on education as an important factor in shaping a new quality of country’s economy and well-being of society. Foreign language skill is an integral component of highly qualified professionals as the global economic processes make them participate in cross-border business communication. In these conditions the aim of higher education establishments is to provide quality of language learning and teaching that allows future specialists not to distort the meaning in written and oral communication within their professional framework. The two-phase survey conducted among 67 students of the Institute of Management, Economics and Finance of the Kazan Federal University provided with quantitative data. The respondents ranked differently the factors determining the quality of language learning and teaching responses after two years of completing their foreign language education and were generally satisfied with the quality of service rendered. The obtained results give optimistic forecasts regarding the improvement of foreign language education and help reconsider the way of teaching a foreign language basing on the chosen factors.

scholarly journals Positive psychology and its role in foreign language learning studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 275-284
Author(s):  
Anna Michońska-Stadnik
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
General Psychology ◽  
School Subjects ◽  
Humanistic Approach

Positive psychology is a new subfield in general psychology which developed under the influence of humanistic approach at the end of the 20th century. Its subject-matter concerns human well-being, its sources and sustainable growth. This type of psychology distinguishes six positive human features: knowledge and wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. In foreign language learning in formal classroom conditions, which is different from learning other school subjects because it requires skill attainment, positive psychology, and its research methods could propose tools to more efficiently investigate determinants of differential success in the process of language acquisition.

Positive Education: an Inspiration for Improving the Quality of Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-24
Author(s):  
Eva Janštová ◽  
Alena Slezáčková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Quality Of Education ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Positive Education ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
The Czech Republic

Positive Psychology represents a relatively new trend in contemporary psychology, which brings interesting ideas and useful inspiration into the field of education and school practice. Evidence exists that higher levels of subjective well-being, optimism and positive emotions are closely related to academic success. A positive education movement builds on these findings and aims to practically apply the scientific knowledge of Positive Psychology into the educational process. The objective of this research study is to introduce the theoretical background and arguments for the establishment and development of positive education in the world and the Czech Republic. We present an overview of main positive education programs which focus on development of psychological resilience and character strengths and on increasing subjective well-being and life satisfaction among the individuals at all the levels of the educational process. We focus mainly on the description of those positive education programs, for which the effectiveness has been empirically verified. Finally, we briefly describe the situation in the Czech Republic, which opens a large space for the development and implementation of Positive Psychology methods to improve the quality of education.

scholarly journals COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE DIMENSIONS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: A POLISH-TURKISH COMPARATIVE STUDY

Neofilolog ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 139-157
Author(s):  
Danuta Gabryś-Barker
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Narrative Texts ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Teachers Training

The term learning environment is a construct perceived by researchers as embracing different aspects of the teaching-learning continuum. It can be described as the physical location where learning occurs: learning in class versus learning beyond it, learning in a home country (with focus on the effects of a learning environment on outcomes of teaching) versus learning abroad (Dewey, 2004, Diaz-Campos, 2004), the latter constituting a fast-growing area of study. Learning environment also means the physical space where formal instruction is carried out (Gabryś-Barker, 2010). But above all, learning environment studies focus on interactions between adults (teachers, parents) and students and show how these relations can affect the latter’s achievement and more generally well-being at school and outside. Thus, it can be seen as mostly affective. This chapter aims to comment on the perceptions pre-service teachers have of a foreign language learning environment, as expressed in their narrative texts on the topic. The data obtained in this study will be compared with the result of a similar study carried out with a group of pre-service EFL teachers in a different cultural setting, in Turkey (Sağlam, Sali, 2013). This should shed some light on whether the trainees’ perceptions are in some way culture-specific and therefore grounded in the educational policies of a given country. The conclusions drawn from the study will hopefully contribute to the ongoing discussion on how to improve FL teachers’ training programmes.

scholarly journals A Positive Psychology Perspective on Stimulating Foreign Language Learning Motivation

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 79-82
Author(s):  
Liyuan Teng ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Learning Motivation ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Language Learning Motivation ◽  
Positive Individual

Motivation is the most direct factor affecting learning initiative. Previous studies on learning motivation have paid enough emphasis on how to reduce the negative effects of demotivation factors, while positive internal and external factors influencing learning motivation have not been drawn sufficient attention. Positive psychology is a psychological trend of studying positive aspects such as human strength and virtue, and advocates taking the perspective of “whole person” to focus the learning achievements and individual well-being of foreign learners. Based on positive psychology, this paper discusses how to stimulate foreign language learning motivation from the aspects of positive emotional experience, positive individual traits and positive institutions, which provides new ideas and implications for the related study on language teaching.

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