This book traces the motivational dynamics embedded within lifelong foreign language learning trajectories, examining the factors which generate and sustain motivation throughout a learner's life. Embracing a complexity approach, it views motivation as a long-term individual process that evolves along a narrative continuum, developing over the…

This book focuses on the dynamic relationships among individual difference (ID) variables (i.e., willingness to communicate, motivation, language anxiety and boredom) in learning English as a foreign language in the virtual world Second Life. The theoretical part provides an overview of selected issues related to the four ID factors in question…

The volume comprises a variety of research approaches that seek to explore and understand employees' learning and development through and for work. Working life reveals challenges through technological, economic and societal development that can only rudimentarily be addressed by formal education and training. Workplace learning becomes more and…

Research on the brain has shown that emotion plays a key role in learning, but how can educators apply that research in their day-to-day interactions with students? What are some teaching strategies that take advantage of what we know about the brain? "Engage the Brain" answers these questions with easy-to-understand explanations of the…

This case study reports on a doctoral research project conducted in a school using critical discourse analysis to examine the discourse of youth 'disaffection'. The study aimed to identify how some students acquired the label 'disaffected' and considered the extent to which the quality of relationships between teachers and students contributed to…

Gifted children are susceptible to many de-motivating factors, which can lead to depression and academic underachievement. The authors present concepts and techniques to counteract those factors, allowing a child's motivation to skyrocket. Features the Four C's of Motivation: (1) Creating Challenge; (2) Creating Control; (3) Creating Commitment;…

For more than two decades, the concept of student engagement has grown from simple attention in class to a construct comprised of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components that embody and further develop motivation for learning. Similarly, the goals of student engagement have evolved from dropout prevention to improved outcomes for lifelong…

This book contains the following collection of papers: "Self-Directed Learning: Emerging Theory and Practice" (Long); "Self-Directed Orientation toward Learning: A Learning Style" (Bonham); "Self-Direction and Problem Solving: Theory and Method" (Peters); "Facilitating Self-Directed Learning: Not a Contradiction…