情感因素在二语习得中的作用及启示

The Effects of Affective Factors in SLA

and Pedagogical Implications

Abstract:

Affective factors include emotion, feeling, mood, manner,

attitude

and

so

on.

They

are

the

most

important

factors

in

SLA

and

English teaching. Under the guidance of the Affective Filter Hypothesis

proposed

by

Krashen,

this

paper

tends

to

make

a

brief

analysis

of

the

effects of affective factors in SLA and its pedagogical implications. That

is

to

say,

it

is

very

helpful

to

study

English

with

good

mood,

feeling,

manner, and students can get more knowledge with good mood. On the

contrary,

students

with

poor

English

often

feel

tired,

boring

and

even

anxious when they attend the class. The affective factors will surely help

the teachers to improve their teaching quality and students to cultivate an

all-round development.

1. Affective Filter Hypothesis

Affective

Filter

Hypothesis

was

proposed

by

Krashen.

He

put

the

Affective Filter Hypothesis into five central hypotheses in SLA, namely,

the

Acquisition- learning

distinction;

the

Natural

order

hypothesis;

the

Monitor

hypothesis;

the

Input

hypothesis

and

the

Affective

Filter

Hypothesis. Krashen argued that affective filter is a kind of psychological

obstacle

that

prevents

language

learners

from

absorbing

available

comprehensible input completely. He looked affective factors functioning

as a filter that reduces the amount of language input the learner is able to

understand. It has a close relationship with the language learner?s input

and intake. It can be said that affective factors determine the proportion of

language learners? input and intake. The affective factors include certain

emotions, such as motivation, self- confidence, anxiety, and so on in the

process of acquiring a second language. These negative emotions prevent

efficient

processing

of

the

language

input,

and

on

the

contrary,

the

positive emotions promote the efficiency of the process. When language

learners with high motivation, self- confidence and a low level of anxiety,

they have low filters and so receive and take in plenty of input. On the

other hand, learners with low motivation, little self-confidence and a high

level

of

anxiety

have

high

filters

and

therefore

obtain

little

input.

The

Affective

Filter

Hypothesis

shows

that

the

emotional

factors

strongly

affect

the

learner

s?input

and

how

much

input

is

converted

into

intake.

That?s the reason why Krashen stated that: the Affective Filter Hypothesis

captures

the

relationship

between

affective

variables

and

the

process

of

second

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

that

part

of

the

brain

responsible for language 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”. (Stephan Krashen, 1982: 31)

The

Affective

Filter

Hypothesis

has

significant

implications

for

foreign language teaching. A low filter should be created and advocated

for

the

effective

language

teaching.

It

can

be

guessed

that

learners?

affective filters will be influenced by teachers? feedback. Attempts should

be made to lower the affective filter and let learners feel less stressed and

more confident in a comfortable learning atmosphere.

2. The Affective Factors

Affective

factors

in

second

language

acquisition

play

an

important

role

and

some

western

scholars

believe

that

its

role

is

even

more

important

than

cognitive

factors.

They

are

related

to

the

learner?s

emotional

state

and

attitude

toward

the

target

language.

The

affective

factors may hinder the learners to absorb input information because of a

psychological

barrier.

The

main

affective

factors

include

motivation,

self-confidence and anxiety.

2.1 Motivation

Motivation

is

considered

to

be

one

of

the

most

important

factors,

which

affect

the

learner?s

language

input

and

intake.

It

is

commonly

thought of as an inner drive, impluse, emotion, or desire that moves one

to

a

particular

action.

Cardner

defines

motivation

to

learn

a

second

language as “ the extent to which the individual works or strives to learn

the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced

in this activity”. It is considered as a key to successful learning. In a word,

motivation is the process by which goal-directed behavior is stimulated in

language learning. It drives and directs behavior.

It

is

obviously

that

motivation

directly

and

profoundly

influences

how often students use foreign language learning (FLL) strategies; how

much

input

they

receive

in

the

language

being

learned;

how

high

their

general

proficiency

level

becomes;

and

how

long

they

persevere

and

maintain

FLL

skills

after language

study

is over.

Motivation

is

such an

important factor in language learning that no teacher could avoid being

concerned

with

his

students?

motivation

in

the

process

of

language

teaching.

2.2 Self-confidence

Self- confidence is considered to be another significant factor, which

profoundly influences the learners? language performance.

It is a kind of

optimistic

emotion

that

language

learners

firmly

believe

they

can

overcome

troubles

to

gain

success.

Self-confidence

is

to

be

a

kind

of

active affective factor. As for foreigh language learners, self-confidence

often plays a decisive role in foreigh language learning, and if you want