The psychological principles impacting language learning can have a major impact on the success of the classroom, teachers/coaches, and learners. By successfully guiding and mentoring learners through their language and culture education journey, recognizing that cognition plays an important role in processing and retaining information will contribute to not only language knowledge, but also the development of biculturalism. Chapter 20 focuses on cognitive affect, and the impact of cognition when learning a language. This chapter identifies how to recognize distortions, affective dissonance, and negative classroom behaviors; it contains insights and suggestions on helping autonomous language learners reach their goals by effectively addressing disorienting dilemmas; and it offers teachers, mentors, and coaches concrete examples of how to help learners overcome self-sabotage.

The introduction explains the need for the book, describes its design, and introduces the methodological strands currently exhibited in the programs and curricula of language educators whose teaching reflects transformative education: principles and theory based on the works of (1) Mezirow and his followers Cranton and Taylor, (2) Freire, (3) Vygotsky, (4) Rogers and (5) Boyd and Habermas, (6) Dirkx, and (7) O’Sullivan, among others. The introduction follows the storyline told by the authors of the various chapters, depicting the appearance and growth of transformative language learning and teaching (TLLT), its current manifestations in the classroom, study abroad programs, the community, testing practices, and teacher preparation, and ending with a discussion of the morphing of TLLT’s Mezirowan cognitive base into a more affective and even spiritual approach. How these strands are treated within different educational contexts or treatments are pointed out. The classrooms and programs designed by the book’s authors weave a rich tapestry of variants of transformative education in the classroom, in study abroad programs, in extramural activities, and in the community; how these all exemplify current transformative education practices will be discussed. This chapter also points out the range of languages represented in the volume, including L2, EFL/ESL and bilingual education and how these three generally distinct fields form an organic whole. The intent of the introduction is to provide an overarching framework in which to understand the theory, praxis and programs of transformative education presented in the book.

The integration of theories and practices from transformative learning into language learning and language teacher education contributes to a “shaking of the foundations.” Discussing transformative learning, the author, Rebecca Oxford, explains the meaning, purpose, and processes of Jack Mezirow's cognitive-analytic approach and John Dirkx's emotional-integrative approach. Oxford indicates how she used these two approaches in her language teacher education courses. She also shows that these approaches, although seemingly opposite, are in fact linked through neurobiological research, psychological research, and dynamic systems theory.