One very important perspective from which to develop a language teaching theory is that of the individual language learner and the processes of language learning.The discipline that is relevant to this perspective is that of psychology.

In exploring this area，it is useful to begin with introspection，retrospection，and observation and to think about ourselves as language learners and our pupils or students in that role.Recollecting our own experiences，how did we tackle language learning？Did we find it easy or hard？And what was easy or hard about it？Were we successful or unsuccessful？If more than one language were involved，did we approach the different languages in the same way or differently？How do we explain our own learning experiences？What did we learn from them about language learning？

In discussing these questions，we are almost bound to use psychological concepts，because our thinking on learning is inevitably influenced by psychological knowledge that is part of the common understanding of human behavior in our culture.No doubt，such psychological terms as‘remembering’，‘forgetting’，‘skill’，‘motivation’，‘frustration’，‘inhibitions’and so on will form part of our analysis.The importance of psychology and psycholinguistics to a theory of language teaching is hardly in question today.Some of the most debated issues which have created a stir in language teaching theory in recent years refer to the psychology of second language learning.Thus，the debate on the role of habit versus cognition or the discussion of the relationship between first and second language acquisition are based on different psychological interpretations of language learning and on psychological arguments and counter-arguments.

Like the other disciplines previously considered，psychology as a field of study has a history of over a hundred years.The first half of the twentieth century witnessed a tremendous expansion of psychology.This development which occurred in several countries across the world took many different directions.The accompanying Bible gives an indication of the wide range of activities covered by psychology today.It includes different fields of interest and specialization，different areas of application，and different schools of thought which—as in linguistics—are identified sometimes by a prominent exponent（for example，Freud，Watson，Skinner）or a leading concept（for example，behaviorism，Gestalt）.Psychological ideas and psychological terms are pervasive in present-day thought，and it is therefore not surprising to find that language teaching theory and practice are permeated by psychological thinking which can be traced to various branches of psychology and to different schools of thought.