Empirical Research On English Reading Comprehension Through Positive Psychology Intervention

Since the entry of positive psychology into second language acquisition(SLA)in2012,positive psychology has attracted the attention of SLA learners.However,in China,the role of positive emotion has not been widely concerned by the foreign language world(Jiang & Li,2017).Moreover,the study of positive psychology has mainly focused on cross-sectional studies,with few following-up studies.Based on positive psychology,this study took 109 non-English majors as the research objects.This study explored the impact of positive psychology intervention on English reading.This study mainly discussed the following four research questions:(1)What are the profiles of emotional intelligence(EI)and foreign language classroom emotions of English learners?(2)What is the relationship between learners’ emotional intelligence,foreign language classroom emotions and English reading achievement?(3)In what aspects do the interventions based on the concepts of positive psychology influence college students’ English reading?(4)Compared with traditional English reading teaching,what are the advantages of English reading teaching based on the positive psychology theory?This study adopted quantitative and qualitative analysis methods,including SPSS,PROCESS v4.2 and semi-open interview.The findings indicated that:(1)The overall level of EI was in the middle proficiency level.The overall level of foreign language enjoyment(FLE)was in the middle to high proficiency level.The overall level of foreign language classroom anxiety(FLCA)was in the middle to high proficiency level.(2)There were complex relationships between EI,FLE,FLCA and English reading achievement.There was a significant positive correlation between EI and FLE(r=.268,p=.005).There was a significant negative correlation between EI and FLCA(r=-.463,p=.000).There was a significant positive correlation between EI and English reading achievement(r=.618,p=.000).There was a significant negative relationship between FLE and FLCA(r=-.232,p=.015).Academic emotions(FLE and FLCA)played a parallel mediating role between EI and English reading achievement.The mediating effect of EI on English reading achievement through FLCA(B=-.408,p=.000)was stronger than the mediating effect through FLE(B=.235,p=.001).(3)After the intervention of positive psychology(hope,gratitude,emotion regulation,empathhy),the means of English reading achievement,EI,FLE and FLCA in the post-test were significantly changed compared with those in the pre-test.Compared with the pre-test,the means of English reading achievement(69.58→73.98),EI(136.28→144.03)and FLE(53.07→56.99)showed an upward trend,while the means of the posttest of FLCA(107.64→103.28)showed a downward trend.(4)Group cooperative learning under the intervention of positive psychology could expand students’ problem-solving ideas,stimulate their learning initiative,and make them more actively participate in learning and discussion.This paper supported previous studies,discussed the influence of positive psychology intervention on English reading competence and academic emotions as well as the complex relationship among them,provided some theoretical and practical implications;to a certain degree,this study could improve English reading teaching,reduce anxiety,improve enjoyment and enhance students’ reading proficiency;a new perspective was provided for this field,which not merely concentrated on cross-sectional studies,but also extended to following-up studies.