an l2 teacher or a group psychotherapist; the plethora of psychological variables to be considered

It seems plausible to call teaching an l2 or a foreign language to a group of individuals one of the most daunting educational challenges whose complexity is further enhanced when considering all the social, cultural, and more importantly psychological factors involved. a teacher’s role in an l2 class is in fact like that of a leader in group psychotherapy. she is responsible for directing and keeping the whole group as well as individual members on the right track to ensure optimum results. to do so, she needs to consider numerous psychological variables in every single moment of her teaching as well as her relationship with learners outside the class. the way interactions are formed and maintained among the learners as well as the learners and the teacher, each learner’s personality traits and their impact on her interaction with others, the learners’ view of themselves, peers, and the teacher, as well as other class dynamics which may hinder or facilitate learning are only some of the psychological issues an l2 teacher needs to be aware of. in this article, the authors, a psychotherapist and tefl specialists, will delve more deeply into such variables which can heighten teachers’ knowledge of the underlying and invisible forces present in her classroom affecting the learning process.