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Self-confidence & Foreign Language Acquisition What types of working environments encourage confidence?. By: Nicole M. Rotondo. What do these words mean?. Self-confidence = belief in one’s abilities
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Self-confidence & Foreign Language AcquisitionWhat types of working environments encourage confidence? By: Nicole M. Rotondo
What do these words mean? • Self-confidence = belief in one’s abilities • Language acquisition = the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive, produce, and use words to communicate
Why is pertinent to the classroom? • When students feel good about themselves, they are much more likely to become better achievers in the classroom. • Emotional factors (not just intelligence factors) play an important role in learning. • Students comfortable with teacher-centered methods. • Creating a community of learners.
Stephen Krashen • Expert in the field of linguistics, specializing in theories of language acquisition and development • Krashen's theory of second language acquisition: • Acquisition-Learning hypothesis • Monitor hypothesis • Natural Order hypothesis • Input hypothesis • Affective Filter hypothesis
Affective Filter Hypothesis • An impediment to language acquisition caused by a negative emotional response in a learner’s environment • Anxiety, self-doubt, lack of confidence & motivation: prevent effective language processing and and input • Low motivation, low self-esteem, and anxiety can combine to raise the affective filter and form a mental block that prevents comprehensible input from being used for acquisition. • When the filter is 'up' it impedes language acquisition.
Data Collection Individual Work, Partner Work, Group Work • Student surveys • Conversations • Interviews • Observations, field notes, videotaping • Grade tracking • Journaling
Survey Results: Spanish 1-- 9th graders • 8% of students said they feel “most confident” working individually in classroom activities • 16% of students said they feel “most confident” working in a group of people • 76% of students said that they feel “most confident working with another person in pair share
Student Quotes: • “After working with a partner I understand a lot more.” • “I like working with other people better than by myself. I get to see if I am on the right track before having to say something in front of the whole class.” • “I feel more confident because I got feedback on my answers.” • “I worked out the problems I had with the vocabulary pronunciation.” • “Two minds are better than one.”
Conclusion • Partner work is very important in learning foreign language and the majority of students feel the most comfortable in this type of setting. • Individual and group work also prove to be essential to the learning process, but in more controlled situations. • Benefits and setbacks to all types. • After the research and my data collection: as teachers, we must have self-confidence in them!
What this means for foreign language teachers… • Get to know your class. • What is true for one, is not true for all. • Stay up on research, techniques , literature. • A variety of methods is the best practice.
Having self-confidence in yourself and your students should be #1!
Sources • Bolinger, Dwight. Aspects of Language. Harvard University, 1968. • Carroll, John. The Study of Language. Harvard University Press, 1966. • Clyne, Sandra. Psychological Factors in Second Language Acquisition: Why Your International Students are Sudando La Gota Gorda. < http://www.bhcc.mass.edu/PDFs/TFOT_PsychFactors2ndLang.pdf> (March 03, 2010). • Ellis, Rod. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. • Krashen, Stephen. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergammon Press, 1982. • Krashen, Stephen D., Books Online, Articles Online.<http://www.sdkrashen.com/> (February 27, 2010).
