PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE LEARNING
AND TEACHING LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
CHAPTER 6 (Personality Factors)
This chapter and chapter 7 deal with
two facets of the affective domain of
second language acquisition.
THE AEFECTTVE DOMAIN
— Affect refers to emotion/feeling.
— This domain includes the manner in
which we deal with things
emotionally.
FIVE LEVELS OF AFFECTIVE DOMAIN
1. RECEIVING — Learners show
willingness to receive and give a
stimulus (feedback) according to their
controlled/selected attention.
2. RESPONDING — A person commits
themselves, in at least a small
measure, to a phenomenon
(situation) / to a person.
3. VALUING — worth is placed on a
thing, behavior/person; rather than
just accept a value, the person
pursues it, seeks it out and wants it.
4. ORGANIZATION — They identify
their relationships with other and from
there they create a hierarchy of
values within the group.
5. VALUE SYSTEM — Individuals act
consistently in accordance with the
values they have internalized and
integrate beliefs, ideas, and world
view.
8 AFFECTIVE FACTORS IN SECOND
1. SELF-ESTEEM — is a personal
judgment of worthiness that is
expressed in the attitudes that
individuals hold toward themselves.
Three general levels of self-esteem
I. General or global self-esteem
— It is the general or prevailing
assessment one makes of one's
own worth over time and across
a number of situations.
II. Situational or specific self-
esteem — The degree of
specific self-esteem a person
has may vary depending upon
the situation or the trait in
question.
III. Task self-esteem — relates to
particular tasks within specific
situations.
2. Attribution Theory and Self-
Efficacy
Attribution Theory —According to Weiner
et al. there are four explanations for
success and/or failure in achieving a
personal objective:
Two of those four factors are
internal to the Learner: ability and
effort;
 two are attributable to external 6. Anxiety — More simply put,
circumstances outside of the anxiety is associated with feelings
learner: task difficulty and luck. of uneasiness, frustration, self-
doubt, apprehension, or worry
Self-Efficacy — deals with a
(Scovel, 1978.) As we learned in
second language learner’s feeling of
the case of self-esteem, then, it is
capability to carry out a given task as well
important in a classroom for a
as external factor. In psychological
teacher to try to determine
theory it is essential for learners to
whether a student's anxiety stems
believe in themselves in order to succeed
from a more global trait or whether
at a set of tasks.
it comes from a particular situation
One of the most important roles of at the moment.
successful teachers is to facilitate high 7. EMPATHY — there are two
levels of self-efficacy in their students. necessary aspects to the

3. Willingness to Communicate development and exercising of

(WTC) — Maclnryre et al. (2001) empathy: first, an awareness and

found that higher levels of WTC knowledge of one's own feelings,

were associated with learners' and second, identification with

who experienced social support, another person (Hogan, 1969). In

particularly from friends. other words, you cannot fully

4. Inhibition — all human beings, in empathize or know someone else

their understanding of until you adequately know

themselves, build sets of yourself.

defenses to protect the ego. Communication requires a

5. Risk taking — when learning a sophisticated degree of empathy.

second language, or even In order to communicate

practicing in the first language, effectively, you need to be able to

individuals must learn to gamble a understand the other person's

bit (to risk losing in order to do or affective and cognitive states.

achieve something), try out new Extroversion — Extroversion and

hunches about language. its counterpart, introversion, are also
potentially important factors in the 2. Cognitive:
acquisition of a second language.  EXPECTANCY THEORY
Extroverts actually need other people in ─ explains why and how an
order to feel "good”. Other educators individual chooses one
have warned against prejudging students behavioral option over
on the basis of perceived extroversion. other.
 GOAL-SETTING THEORY
Motivation — for countless studies and
─ states the importance of
experiments in human learning have
creating goals in
shown that motivation is a key to learning
motivation.
in general (Wciner, 1986)
3. Constructivist ─ places
THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
emphasis on social context as
1. Behavioristic use to concepts: well as individual personal
 REWARD ─ An object or choices.
event supplied as Each person is motivated
consequences of a differently and will therefore act on
particular behavior that we his or her environment in ways
think is attractive. that are unique.

Ex: A teacher might believe a

Instrumental and Integrative
good grade is a reward for
Orientations
those who have done their
homework well.
1. Instrumental ─ the one that
 INCENTIVE ─ an object or drives human beings to reaching
event that actually goals and objectives.
motivates a person’s 2. Integrative ─ when students feel
behavior. that they want to be part of the
group. From the word Integrate
Ex: Students who value good
which means to make (a
grades view grades as an
person/group) part of a larger
incentive.
group/organization.
 Intrinsic Motivation and iv. Judging Vs. Perceiving
Extrinsic Motivation
refers to our attitude towards the external
 Extrinsic Motivation ─ world, and how we live our lives on a day-to-
motivated to perform an day basis.
activity to earn a reward or
Judging preference want things to
avoid punishment.
be neat, orderly and established.
 Intrinsic Motivation ─
Perceiving preference wants things
Motivated to perform an
to be flexible and spontaneous.
activity for its own sake and
personal rewards. Judgers want things settled,
Perceivers want thing open-ended.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator tests
designed to tell you more about yourself.

i. Introversion Vs. Extroversion

There is a world inside ourselves,

and a world outside ourselves.

Which world gives us our energy, and

which do we perhaps find draining?

ii. Sensing Vs. Intuition

preference refers to how we gather

information.

The "Sensing" uses of five senses.

The "Intuitive" without necessarily building

upon a solid foundation of facts?

iii. Thinking Vs. Feeling

Decisions according to:

Thinking – logic and reason

Feeling – beliefs and value system