Rian KTJ16(2)

Rian, I. (2021). A Theoretical Perspective on the Status of Flow in SLA. Korea TESOL Journal, 16(2), 23-35.

Abstract: This paper aims to situate Csikszentmihalyi’s (1997) concept of flow within the SLA literature. Flow is the experience of optimal performance, where concentration is solely dedicated to the task at hand, where the sense of time and the sense of self seem to vanish, and where pure enjoyment is experienced. I first draw attention to the field of positive psychology (where the concept originally emerged), then I focus on the relationship between attention, learning, and flow. The last two notions go hand in hand. The question considered, then, is how important is attention to the experience of flow? If flow is indeed an instance of learning, what type of learning does it fall into with respect to the intentional–incidental dichotomy? After a short examination of the role of affect in the current literature, I turn to the discussion of some major studies that have been done on flow and their implications for classroom practitioners.

Keywords: flow, task-specific flow, attention, learning, emotion, positive psychology

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