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Estudios de
lingüística inglesa aplicada

Conceptos clave de la lingüística aplicada /

Key concepts in applied linguistics

AFFECT IN L2 LEARNING AND TEACHING

Jane Arnold
University of Seville, Spain
[email protected]

The term affect refers essentially to the area of emotions, feelings,

beliefs, moods and attitudes, which greatly influences our behavior. Oatley
and Jenkins (1996:122) maintain that “emotions are not extras. They are the
very center of human mental life [...].” A useful starting point for
conceptualizing affect in the area of non-native language (L2) learning is
Earl Stevick’s (1980:4) affirmation that “Success [in language learning]
depends less on materials, techniques and linguistic analyses, and more on
what goes on inside and between the people in the classroom.” What goes on
inside people refers to individual factors such as self-esteem, anxiety,
inhibition, willingness to take risks, learning styles, self-efficacy, and
motivation. What goes on between people, the relational aspects, has to do
with classroom transactions, where an attitude of facilitation and a concern
with group dynamics are extremely important (Arnold and Brown 1999).

Speaking of the affective side of language learning, Scovel (2000)

notes that emotions might well be the factor that most influences language
learning, and yet he points out that affective variables are the least
understood by researchers in SLA. In part this may be because research in
the field is often of a quantitative nature, and affective aspects of language

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146 Jane Arnold

learning may not always be easy to deal with in a quantitative research

frame.

Affective learning is sometimes contrasted with cognitive learning as

if the two were totally separate. Yet, research shows this is not true.
Reviewing studies on the relationship between affect and cognition, Forgas
(2008) emphasizes the key role played by affect in how we create mental
representations about the world and retain them in memory, and how we
process information. According to Bless & Fiedler (2006), empirical
evidence shows that affect has a direct influence on cognition, on how
people think; and neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux (1996:25) goes so far as to
claim that “minds without emotions are not really minds at all.” From his
work on the brain and second language acquisition, Schumann (1994)
affirms that neurologically speaking, affect is part of cognition. One reason
for this is that an affectively positive environment puts the brain in the
optimal state for learning: minimal stress and maximum engagement with
the material to be learned. As Chomsky (1988) said, about 99% of teaching
has to do with getting students interested in the material.

Recognition of the importance of affective factors for language

learning/teaching is not radically new. In fact, in the fifth century St.
Augustine wrote about his unpleasant experiences as a child learning Greek
as a foreign language, and he argued that curiosity and interest, rather than
pressure and fear, is what leads to successful learning. Much more recently,
in the 1970s Suggestopedia, Silent Way, Community Language Learning
(sometimes been referred to as the affective-humanistic language teaching
methods) along with Total Physical Response all took into account the role
of affect in language learning. The current concept of learner-centered
teaching also connects with a concern for affect in the classroom, as does
Krashen’s metaphor of the affective filter.

Today, however, interest in affect has taken on even greater

importance for language teaching practice. For example, the Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages includes among the
competences involved in language learning the Existential competence
(savoir-être), which is basically composed of elements of the affective
domain. According to the Framework (5.1.3), it significantly influences

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Affect in L2 learning and teaching.… 147

language learners and users both in their communicative acts and their
ability to learn.

Similarly, new research in the affective domain continues to shed

light on the acquisition process. For example, Dörnyei (2009) has developed
the theoretical framework for the L2 motivational self system which takes
SLA motivation conceptualizations beyond the traditional integrative vs.
instrumental approach and has generated important empirical research as
well as implications for the classroom, including for teacher motivation and
teacher development (Kubanyiova 2009). Also, the research group “The
affective domain in learning English”, funded by the Andalusian Education
Department, has undertaken various joint projects related to affect, such as
Fonseca 2002 and Rubio 2007.

The relationship between learning and affect holds for any classroom
and any subject, but with non-native language learning it is crucial, given
that students’ self image is more vulnerable when they do not yet have
mastery of their vehicle for expression –language. Undoubtedly, the main
function of language is communication. As teachers we may have
communicative goals built into our syllabus, we may design activities for
communication, but often our students do not develop communicative
competence. One explanation for this can be found in the area of affect.
MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei and Noels (1998:547) consider Willingness to
Communicate (WTC) in a second language as “a readiness to enter into
discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using a L2,”
and argue that the main goal of learning programs should be to create in
students this willingness. In their model there is a strong connection with
affect of the majority of the factors which they found led to WTC, such as
L2 self-confidence, intergroup attitudes, intergroup climate, and personality
factors. Thus, if we want our students to communicate, to be willing to use
the language they are learning, we do indeed need to take into account the
many ways that affect will facilitate or undermine this goal.

If we ask what attention to affect would actually mean for the

language classroom, on the one hand, it is probable that we would find some
special classroom activities designed both to provide useful language work
and to increase personal meaning, motivate, reduce anxiety or give students

ELIA 9, 2009 pp. 145-151

148 Jane Arnold

confidence in their ability to learn and speak the target language. However,
perhaps more important would be a new perspective on what language
teachers can expect to achieve in the classroom, a greater concern for the
learning atmosphere and for the inner processes of both learners and
teachers. Underhill (1999:131) stresses the importance of this broader vision:
“new techniques with old attitudes may amount to no change, while new
attitudes even with old techniques can lead to significant change.”

There are many indications from teaching experience as well as from

empirical research that attention to affect can bring many positive changes to
the classroom and that the foreign and second language learning and
teaching processes will be more effective if they are affective.

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Affect in L2 learning and teaching.… 149

References

Arnold, J. & Brown, D. (1999). A map of the terrain. In J. Arnold, (Ed.),

Affect in Language Learning (pp. 1-24). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Bless, H. & Fiedler, K. (2006). Mood and the regulation of information

processing. In J.P. Forgas, (Ed.), Affect in social cognition and
behavior (pp. 65-84). New York: Psychology Press.

Chomsky, N. (1988). Language and Problems of Knowledge. Cambridge,

MA: MIT Press.

Council of Europe. Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages.
http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pdf

Fonseca, M. C. (Ed.) (2002). Inteligencias múltiples, múltiples formas de

enseñar inglés. Sevilla: Mergablum.

Forgas, J. P. (2008). Affect and Cognition. Perspectives on Psychological

Science, 3/2, 94-101.

Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self system. In Z. Dörnyei & E.

Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self (pp. 9-
42). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Kubanyiova. M. (2009). Possible selves in language teacher development. In

Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, Language Identity and
the L2 Self (pp. 314-332). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

LeDoux, J. (1996). The Emotional Brain. New York: Simon & Schuster.

MacIntyre, P., Dörnyei, Z., Clément, R. & Noels, K.A. (1998).

Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in L2: A situational
model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language
Journal, 82, 4, 545-562.

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150 Jane Arnold

Oatley, J. & Jenkins, J. (1996). Understanding Emotions. Cambridge, MA:

Blackwell.

Rubio, F. (Ed.) (2007). Self-esteem and Foreign Language Learning.

Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.

Scovel, T. (2000). Learning New Languages: A Guide to Second Language

Acquisition. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Schumann, J. (1994). Where is cognition? Emotion and cognition in second

language acquisition. SSLA, 16, 231-242.

Stevick, E. (1980). Teaching Languages. A Way and Ways. Rowley, MA:

Newbury House.

Underhill, A. (1999). Facilitation in language teaching. In J. Arnold (Ed.),

Affect in Language Learning (pp. 125-141). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

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Affect in L2 learning and teaching.… 151

Jane Arnold is Professor of ELT methodology in the English

Language Department at the University of Seville (Spain). She is on the
advisory board for various journals and teaching organizations. Her
publications include numerous articles on L2 learning, Affect in Language
Learning (CUP), Imagine That: Mental Imagery in the EFL Classroom with
Herbert Puchta and Mario Rinvoluciri, and Seeds of Confidence with
Verónica de Andrés (Helbling Languages). She has given plenary lectures
and workshops, and taught MA courses in several countries in Europe, Latin
America, and Asia.

First version received: September 2009.

Final version accepted: October 2009.

ELIA 9, 2009 pp. 145-151