Psychological Barriers |1

Psychological Barriers in Second Language Learning

Kevin Rivera
Elisa Hernndez

English Bachelor Degree, Eighth Semester

Lic. Walter A. Castro
Introduction to Linguistics
October 6th, 2014

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At learning or acquiring a second language, every student gets into a process of

making mistakes and failing at developing certain skills they need for managing the
language accurately. The problem with this part of the process is, that teenagers and
adult people do not accept the mistakes as easily as children do; therefore, normal
English students use to hide their skills behind a wall they build in order to protect their
own proud and self-esteem. Apparently, these walls are one of the biggest obstacles for
the teacher to get an appropriate progress from the students learning process. These
walls, of course, have a name and some reasons; these walls are usually defined as
psychological barriers.
When we talk about psychological barriers, we talk about something that every
student of English as a foreign language knows very well since that he has already
experienced it; but in these topic there are some other elements present in the
psychological issues people may have at learning a second language, such as the
affective filter. This special issue will also be discussed in this research, as some
answers to this problem. The aim of this document is to clear some elements that can
be obstacles not only for the students learning process, but also to the teachers task.
Said this, let us begin with the psychological barriers.

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PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS

The psychological barrier in pedagogy covers everything that hinders, restrains,

and eventually reduces the effectiveness of training, education and personal
development (, 2003) . Psychological barriers in the educational process
reveal themselves as difficulties that students encounter solving educational problems,
which doesnt only fall back their learning activity performance but also leads to
dissatisfaction with the educational process itself, its organization, as well as impedes
the implementation of cognitive and other needs.
A sample professional student population is taken and some commonly reported
attitudinal problems like Anglo phobia, shyness and shame, prejudice and closed mind,
fear of syntax and vocabulary, sudden demand for speaking, role of gender on psyche,
emotional interference, fear of failure and working short-term memory are evaluated in
the context of their syllabus.
Language barriers: Absence of communication between people who speak
different languages (Team, 2013)
A conceptual barrier to effective communication, that occurs when people who
speak different languages attempt to communicate with each other. (Tam, 2013)

Anglophobia
Anglophobia is like a Psychological aversion towards English. Those who have
Anglophobia dislike speaking in English. They show reluctance to listen when others
speak in English. A majority of the students expressed this type of attitude. It can be
consider as one of the learning disabilities and attitudinal problem of English language
learners.
Diffidence and Shame
Language learners are afraid to speak in the target language. They fear that they
might go wrong and make mistakes. It is observed that more Boys suffer from diffidence

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and shame to speak in English. Shyness and feeling ashamed to learn a language are
main barriers to learn language effectively. Students are thinking that committing
mistake is like a transgression and take it as a prestige issue. No one can learn a new
language without mistakes.
Prejudices and Closed Mind
No man is an island every person should listen and talk to others to fulfill
his/her daily needs. Sometimes one should try to get into the shoes of the other person
to understand his/her mindset and point of view. We should keep an open mind to
exchange our views with one another. Most of the students develop prejudices against
other peers who are speaking well and reject new ideas, fresh thoughts which are
desirable qualities to learn language. This is one of the main barriers to productive
skills. It is witnessed that they dont like to confess that they have prejudice and closed
mind.
Fear of Syntax and Vocabulary
Students get bored to listen to jargon of English grammar like S-V-O-C patterns
right from their early days of language learning. They often think of the verb ending or
word-order while they are uttering a sentence. It makes their performance halting and
wearisome to listen to. This is one of the major barriers that students face while
constructing sentences on their own or call to mind a right word at a right time. It also
reduces their ability to respond quickly in conversation and to adapt to changing
circumstances. Because of this attitude they show reluctance and hesitate to speak
and also suppress their thoughts within themselves. A new way of language learning
process operates when they learn L2, which they might not have witnessed while
learning their L1.
Sudden Demand for Speaking
The speaking skills have been neglected in the class room. Students learn
English only to pass examinations. There are several vernacular movements which
confuse the teen learner during his school days. The International Academic and

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Industrial Research Solutions Page 31 International Journal on English Language and

Literature Volume 1, Issue 1 ISSN 2321 8584 students most often were exposed to
Grammar teaching and encouraged rote learning of essays and reproducing them in the
examinations. But English language teaching is not merely teaching grammar and
developing reading skills, it also includes developing employability skills among
students. It challenges learners to change their attitudes. Here students cannot digest
sudden changes in the syllabus and hesitate to talk in English all off a sudden in
Engineering colleges. Many boys and girls have reported this problem of Sudden
demand for speaking as an attitudinal barrier to their English speaking.
Role of Gender on Psyche
Gender difference plays a vital role in the class room. It shows major impact on
students attitudes when the classroom activity demands for learners response. Gender
consciousness and physical changes in the body are prominent issues in the Indian
classroom and this leads to a development of disparity between male and female
students when it comes to cooperative learning and performing group tasks or role
plays. In some cases the concept of gender creates confusion to deliver target meaning
in the teaching before girls in the class room. The gender sensitivity in the classroom is
in a very pitiable state. Because learners attitude towards process and language
production is influenced by neuro-cognitive areas, gender conscious students hesitate
to speak in the classrooms. It is found that boys are more conscious than girls when it
comes to speaking in the classroom.

Emotional Interference
Feeling of sadness, fear, anger, anxiety or jubilation influences our reception and
receptivity to others ideas. Communication is a purposeful activity based on rationality
and reason and one must assure that one is not emotionally charged before one takes
part in a communicative interaction. They may find it difficult to concentrate on the
content of the message if one is emotionally charged, Over arousal of emotions may
adversely affect encoding and decoding.

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Fear of Failure
It is the fear of failure that makes many people feel nervous to respond in English
language, because they concentrate more on others feelings than that topic. They do
not try to cope with nervousness; the students think more about what others feel than
the topic at hand. The experimental result states that the fear of failure is noticed more
miserably in girls than in boys resulting in lowering their confident levels.
Working Short-term Memory
Many students displayed the problem of accessing and activating linguistic
knowledge stored in their mental lexicon. They are unable to hold verbal information for
a long time in their working memory while communicating their ideas with others.
Because of this, many students prefer writing assignments to oral work because written
work allows them more time to translate their thoughts into words and sentences.
Surprisingly majority of the girls are affected by this kind of psychological problem.
(Vemuri, Ram, & Kota, 2013)

The Affective Filter Hypothesis.

Although these are the most common barriers in the second language learning process,
they are not alone. There is an issue that worth the mention in this report. This issue is known
as affective filter. A filter is something that acts as a way to strain or block material from

reaching a container. For example, a coffee filter is placed above the cup, where placed
inside are coffee grounds. When hot water is poured over the grounds the filter acts as
an intermediary turning the dense bitterness of the material into a savory liquid. An
affective filter can be thought of in a similar way. Where, for example, the cup is the
language learners themselves, however they arent simply empty vessels waiting to be
filled. They have linguistic devices that are accomplishing feats of language acquisition.
The filters in this sense are a number of variables (such as their emotions) that either
allows input to pass through, or stands in the way, thus filtering out certain input. This is
a very simple visual of the affective filter in language acquisition but it illustrates an
important point that instructors need to be reminded of, that their students have a layer

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of variables that can either hinder or help second language acquisition. (Iris-Wilbanks,
2013)
The affective filter comes from the idea that there is an intermediary source that
hinders the processes of language acquisition. (Iris-Wilbanks, 2013) The filter
hypothesis explains why it is possible for an acquirer to obtain a great deal of
comprehensible input and yet stop shortof the native speaker level. (Krashen, 1982)
This hypothesis is only applied to acquisition instead of learning, focusing on the idea
that learning is a conscious process; and acquisition, as the hindering of the affective
factors, is unconscious. Affective factors in language learning that are like a filter which
filters the amount of input in learners brains. People with high affective filter will lower
their intake whereas people with low affective filter allow more input into their language
acquisition device. Affective filter hypothesis is first proposed by Dulay and Burt (1977),
and is incorporated by Krashen as one of his five input Hypotheses in 1985. Krashen
argued that people acquire second languages only if they obtain comprehensible input
and if their affective filters are low enough to allow the input in. (Du, 2009)
Research over the last decade has confirmed that a variety of affective variables
relate to success in second language acquisition. Most of those studied can be placed
into one of these three categories:
(1) Motivation. Performers with high motivation generally do better in second
language acquisition (usually, but not always, "integrative")
(2) Self-confidence. Performers with self-confidence and a good self-image tend
to do better in second language acquisition.
(3) Anxiety. Low anxiety appears to be conducive to second language
acquisition, whether measured as personal or classroom anxiety. (Krashen, 1982)

The Affective Filter hypothesis captures the relationship between affective

variables and the process of second language acquisition by positing that acquirers vary
with respect to the strength or level of their Affective Filters. Those whose attitudes are
not optimal for second language acquisition will not only tend to seek less input, but
they will also have a high or strong Affective Filter--even if they understand the
message, the input will not reach the part of the brain responsible for language

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acquisition, or the language acquisition device. Those with attitudes more conducive to
second language acquisition will not only seek and obtain more input, they will also
have a lower or weaker filter. They will be more open to the input, and it will strike
"deeper". (Stevick, Memory, Meaning, and Method, 1976) The following picture
illustrates very explicitly the function of the affective filter inside of the brain.

Since that the affective filter is responsible of hindering or pushing the acquisition
of the target language, it is logical that many specialists have tried to fix the issue, or at
least fight against it. Being that the hypothesis was true; the answer to the issue was
searched in a teaching method, or in more than one. These methods are known as
simply part of a methodology that teachers can create in order to develop their classes,
but they are also the settling for affective factoring in class. But, it cannot be forgotten
that when considering how to lower students affective filter the role of the instructor, the
methods of instruction and the learning context become very important. (Iris-Wilbanks,
2013) Krashen did not write about the hypothesis without thinking in a solution for it.
If a heightened Affective Filter were in place, then wouldnt it be the assumption
that it is the instructors role to lower this? The man who made this hypothesis known,
(Krashen, 1982) says: In the second language classroom, we have the potential of
supplying a full 40 50 minutes per day of comprehensible inputthat will encourage
language acquisition. Therefore the role of the instructor is to provide input and execute
it in a manner that keeps filters low or perhaps in better control. Generally, the input
provided should be made comprehensible but also less anxiety provoking. If the topic
being discussed is at all interesting, and if it is comprehensible, much of the pressure

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normally associated with a language class will be off, anxiety will be lowered, and
acquisition will result. The following are three approaches to language instruction that
Krashen suggests for successfully lowering students filter and enhancing language
acquisition.

1.
2.
3.

The Natural Approach.

Total Physical Response (TPR).
Suggestopedia.

The Natural Approach

It was developed by Tracy Terrell at the University of California at Irvine for
foreign language instruction at the university and high school levels. While originally
developed independently of "Monitor Theory", its later development and articulation
have been influenced by the second language acquisition theory presented in this
volume. The method can be described by the following principles:
1. Class time is devoted primarily to providing input for acquisition.
2. The teacher speaks only the target language in the classroom. Students may
use either the first or second language. If they choose to respond in the second
language, their errors are not corrected unless communication is seriously impaired.
3. Homework may include formal grammar work. Error correction is employed in
correcting homework.
4. The goals of the course are "semantic"; activities may involve the use of a
certain structure, but the goals are to enable students to talk about ideas, perform tasks,
and solve problems. (Krashen, 1982)
In this approach, the goal is to enable students to talk about ideas, perform tasks
and solve problems in a way that is not pressured onto them (Krashen, 1982). In other
words its a way of easing the lesson material onto the students instead of bombarding
them with loads of input. An example would be to use topics interesting and relevant to
students, instead of one completely outside their frame of reference. (Iris-Wilbanks,
2013) Since the Natural Approach attempt to remain "true" to the Input Hypothesis,
many sources of anxiety are reduced or eliminated. Students do not have to produce in

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the second language until they feel they are ready. Error correction for form is not done
in the classroom. Also, an attempt is made to discuss topics that are interesting to
students. This predicts lower filter strength than most other methods. (Krashen, 1982)

Total Physical Response (TPR)

Total Physical Response (TPR) was developed by James Asher (Asher J. ,
1982). The method was designed primarily for students in the early stages of language
acquisition. Since commands can be made comprehensible to students with very limited
language, Asher used commands as the basis for TPR. The teacher or a more
proficient student gives a command, demonstrates the command, and then students
respond physically to the command. Because students are actively involved and not
expected to repeat the command, anxiety is low, and student focus is on
comprehension rather than production. Hence, they demonstrate comprehension before
their speaking skills emerge. (Gordon, 2012) Physical Response is posited as a great
tool to lower language learner anxiety because it is based upon that students do not
have to produce (speak) the language. It aids in lowering the speaking anxiety (as
mentioned before) and also in helping students become comfortable with listening.
Krashen (1982) encourages this technique by affirming that TPR makes one very
important contribution to lowering student anxiety: students are not asked to produce in
the second language until they themselves decide they are ready. (Iris-Wilbanks, 2013)
It consists basically of obeying commands given by the instructor that involve an
overt physical response. In the typical TPR class the first few months (45 hours in this
case) would consist of 70% listening comprehension (obeying commands), 20%
speaking, and 10% reading and writing.
Asher lists the three principles of the TPR system:
1.

Delay speech from students until understanding of spoken

language "has been extensively internalized.

2.

Achieve

understanding

of

spoken

language

through

utterances by the instructor in the imperative.

3.

Expect that, at some point in the understanding of spoken

language, students will indicate a 'readiness' to talk. (Asher J. , 1977)

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TPR makes one very important contribution to lowering student anxiety:

students are not asked to produce in the second language until they themselves
decide they are ready. They are, in other words, allowed a silent period. Asher does
not state explicitly whether error correction on early student output is required in
TPR; this may vary from teacher to teacher. It has been pointed out, however, that
the necessity of producing overt physical responses right away may provoke anxiety
in some students. (Krashen, 1982) Teachers can also use TPR for the following
purposes:
To review and reinforce vocabulary you have already taught using
non-TPR methods.
As a catch-up at the beginning of a lesson for the benefit of
students who have missed previous lessons in which new material was
introduced.
To provide students with an enjoyable, relaxing break during a
lesson.

Suggestopedia
According to Lozanov and others, we may be using only five to ten percent of our
mental capacity. In order to make better use of our reserved capacity, the limitations we
think we have need to be desuggested. Desuggestopedia, the application of the study
of suggestion to pedagogy, has been developed to help students eliminate the feeling
that they cannot be successful or the negative association they may have toward
studying and, thus, to help them to overcome the barriers to learn. (Freeman, 2000)
The term 'Suggestopedia', derived from suggestion and pedagogy, is often used
loosely to refer to similar accelerated learning approaches. However, Lozanov reserves
the title strictly for his own method, and he has his own training and certification
facilities. Suggestopedia was originally applied mainly in foreign language teaching, and
it is often claimed that it can teach languages approximately three times as quickly as
conventional methods. It is now applied in several other fields, and its central ideas
inspired the development of my own Brainware workshops. (Bowen, 2011) This
technique utilizes a variety of means to reduce students filter. Basically providing realia,

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natural forms of speech, games and even music or exercise during the lesson can
reduce the filter. (Iris-Wilbanks, 2013) Practically every feature of Suggestopedia is
aimed at relaxing the student, reducing anxieties and building confidence. (Krashen,
1982)
In suggestopedia, each four-hour class, according to (Bancroft, 1978), consists of
three parts:
1.

Review, done via traditional conversations, games, plays,

etc. It may include some exercises and error correction, but does not
include the use of a language lab or pattern drill.
2.

Presentation of new material. New material is introduced in

the form of dialogues based on situations familiar to the students.

Bancroft notes that new material is presented in a somewhat traditional
way, with the necessary grammar and translation (Bancroft, 1978). The
dialogues are very long. According to (Bushman & Madsen, 1976), they
run from 10 to 14 pages.
3.

This portion is the truly original feature of Suggestopedia

(Bancroft, 1978), and is itself divided into two parts. In the first part, the
active sense, the dialogue is read by the teacher, while students follow
the text and engage in deep and rhythmic Yoga breathing. These
activities are coordinated: In accordance with the students' breathing,
the teacher reads the language materials in the following order and with
the following timing: Bulgarian (L1) translation (two seconds); foreign
language phrase (four seconds); pause (two seconds). While the
foreign language phrase is being read, the students retain their breath
for four seconds, look at the appropriate part of the text, and mentally
repeat to themselves the given phrase or word-group in the FL.
Concentration is greatly promoted by the retention or suspension of
breath (Bancroft, 1978).
The second part, labelled the passive or convert part of the seance, involves
music. The central activity is the teacher's reading of the dialogue with an emotional
intonation (Bancroft, 1978). The students, with eyes closed, meditate on the text while

P s y c h o l o g i c a l B a r r i e r s | 13

baroque music is played. The musical selections are specifically chosen to contribute to
a state of relaxation and meditation... that is necessary for unconscious absorption of
the language materials (Bancroft, 1978). Practically every feature of Suggestopedia is
aimed at relaxing the student, reducing anxieties, removing mental blocks, and building
confidence. (Krashen, 1982) Another key Suggestopedic idea aimed at lowering the
filter is the behavior of the teacher. Suggestopedia considers the authority of the
teacher to be very important (an integral part of the method and not just a desirable
characteristic of the teacher); (Stevick, Teaching Languages: A way and Ways., 1980).
The teacher's behavior is meant to build the students' confidence both in their own
potential for second language acquisition and in the method itself; the teacher should be
confident, but not tyrannical, exercise firm over-all control but also encourage student
initiative. (Krashen, 1982)
Concluding, the affective factors, and every issue that comes with them are
certainly an obstacle not only in students improvement but also in teachers task.
Nevertheless, there are many resources that teachers can use to lower those walls that
are obstructing their students right learning rhythm. As a linguist, every English student
must try to avoid that those affective factor get hindered, so the language can be
completely managed in the fewer quantity of time. Once these factors and other issues
involved in the process before seen in this document can be deleted, so the process
and the improvement will be significantly better.

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References
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hypothesis. Child Development , 1040-1048.
Asher, J. (1982). Learning another language through actions: The complete
teacher's guidebook. Kenton, Sutherland: TESOL Inc.
Bancroft, J. (1978). The Lozanov method and its American adaptations. Modern
Language Journal , 167-174.
Bowen, T. (2011, October 23). Suggestopedia. Retrieved September 20, 2014,
from http://www.jwelford.demon.co.uk/brainwaremap/suggest.html
Bushman, R., & Madsen, H. (1976). A description and evaluation of
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Du, X. (2009). The Affective Filter in Second Language Teaching. Qingdao,
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P s y c h o l o g i c a l B a r r i e r s | 15

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from

Collins

English

Dictionary:

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/language-barrier
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