I've not yet read the citation Bruce and Tom talk about, but I'm guessing it
has to do with empty praise.

Specific acknowledgement of gains made, progress achieved, to me, seems to
be meaningful when it helps a learner ­ or friend, or colleague ­ see
specifically what he or she has accomplished.  If, for example, a student
always said she couldn't write, but over time the entries in her dialogue
journal grew both in size and in accuracy ­ that would be something to point
out to her as a positive gain.

This could even be couched as praise, but it would be specific and, one
hopes, have some usefulness to the learner.

I think others have said that praising everything just leads to a flattening
of all accomplishments (you have a pulse! that's great!).  This isn't what
we're talking about.

Think about it.  Who are the people that matter to you ­ in your life? your
job? your family?
How do you feel about acknowledgement of your efforts within these spheres?

John Comings, et al, in their persistence work, speak about self-efficacy
(as opposed to self-esteem).  Seeing that one can accomplish a specific task
or set of tasks does, I would argue, lead to increased confidence.  Easier
to be present to learning with more, rather than less, confidence, it would
seem.

Janet Isserlis 
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