UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA EXPERIMENTAL LIBERTADORINSTITUTO PEDAGÓGICO DE CARACAS

DEPARTAMENTO DE IDIOMAS MODERNOSPROGRAMA DE INGLÉS

CÁTEDRA DE LINGÜÍSTICA

FACTORS AFFECTING SECOND LANGUAGE

ACQUISITION

Teacher: Mirna Quintero Student: Francisco de Barnola

INDIVIDUAL FACTORS

1.Age2.Personality 3.Motivation4.Experiences 5.Cognition

AGE

Second language acquisition is influenced by the age of the learner.Children with solid literacy skills in their own language, seem to be in the best position to acquire a new language efficiently. Motivated, older learners can do it, but usually struggle to achieve native-speaker-equivalent pronunciation and intonation.•

“You can't teach an old dog new tricks” (Idiomatic Expression)

PERSONALITY

Introverted or anxious learnersusually make slower progress, particularly in the development of oral skills. They are less likely to take opportunities to speak.More outgoing students will not worry about the inevitability of making mistakes. Theywill take risks, and thus will give themselves much more practice.

"I know one thing, that I know nothing“ (Socrates)

EXPERIENCES

Learners who have acquired general knowledge and experience are in a stronger position to develop a new language than those who haven't.

MOTIVATION

•Intrinsic motivation has beenfound to correlate strongly with educational achievement. Clearly, students who enjoy language learning and take pride in their progress will do better than those who don't.•Extrinsic motivation is also a significant factor. ESL students, for example, who need to learn English in order to take a place at an American university are likely to make greater efforts and thus greater progress.

COGNITION

In general, it seems that students with greater cognitive abilities will make the faster progress. Some linguists believe that there is a specific, innate language learning ability that is stronger in some students than in others.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

AFFECTIVE FACTORS

Affective factors are emotional factors which influence learning.

1.Self-Esteem 2.Inhibition 3.Risk Taking 4.Anxiety 5.Empathy

SELF-ESTEEM

Self-esteem refers to a personal evaluation and judgment of worthiness that is expressed in the individual's attitude toward him or herself or toward his or her capabilities. Low motivation, low self-esteem, and debilitating anxiety can combine to 'raise' the affective filter and form a 'mental block' that prevents comprehensible input from being used for acquisition. (Krashen cited by Schütz, 2007)

INHIBITION

Inhibition in a person arises as he/she tries to defend or protect their self-image. If the learner perceives the mistakes that he/she makes in the second language as a threat to their emotional well-being and self perception, then acquisition will not occur or will occur much more slowly.

RISK TAKING

One of the characteristics that has been found to exist in "good" language learners is the willingness to guess. If the learner is less inhibited, he/she is more willing to take a chance on producing a "correct" utterance in the second language.

ANXIETY

Anxiety is associated with the feelings of uneasiness, self- doubt, worry or fear that a person feels under certain circumstances. A threatening environment does not promote language acquisition. Factors such as an emphasis on competition between students or forcing students to produce in the second language before they are ready can cause anxiety.

EMPATHY

Empathy refers to an individual's ability to put him/herself in the other's shoes. When a learner is acquiring a second language, he or she is also acquiring, in a sense, a new personality, and a new culture. Is the ability of a learner to open him or herself to new cultural experiences and adopt these experiences as their own is essential in the language acquisition process..

REFERENCES

Schütz, R. (2007) . Stephen Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition [Document Online] Available : http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html [Consulted : 2012, June, 30]

Inter American University of Puerto Rico (n.d.) Psycholinguistic and Affective Factors. [Document Online] Available : http://ocw.inter.edu:8080/eduCommons/ingles/english-fundamentals-of-second-language-acquisition/modules/unit-6-psycholinguistic-and- affective-factors [Consulted : 2012,June, 30]

Universidad de Jaen. (n.d.) . Factors affecting L2 learning [Document Online] Available: Factors affecting L2 learning [Consulted : 2012,June, 30]