Loving Pedagogy in Second and Foreign Language Education

This book provides a vivid and comprehensive picture of loving pedagogy in second language (L2) education. It focuses on the theoretical and empirical foundations of loving pedagogy to set the ground for researching its ecological systems and measurement. Foreword, written by Elisabeth Vanderheiden, introduces pedagogical love as a transformative approach in education during times of global crises and neoliberal shifts. It frames pedagogical love not merely as relational warmth but as an ethical stance and political project that challenges technocratic educational paradigms. The first chapter outlines the background, significance, purpose, and critical rationale for an empirical study to which the whole book is dedicated. The second chapter deals with the theoretical underpinnings of this study, especially affective pedagogy, positive psychology, existential positive psychology, rhetorical/relational goal theory, broaden-and-build theory, PERMA model, and attachment theory, followed by a comprehensive review of related empirical studies. The third chapter presents the design and methodology of the study, while chapter four presents and discusses quantitative and qualitative outcomes. Chapter five explains the conclusions drawn from the results and presents pedagogical implications and directions for future research in the field of SLA. Afterword, written by Satu Uusiautti, considers loving pedagogy the foundation of positive education in the future. This book is intended for scholars and researchers in the field of second language acquisition and pedagogy, and more generally, those in applied linguistics and positive psychology.