Second Language Acquisition Case Study

1958 Words8 Pages
The following are specific personality factors in second language acquisition as identified by the well-known linguist, Brown, H.D (2014): self-esteem, willingness to communicate, inhibition, risk-taking, anxiety, empathy, extroversion/introversion and motivation. These factors had also been singled out by other language scholars earlier, for example, Burt, Dulay and Krashen (1982). The purpose of this study is to investigate the role played by personality factors in second language acquisition. The study was conducted by way of library research and an open-ended questionnaire administered to graduate students pursuing a Master’s program related to English language teaching and language studies. The current thinking on the factors involved,…show more content…
While excessive discomfort about an impending task may not be very helpful, some amount of apprehension which causes a person to be serious in accomplishing a task is not negative, it is positive. Learning a foreign language such as English requires facilitative anxiety for Asian learners. Some foreign languages may cause anxiety due to historical and cultural factors. Such anxiety has to be overcome by practical attitudes towards the target language. Teachers have to be careful not to provide feedback which may be misconstrued as negative. This will raise their anxiety level. Kees de Bot et al (2005) stress that low anxiety, together with motivation and positive self-esteem, facilitates successful SLA. On a spiritual level, anxiety may even bring people closer to God to seek His help to overcome their difficulty and do their part to push themselves to succeed in a given…show more content…
If a speaker from UK were to mention Boxing Day to a person who is unaware of it and shows his/her unfamiliarity by way of nonverbal communication, the former should empathize with the latter and explain what the day is about. Similarly if a host in US were to offer her Muslim guests root beer, the latter may be forgiven if they thought the drink contained beer. For successful empathy to take place HajaMohideen (2001: 70) suggests that a learner should ask oneself the following questions:Do I express myself clearly to the listener?Will the addressee be able to understand my accent?Have I written coherently enough for the teacher to understand me?Am I making sufficient effort to figure out what my fellow interlocutor is saying? In some countries, native English speakers are recruited to teach the language. In Malaysia, for example, not long ago teachers from primarily English speaking countries, known as English teaching assistants, had been employed in some parts of the country. There may have been initial difficulties understanding each other in terms of their accents and the cultural content introduced by the visiting teachers. In such cases, there has to be mutual
Open Document