Affective Factors in Language Learning

After discussing the importance of character in learning, it is crucial to understand the most fundamental side of human behavior that is affective factor. Some considerable factors such as attitude, interest and motivation, anxiety, self-efficacy, and independency in language learning will be described briefly.

the first term which is important to consider is attitude. Attitude brings numerous definitions according to many references. Consequently, these might lead to the various focus and instrument concerning this field of study. Attitude might refer to the base part of motivation (Gardner and Lambert, 1972:134). Meanwhile, Cook (1969) defined attitude, value, and personality shape “motive constructions” which determine human behavior. Attitude is considered important language learning,  particularly in second language acquisition. From this perspective, it may result that learners who have positive attitude towards second language may have a better progress in mastering the language rather than those who posses the negative one.

Besides, motivation bears different meaning from attitude. Motivation is often defined as “something which trigger individuals”. Motivation is one of important factors in language learning since in learning, motivation might refer to the energy that arouses a student to learn and that gives direction or focus to learning (Seifert, 1999). Moreover, in relation to the learning process, Wlodkowski (1986: 12-13) established that motivation sequences an order which may be illustrated as follows: “the student who possesses an ability to act (energy) makes a choice (volition) which leads to the certain purposes (direction) and if this process lasts longer (involvement), he will get an attainment (completion).

Another factor which is reasonable to consider is anxiety. The construct of anxiety plays a major role in second language acquisition. Anxiety is the subjective feeling of worry, nervousness, and self-doubt in associated with inadequate capacity to know the result of a phenomenon. For instances, the students are sometimes very anxious when they are asked to read a poem in front of the classroom since they will get embarrassed due to their inability to play an intonation well. This temporary feeling is called state anxiety because it happens in particular event or phenomenon. Meanwhile, there is a case where the students always feel anxious to face the normal situation of learning. This permanent predisposition is called trait anxiety. It is important for teachers to try to determine whether a student’s anxiety stems from a global trait or whether it comes from a particular situation at the moment.

Furthermore, self-efficacy refers to the concept where a person feels he or she is capable of doing certain  tasks or achieving results suitable with what it is expected. In relation to the language learning, a belief of capability is very specific. For examples, a students feels he is capable to read heroic poem in front of the class or he feels he is able to write a formal letter in writing competition. Therefore, it is assumed that a learner who feels he or she is capable of carrying out a given task with an appropriate degree of effort may be devoted to achieving success. Conversely, a learner with low self-efficacy may quite easily attribute failure in learning process.

In addition, the last affective factor to consider in language learning is independency. An independency in learning might refer to personal capabilities that enable students to be independent learners and develop a core of resiliency (Alderman, 1999). In relation to the motivation, the student tends to be motivated intrinsically if he or she believes he has a choice and independency to make a decision (Corno and Rohrkemper, 1985; Decy, 1992; Deci and Ryan, 1992). In other words, the student who does not have independency are less motivated and creative.

Reference:

Suherdi, Didi. (2012). Rekonstruksi Pendidikan Bahasa: Sebuah Keniscayaan bagi Keunggulan Bangsa. Bandung: Celtics Press