Tammy Gregersen is Professor of TESOL at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. She has published extensively on individual differences, teacher education, nonverbal communication in language classrooms, positive psychology, and language teacher wellbeing. She was awarded two Fulbright Scholar opportunities in Costa Rica and Chile.

Introduction

1. Anxiety: From Premise... to Practice

2. Beliefs: From Premise... to Practice

3. Cognitive Abilities: From Premise... to Practice

4. Motivation: From Premise... to Practice

5. Learning Strategies: From Premise... to Practice

6. Learning Styles: From Premise... to Practice

7. Willingness to Communicate: From Premise... to Practice 

Epilogue

This book closes the gap between theory and classroom application by capitalizing on learners' individuality in second or foreign language learning. The book examines the existing literature and theoretical underpinnings of each of the most prominent learner characteristics including anxiety, beliefs, cognitive abilities, motivation, strategies, styles and willingness to communicate. This strong foundation, coupled with the wide variety of activities that are suggested at the end of each chapter, arms the reader with ideas to conquer the problems created by negative affect and to capitalize on positive, facilitative emotions. The tasks are unrestricted by language and can be modified for use with technology, emergent learners and large classes, making this book a useful resource for both in-service teachers and pre-service teachers in university language teacher education programs.