Pengertian PERSONALITY dan LANGUAGE LEARNING

PERSONALITY AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

1. Introduction

This chapter deals with aspects of affective domain of Second Language (L2) acquisition. Theories of L2 acquisition or teaching methods are designed based on merely cognitive domain consideration. There has been an increasing awareness of the need in L2 research and teaching to investigate human personality in order to find out solutions to puzzling the problem.

2. The Affective Domain

The affective domain is the emotional part of human behavior and it may be placed side by side to the cognitive part. There are five levels of affectivity:

v  Receiving

v  Responding

v  Valuing

v  Organization

v  Value system

It has been widely for general understanding of the affective domain in human behavior.

3. Egocentric Factors

1.         Self-esteem

Self-esteem is a personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed the attitudes that the individual holds toward himself. It is the most pervasive of any human behavior. No successful cognitive or affective activity can be carried out without some degree of self-esteem, self-confidence, knowledge of yourself and belief in your own capabilities for that activity. An individual gets his sense of self-esteem:

v    From the accumulation of experiences with himself and with others.

v    From assessments of the external world around him.

2.         Inhibition

Inhibition is closely related and in some cases subsumed under the notion of self-esteem. New born baby learns to identify a self that is different from others. This process continues into adulthood. Individuals with higher self-esteem and ego-strength are more able to oppose with threats to their existence and, therefore, their defenses are lower.

4. Transactional Factors

Transaction is the process reaching out beyond the self to others.

1.      Empathy

Empathy is the process of reaching beyond the self and understanding and feeling what other person is understanding or feeling. Someone can not fully empathize until he adequately knows himself. In order to communicate effectively, someone needs to be able to understand the other person’s affective and cognitive states.

2.      Extroversion

It is a common belief among the teachers in general that introversion is an undesirable behavior. It is imaginable that extroversion may be a factor in the speaking of a foreign language (FL), but not in aural and reading comprehension, nor in writing.

3.      Aggression

Aggression is a behavior necessary for survival. For example, consistent refusal to be aggressive in self-defense, physically or emotionally, could result in physical and mental illness and/or death. Aggression could be central factor determining motivation to learn language and FL teaching methods have to capitalize on positive and constructive aggressive behavior.

5. Motivation

A learner will be successful with sufficient motivation.

1.      Basic needs and drives

Motivation is usually consideration as an inner drive, impulse, emotion, or desire that moves one to a particular action. There are six desires or needs of human organisms which strengthen the construct of motivation:

v     The need for exploration

v     The need for manipulation

v     The need for stimulation

v     The need for knowledge

v     The need for ego enhancement

2.      Instrumental and Integrative Motivation

Motivation is classified into two categories based on two different kinds of attitude:

v  Instrumental motivation

Refers to motivation to acquire language as a means for getting instrumental goals, such as furthering a career, reading technical material and translation.

v  Integrative motivation

Is used when a learner wishes to integrate himself within the culture of L2 group to identify himself with and become a part of that society.

6. Community Language Learning

Community language learning (CLL) is a relatively successful method. There are several stages undergone by the learner using CLL:

1.      Stage of intense struggle and confusion may continue for many sessions, but always with the support of the counselor and the fellow clients.

2.      The learner gradually becomes able to speak a word or phrase directly in a foreign language, without translation.

3.      As the learner gain more and more familiarity with the Fl, more and more direct communication can take place with the counselor providing less and less direct translation and information.

4.      The learner acquires fluency in the spoken language.

Tugas Merangkum Buku.