Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on authors
- Acknowledgments
- Note to the reader
- Part I Learning
- 1 Planning foreign-language study
- 2 Understanding the role of cognition in the learning process
- 3 Learning styles and learning strategies
- 4 Understanding feelings and personality in language learning
- 5 Interpersonal dynamics in the learning process
- Part II Language
- Part III Independence
- Epilogue: from here to there: attaining near-native proficiency
- Appendix A Answers to “practicing what you have learned”
- Appendix B Learning strategies taxonomies
- References
- Index
4 - Understanding feelings and personality in language learning
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on authors
- Acknowledgments
- Note to the reader
- Part I Learning
- 1 Planning foreign-language study
- 2 Understanding the role of cognition in the learning process
- 3 Learning styles and learning strategies
- 4 Understanding feelings and personality in language learning
- 5 Interpersonal dynamics in the learning process
- Part II Language
- Part III Independence
- Epilogue: from here to there: attaining near-native proficiency
- Appendix A Answers to “practicing what you have learned”
- Appendix B Learning strategies taxonomies
- References
- Index
Summary
Preview
This chapter introduces you to the affective variables in learning – your feelings, personality preferences, and relationships with others involved in your learning process such as teachers and other students. Topics that this chapter addresses include:
Foreign language anxiety is the fears and uncertainties that arise when you think about studying a foreign language, There are useful coping strategies for it.
Performance anxiety is closely related to foreign language anxiety and refers to completing acts in the foreign language, such as using it in front of others in class or in the society. This chapter suggests some coping strategies.
Test anxiety is the nervousness that accompanies test preparation and test taking. This chapter will help you understand the source of this nervousness and will provide you some guidance in dealing with it.
Motivation is reflected in the reasons you study a foreign language and the reasons you do (or do not) work hard in class. There are a number of kinds of motivation, several of which are discussed in this chapter.
Self-efficacy is your feeling of competence, that you can do something. This chapter will help you understand the sources of these feelings.
Personality can have a strong effect on how you approach language-learning situations, in-class work, peer interactions, and interaction with the culture. In this chapter, you will be helped to understand not only your personality traits but also those of your classmates.
Ego boundaries refers to receptivity to external input. You will learn about thin and thick boundaries and their significance for language learning.
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- Type
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- Information
- Achieving Success in Second Language Acquisition , pp. 92 - 130Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005