Affective Filter And Second Language

Acquisition English Language Essay

As the number of ELL students increases on campuses across the nation, there is a growing
need for educators to somehow increase their awareness about the process of second
language acquisition, and different ways to promote students’ learning and acquisition of a
new language. ELL students usually experience stress and anxiety as they are very much
aware of their lack of proficiency in English. This often interferes with their learning and
acquisition of a new language. In recent years the importance of affective filter has become a
matter of debate and extensive research among language teachers, linguists and researchers.
The major purpose of this paper is therefore, to address the implications and importance that
affective filter has on the language acquisition of especially English Language Learners
(ELLs).

Overview of Krashen’s Theory of Language Acquisition

Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition has had a great impact in the field of
education, especially that of acquiring and learning a new language. Based on internal
psychological factors, his theory holds that humans have an innate ability to learn language
(Krashen, 1982). According to Krashen, a second language is most successfully acquired
when the conditions are similar to those present in first language acquisition: that is, when the
focus of instruction is on meaning rather than on form; when the language input is at or just
above the proficiency of the learner; and when there is sufficient opportunity to engage in
meaningful use of that language in a relatively anxiety-free environment. He emphasized the
importance of providing learners with comprehensible input in a risk-free environment.
Krashen also maintained that low stress situations provide the greatest opportunity for
learners to improve their language competency.

AFFECTIVE FILTER AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition consists of five interrelated hypotheses

which reflect an understanding of both linguistics and of psychology: The Acquisition-
Learning hypothesis, the Monitor hypothesis, the Natural Order hypothesis, the Input
Hypothesis, and the Affective Filter Hypothesis. Despite of the significance of all of these
hypotheses in language learning and acquisition, this paper prioritizes the last, but also one of
the most important hypotheses in the process of language learning and acquisition, the
Affective Filter Hypothesis. Rosenthal (1996) found that although Duley and Burt were
among the first to refer to the relationship between the affective delimiters and L2
acquisition, it was Krashen who championed the connection.

In Krashen’s work, the affective filter hypothesis explains the role of affective factors in the
process of language acquisition (2003). It suggests that emotional variables can hinder
comprehensible input from reaching the part of the brain responsible for acquiring language.
Krashen (1981) postulated that an affective filter exists that can increase or decrease the
intake of the comprehensible input. He found that a high level of stress and anxiety creates a
filter that impedes learning, blocks the intake, and reduces L2 acquisition. When the filter is
up, input can’t reach those parts of the brain where acquisition occurs. Many language
learners realize that the reason they have trouble is because they are nervous or embarrassed
and simply can’t concentrate. In other words, the input is filtered out. Krashen also concluded
that a low affective filter on the other side facilitates learning and promotes second language
acquisition.

The Affective Filter hypothesis embodies Krashen's view that a number of 'affective
variables' play a facilitative, but non-causal, role in second language acquisition (2003).
These

AFFECTIVE FILTER AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

variables include: motivation, self-confidence and anxiety. According to him, it is easier for a
learner to acquire a language when he/she is not tense, angry, anxious, and bored. Krashen
claimed that learners with high motivation, self-confidence, a good self-image, and a low
level of anxiety are better equipped for success in second language acquisition. 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.
In other words, when the filter is 'up' it impedes language acquisition. On the other hand,
positive affect is necessary, but not sufficient on its own, for acquisition to take place.
Therefore, educators need to provide an environment that reduces stress and anxiety and also
increases the ELL students’ motivation and self-esteem. This, according to Krashen, provides
opportunities for language acquisition to occur more efficiently and quickly among the
learners (2003).

The Motivation Variable

A number of studies conducted in the field of ESL learning show that motivation is crucial to
successful ESL learning (Andres, 2003). Within a school system the amount of motivation
that children bring into the classroom with them is highly variable. It depends both on age
and on family background factors. In-school factors also influence motivation. Crookes and
Schmidt (1991) argued that intrinsic motivation, the one that stems from the interest in the
activity itself independent from extrinsic reward, should be favored in the classroom.
According to them, teachers can foster intrinsic motivation by posing reasonable challenging
tasks to students, basing them on the perceptions of learner’s needs and providing for plenty
of variety in classroom activities.

AFFECTIVE FILTER AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Conversely, Fontana (1988) argued that there are occasions when students ' intrinsic
motivation is insufficient and recourse has to be made to motivation of an extrinsic tangible
nature. Thus, it seems that balance should be kept between both stances, understanding that
extrinsic motivation may be valid, useful and even necessary, but if overused, in the long run
it can be detrimental to students ' autonomy.
Teachers’ own behaviour can either positively or negatively influence the learner's desire and
willingness to learn and continue learning the language. Based on his instructional design
model for motivation, Keller (1979) suggested four different ways to help teachers increase
the motivation of all students, especially of ELL learners: stimulating interest in the topic;
creating relevance to students' lives; developing an expectancy of success, and producing
satisfaction in the outcome through intrinsic/extrinsic rewards. Clearly defined tasks, which
are both interesting and sufficiently challenging, are also of the utmost importance.
Furthermore, concerning curriculum and instruction, the importance of authentic,
communicative tasks and assignments cannot be emphasized enough.

Research by Oxford and Shearin (1996) also supports the critical role of educators in
enhancing the motivation of ELL students. According to them, teachers can help shape
students' beliefs about success and failure in L2 learning. They found that teachers can help
students improve motivation by showing that L2 learning can be an exciting mental
challenge, a career enhancer, a vehicle to cultural awareness and friendship, and a key to
world peace. In addition, teachers can make the L2 classroom a welcoming, positive place
where psychological needs are met and where language anxiety is kept to a minimum. Most
importantly, educators can urge

AFFECTIVE FILTER AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

students to develop their own intrinsic rewards through positive self-talk, guided self-
evaluation, and mastery of specific goals, rather than comparison with other students.
Teachers can thus promote a sense of greater self-efficacy, increasing motivation to continue
learning a new language and master the academic content as well.

In the ELL classroom is vitally important that the curriculum and instructional strategies used
are comprehensible. If language learners cannot comprehend the language input they receive,
often they will become frustrated and “check-out”, no longer putting effort into the language
learning process. This frustration, if not addressed early on, becomes overwhelming and
discouraging to students and, as Duff (2001) reports, “frustration and failure may lead to
higher than average drop-out rates among immigrant students in high school, especially those
whose home-country education or L1 literacy skills are limited” (p.105). Therefore, teachers
must make a concerted effort during instruction to assure that language input is
comprehensible to ELLs. This certainly increases their motivation to learn the new language
and also the academic content. Helpful suggestions for making input comprehensible include
pre-teaching vocabulary, providing study guides, and graphic organizers etc. With these
tools, teachers provide students with the scaffolding necessary to motivate, and challenge
students, but not frustrate them to the point of overwhelming or discouraging.

In addition to providing students with comprehensible input, teachers must provide students
with opportunities to experience success. In order for students to be motivated in continuing
the language learning process, they must have enough self-efficacy, or confidence, to know
that they are capable. One way to help meet this affective need in students through

AFFECTIVE FILTER AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

curriculum and instruction is by planning activities in which students can experience success.
As

students effectively use learning strategies; there is a close association with the individual’s
self-efficacy (Zimmerman, 1990). Although these activities may not be necessarily ‘easy’,
they must be tasks that students have tools and resources to complete with a sense of
accomplishment. In addition to these types of tasks, students also experience success when
they have choices over texts, activities, small grouping, topics, etc (Townsend and Fu, 2001).
As students experience academic success and connections to their own knowledge and
abilities, their self-efficacy and motivation to learn increases. With this affective need met,
students are validated and more willing to take on new challenges in the language learning
process.

Ellis (1994) acknowledged McNamara’s views that communication itself is also an important
motivation – “learners acquire motivation from the need to express themselves and from the
pleasure that they feel when they achieve this” (p.516). Consequently, classes that provide
opportunities for communication are going to have a more positive effect than those that do
not. Interest increases as the learners are made responsible for their learning activities
especially during interactive, flexible cooperative activities.

Research supports two important claims regarding cooperative group work, particularly in the
ELL classroom. First, minority students’ academic achievement increases with the use of
cooperative learning activities (Aronson & Gonzalez, 1998). Second, regarding the social and
emotional needs of the learner, cooperative learning increases self-esteem and student
motivation Slavin, 1985) and helps them develop empathy (Aronson & Bridgemen, 1979).
Cummins (1986) and Holt (1993) also emphasized the role of cooperative learning in
maximizing the acquisition of English, its comprehensible input, and empowering students to
use the language, hear it, and

AFFECTIVE FILTER AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

model it for each other in a non-threatening environment.

According to Stewart (2010), positive feedback, praise, and a sense of belonging can also

be empowering for students who lack confidence in the subject matter. By giving them such
feedback, ELL students may be motivated to put forth more effort, which will produce a
higher quality of work, greater self-confidence, greater learning and then even more deserved
positive feedback in a continuous loop. Last but not least, another factor that triggers the
motivation of ELL students is the aspect of fun. Lin (2008) demonstrates the importance of
fun in the classroom to lower the affective filter in her study with Taiwanese English as a
Foreign Language students. She describes these activities as “joyful and motivation-stirring”
and “relaxing pedagogies” (p. 126). Perhaps one of the most effective ways to lower the
affective filter is to embrace the fun that I believe is inherent in second language learning.

The Self-confidence variable

The affective and emotional needs of students are deeply personal and influence language
learning and academic achievement. The second variable that affects the affective filter and
influences the process of language acquisition is self-confidence. Without some belief in
oneself and one’s abilities, it is easy to become anxious, frustrated, and discouraged. Work by
Brown (1977) and Krashen (1981) reveals that traits related to self-confidence such as lack of
anxiety, outgoing personality, and self-esteem are predictive of second language learning.
The more confidence a student has about his abilities, the easier it is to participate in
language learning activities, eventually leading to further language learning success.
Conversely, when students lack self-confidence they tend to become overly anxious. This can
have detrimental affects on

language learning success as described by Gopaul-McNicol and Thomas-Presswood (1998):

AFFECTIVE FILTER AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

“A high anxiety level interferes with learning a second language because it not only impairs
memory but it also decreases the learner’s willingness to take risks and practice the new

language” (p. 68). In addition, as anxiety increases frustration tolerance decreases; this causes
students to become much more susceptible to giving up or quitting.

It is very critical that students have a positive attitude towards themselves in the form of self-
confidence/esteem, as previously discussed. This is an important affective need for all
students, but particularly so for ELLs whose cultural identity is changing (Canadian
Teachers’ Federation, 1989). While ELLs themselves need to have positive attitudes toward
themselves, their culture, and second language, they also need to experience a positive social
environment, which promotes acceptance, a sense of belonging, and community.

According to Kristmanson (2003), it is very important for teachers to encourage and support
students at all times, but especially when they are struggling or lacking confidence in certain
areas, such as speaking a new language. For example, demonstrating interest and
involvement in the children, getting to know them, their lives, their families, and capitalizing
on the rich cultural knowledge and experiences their students bring to classroom increases
their overall self-esteem and makes learning more meaningful. Finally, creating an
atmosphere in which students are not afraid to make mistakes and are encouraged to take
risks promotes their self-confidence. Lastly, praise also helps teachers build students’
confidence.

Anxiety Variable
Krashen (1981) states that “low anxiety relates to success in second language acquisition” (p.
56). ELL students are often very nervous about their first class in English. Everything is

new to them – the language, the building, the classroom, the culture of the classroom.
Therefore,

AFFECTIVE FILTER AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

it is very important to establish a welcoming classroom environment and thoroughly explain

procedures and assignments to lower students’ anxiety levels. Avoiding tension-causing

strategies such as surprise quizzes, overly competitive activities, putting students in front of
their peers with no warning or chance for preparation, and correcting errors in a negative,
accusatory fashion reduces the tension, nervousness, and affective filter of ELL students.

Anxiety should be of a low level, and should be attached to the need to communicate, rather
than to personality factors, or the fear of appearing ridiculous. Error correction must also be
constructive and tailored to students’ individual needs. Examples of ways to gently and
effectively correct students’ errors include reflecting their statements back to them,
extending, and elaborating on statements. It is also important that error correction focus on
mistakes that impede communication (‘global errors’), rather than more minor grammatical
errors (‘local errors’). Recognizing the ELL students’ language proficiencies, differentiating
instruction, materials, and assessment tools to meet their diverse needs certainly promotes
language acquisition in a positive low- affective filter classroom.

In conclusion, Krashen’s insistence on the importance of providing ELL learners with

comprehensible input in a risk-free environment sends an important message to all teachers.
As educators, we can make a significant difference in motivation, in anxiety levels and in the
self image of our students. It is indeed our responsibility to establish a classroom
environment that

promotes camaraderie, makes every member feel welcome, wanted, validated and most

importantly promotes their chances of acquiring and learning a new language in a positive,
low-stress environment. This particular type of environment will certainly reduce our
students’ affective filter, inspire them to learn the new language, and be successful in school.

AFFECTIVE FILTER AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION