The basic premise underlying a social psychological perspective of second language acquisition is that language is a defining characteristic of the individual. It is involved in one's thoughts, self-communication, social interaction, and perception of the world.
At least, four of many factors, such as anxiety, attitude, aptitude, and motivation influence the students' process of language acquisition.
Listening, reading, speaking and writing are called as the four of language skills. Specifically, psycholinguistics helps to understand the difficulties of these four skills both intrinsic difficulties and extrinsic difficulties. Psycholinguistics also helps to explain the errors students do in the language learning.
The relationship between thinking and language is what psychologists have been studying for decades. How an individual thinks is directly correlated to their language. Thinking is a cognitive process that allows an individual to make connections and develop meaning for the world around them.
Krashen mentions that there are three important affective factors that have a significant influence to the second language acquisition: motivation, self- confidence, and anxiety. Learners who have high motivation usually perform better in second language acquisition.
Some of the most commonly reported attitudinal issues include anglophobia, fear of social interactions, dishonour, fear of structuring phrases, sentences, and language, abrupt direct for verbalizing, gender difference on cognition, emotional hindrance, fear of failure, and toiling short term reminiscence.
There are a few affective factors that can impact second language acquisition in positive or negative ways depending on whether the emotion or attitude are positive or negative. Affective factors include inhibition, attitudes, level of anxiety, and self-esteem.
It helps to study the psychological factors that are possibly involved in languages learning. Psycholinguistics focuses on the application of the actual language and communication. It is necessary to make a decision in applying various methods that allow students to easily understand a language.
There are affective factors such as anxiety, motivation and self confidence that can influence English-learners. Learning a new language can be stressful because it is new. It may also cause identity conflict, language shock and culture shock.
In cognitive psychology, language plays an essential role in understanding the cognitive processes of any given person. Its importance is easy to recognize when looking at thinking and interactions with the help of different psychological approaches.
Psycholinguistics is the discipline that investigates and describes the psychological processes that make it possible for humans to master and use language. Psycholinguists conduct research on speech development and language development and how individuals of all ages comprehend and produce language.
The behaviorist theory says second language learners learn from repeated practice and being rewarded for correct answers. For the student to acquire the second language, the teacher must use reinforcement (a positive reward) after the student has produced the second language.
A cognitive theory of learning sees second language acquisition as a conscious and reasoned thinking process, involving the deliberate use of learning strategies. Learning strategies are special ways of processing information that enhance comprehension, learning or retention of information.
The most significant psychological factors for students' academic performance is their self-viability, motivation, stress and test nervousness for the subject they study. Teachers should in this way pick significant and bona fide assignments in which students will see utility for future calling.
With adolescent language learners, factors such as peer pressure, the presence of role models, and the level of home support can strongly affect the desire and ability to learn a second language.
As discussed by various researchers as stated above, the foremost psychological factors will be presented such as anxiety, shyness, lack of self-confidence and lack of motivation. These are the main causes why psychological factors have great effect on speaking English as a target language.
Language development is thought to proceed by ordinary processes of learning in which children acquire the forms, meanings, and uses of words and utterances from the linguistic input. Children often begin reproducing the words that they are repetitively exposed to.
The research shows that affective factors directly determine the proportion of language intake and input learners are capable to accept. Hence, affective factors can be considered to play a crucial role in SLA learning/teaching process.
Some of these factors include age, aptitude, native language characteristics, learning and language environment, motivation, and cognitive abilities.
Affective strategies deal with emotions, attitudes, motivation and values that have an impact on learners and language learning in an important way, including lowering anxiety, encouraging, taking emotional temperature. Good language learners control their attitudes and emotions about learning.
Burns and Joyce in Nunan (1999); Schwartz (2005); and Thornbury (2005) argue that psychological factors such as anxiety or shyness, lack of confidence, lack of motivation, and fear of mistakes are the factors commonly that hinder students from speaking.
It refers to the various internal states people experience that inhibit communication. Situations such as inattentiveness, lack of sleep, intoxication, stress, mental illnesses and many other factors may interfere with a good flow of communication. These are referred to as psychological barriers.
Selinker (1992), who coined the term 'interlanguage', mentions five cognitive processes related to L2 acquisition: language transfer, transfer of training, strategies of L2 language learning, L2 communication strategies, and generalisation of rules and principles.
The brain regions and networks involved in learning a language become stronger, adaptable, and quicker to respond, which can help improve other tasks, mental skills, and areas of life unrelated to direct communication or language learning.