苏大龙宁波大红鹰学院外国语学院
【Abstract】Basedontherelevantresearchfindingsinthefieldofsecondlanguageacquisition,thispapermainlydiscussestheinfluenceofcertainpersonalityfactorssuchasanxiety,extroversion,introversion,motivationinL2acquisition,andpointsoutthatsuchpersonalityfactorsarecloselyrelatedtotheefficiencyintheacquisitionandlearningprocess.
【Keywords】SLApersonalityanxietyextroversionintroversionmotivation
【中图分类号】H319【文献标识码】A【文章编号】1674－4810（2011）02－0035－03
IIntroduction
WiththedevelopmentofSecondLanguageAcquisition（SLA）research,peoplehavegraduallycometorealizetheimportanceofdiscoveringtheessenceofSLAandtheinfluencesofthecorrelatedfactorsthatcontributetotheefficiencyinsecondlanguagelearning.Asiswellknown,thelearnersdeterminelanguagelearningbythemselves.Somepeoplearemoresuccessfulthanothersintheprocessoflearning,becausesecondlanguage（L2）learnersvaryonanumberofdimensionstodowithpersonality,motivation,learningstyle,aptitudeandage.Toclaimthatinpidualsvaryintherateatwhichtheylearnorthelevelofcompetencetheyeventuallyattainisnotcontroversial.Indeed,itispartofmostlanguagelearners’andteachers’experience.Inthepastfewdecades,theresearchemphasisofsecondlanguageacquisitionhasshiftedfromteachingtolearning,andtheresearchonlearnerfactorshasreceivedmoreattention.Thesefactorsincludethecognitivefactors,personalityfactors,learningstrategy,etc.Itisarguedinrecentresearchthatsecondlanguagelearningisacomplexandgradualprocesswiththeinteractionofmultiplefactors.Learnersareactiveparticipantsinthelearningprocessandwillmakecontributionstosecondlearningintermsofthesefactors,andinpidualvariationsexist.
Personalitycharacteristicshavealsobeenregardedaspotentialinfluenceinsecondlanguagelearning.Personalityfactorswithinapersoncancontributeinsomewaytothesuccessoflanguagelearning.Althoughpersonalityfactorsaredifficulttodescribewithindefinablelimits,therehasbeenanincreasingawarenessofnecessityinL2researchandteachingtoexaminehumanpersonalityinordertofinesolutionstoperplexingproblems.（Brown,1994：134）
Personalityfactorsinhumanbehaviorincludethefollowingaspects:self－esteem,inhibition,risk－taking,anxiety,empathy,andextroversion,etc.Thispaperistoreviewanddiscusssomeimportantfactorsamongthem,mainlyonanxiety,extroversionandmotivation.
IIGeneralFeaturesoftheFactors
1．AnxietyandimplicationrelatedtoL2teachingandlearning
Anxietyisaparticularemotionalstateassociatedwithapprehensionorfear,usuallycausedbylearner’scompetitivenaturesfromthedailystudies（Ellis,1994：480）Asithasbeenstudiedinthepsychologicaldomain,anxietyisconsiderablyrelatedtosecondlanguageacquisition.Krashenpointsoutthatperformerswithself－confidenceandagoodself－imagetendtodobetterinsecondlanguageacquisitionandlowanxietyappearstobeconductivetosecondlanguageacquisition.
Anxietyhasbothpositiveandnegativesides.Ontheonehand,thepositiveeffectsofcompetitivenessbymeansofconstructingfacilitativeanxiety,alittlenervoustensioninthelearningprocessisagoodthinginsecondlanguagelearning,facilitativeanxietyisoneofthekeystosuccess（Brown,1994:142）.Ontheotherhand,anxietyhasitsnegativeside,itnegativelyinfluencethesecondlanguagelearning,especiallywithtimeapproachingforexamination,mostofthestudentstendtoexperiencealotofpressure.Tosomeextent,almostallstudentsshow,moreorless,anxietyinlearning.Theanxietyisanindicatorofpressurefromthecollegestudiesandthecompetitivejobmarket.InChina,almostalluniversitiesandcollegesstipulatethatastudentcannotgetgraduationcertificateifheorshehailsinanythreesubjectswithinthefouryearsofcollegeeducation.Englishisthesubjectthatstudentsoftenfailtopass.Besides,allcompaniesdeclarethattheydonotemployuniversitygraduateswithoutadiplomaandacertificateofCET－4.Thepressuremeansstudentshavetoattachtoomuchimportancetothetests,whichinevitablybringsaboutstudents’muchanxiety.Inaddition,someofthestudentsbecomeanxiouswhentheycouldn’tunderstandtheteacherandthetaperecording.Whateffectdoesanxietyhaveonlearning?Somestudentsthinkthatitcouldstimulatethemtospendmoretimeandenergyinlearning.Someofthem,however,insistthatanxietycouldaffecttheirobtaininginformation,especiallywhendoinglisteningandspeakingpractice.
Teachers,therefore,shouldbeawareoftheirstudents’anxiety,andbeabletounderstanditseffectonlearning,helpingstudentstobeawareoftheiranxietyandtrytoreducethenegativeeffectofit,encouragestudentstoraisetheirself－esteem,adapttorole－switching,anddevelopaskillfulerrorcorrectionapproach.Itisimportantforteacherstobuildafriendly,positive,supportiverelationshipwiththeirstudents.Therefore,teachersshouldfocustheireffortonhowtocreatethenegative－anxiety－freelearningenvironmentfortheirstudents.However,thereisatoughproblem,thatis,howmuchanxietyisappropriateforaL2learner?Asanxietyisavariabledifficulttomeasure,itisalsodifficulttoknowhowmuchanxietylearnersneedandhowmuchtheyhavealreadyhad,andhowmuchtheycanpossiblyendure.Theteachershavetheresponsibilitytocreatealightatmosphereinclassandavoidsettingunrealisticgoal.WiththeimprovementofELTmethodologyandpsycholinguistics,psychologicalissues,itwillbeeasierforteacherstobuildupafriend－to－friendcontactwithstudents.
2．Extroversion,IntroversionandtheImplicationinL2teaching
Extroversionandintroversionarepotentiallyimportantfactorsintheacquisitionofasecondlanguage.SomeresearcherssuggestthatpeoplewithextrovertedpersonalitiesaremoresuccessfulinL2learningthanintroverts.Somestudiessupporttherelationshipbetweensociableandoutgoingpersonalityandlanguagelearning,especiallyoralperformanceinthetargetlanguage.However,Naimon,Fronlich,SternandTodescofailedtofindacorrelationbetweenproficiencyandintroversionorextroversion.Krashenarguesthatanoutgoingpersonalitymaycontributeto“acquisition”.TheclassroomlearnermayalsobenefitfrombeingextrovertedbygettingmorepracticeinusingtheL2.Rossier（1978）didfindthathissubjects’oralfluencycorrelatedsignificantlywithextroversionorintroversionmeasuredbyEysenck’sPersonalityInventory.（Ellis,1985：120）McDonough（1981）saysself－ratingquestionnairesareinadequateinmeasuringextroversionorintroversionbecausetheydon’taccountforsomeimportantfactorssuchasassertiveness,emotionalstability,learningexperience,etc.
IntheclassroomofL2learning,teachersoftenthinktheintrovertsarenotasbrightasextroverts.Astheintrovertsarequietandreserved,teacherslikeextrovertsbecausetheycanmoreactivelyparticipateintheclassroomactivities,suchasdiscussion,debate,andpresentation,etc.Infact,suchaviewofextroversionismisleading.Extroversionistheextenttowhichapersonhasadeep－seatedneedtoreceiveegoenhancement,self－esteem,andasenseofwholenessfromotherpeopleasopposedtoreceivingthataffirmationwithoneself.Introversion,ontheotherhand,istheextenttowhichapersonderivesasenseofwholenessandfulfillmentapartfromareflectionofthisselffromotherpeople.（Brown,1994）
Infact,mostAlevelstudentsshowextrovertedbehavior.AllofthembelievethatextroversioncanhelpthemgetmoreopportunitiestopracticeEnglish.Incontrast,MostDandFlevelstudentsindicateintrovertedbehavior,butmoststudentsdesiretolearnthelanguageinordertopassCET－4,inwhichspeakingisnotrequired.Moststudentsthinkthattheylearnthelanguagemainlytodeveloplistening,readingandwritingabilitiesthatarenotmuchinfluencedbyintrovertedpersonality.Butstatisticsseemtosaythatintroversion,tosomeextent,doesaffectthelearners’learningoutcomes.Asaresult,teachersshouldencouragetheirstudents,especiallytheintrovertstoparticipateindifferentkindsofclassroomactivities.
3．MotivationsandImplicationforL2teaching
Givenmotivation,anyonecanlearnalanguage.Motivationisoneoftheimportantfactorsinthesecondlanguagelearning.Itdetermineswhetheralearnerembarksonatask,howmucheffortisputinandhowlonghecontinuestolearn.Therearetwotypesofextrinsicmotivationinsecondlanguagelearning:instrumentalmotivationandintegrativemotivation.Instrumentalmotivationisthedesiretolearnasecondlanguageandwishtointegratethemselveswithinthecultureofthesecondlanguagegroup,andthenmixwiththatsociety.LearnerswithintegrativemotivationareinterestedinthepeopleandthecultureofthetargetlanguagegroupandwanttoidentifywiththeL2speechcommunitybylearningitslanguage,justasthechildseekstoidentifywithhisparentsbylearningtheirlanguage.
Instrumentalmotivationencouragesthelearnerstowithspeakerstoachievecertainaims.Languagelearningmayceaseassoonasenoughislearnedtoattainaspecialgoal.Integrativemotivationencouragesthelearnerstointeractwithspeakersofthetargetlanguageoutofsheerinterest.Andthuslearnerswithaninstrumentalorientationaremorelikelytoengagein“receptivelearning”sincetheyseenothreatfromthetargetlanguagegroup,unlikethosewithaninstrumentalorientationwhoaremorelikelytoengagein“defensivelearning”sincetheyfeartomixwiththetargetlanguagegroup.
Learnerswithanintegrativemotivationtendtoachievegreaterproficiencythanlearnerswithinstrumentalmotivation.VarioussurveysonmotivationsrevealthatonlyasmallpercentageofChinesestudentspossessintegrativemotivation.ThereasonwhytheylearnEnglishisthatitwillbeusefulforcertain“instrumental”goal,suchaspassingexaminations,etc.Integrativemotivationismoreeffective.Therefore,teachersshouldhelpstudentscultivatetheintegrativemotivation,trytosupportandencouragethestudentsratherthancriticizethem,andcreatewarmandacceptingatmospheresandenvironmentofsecondlanguagelearning,trytopromotestudents’persistenteffortandfavorableattitudetowardlearning.Forexample,teacherscanencouragestudentstoorganizeorattendvariouskindsofEnglishactivities,suchasEnglishcorners,Englishsaloons,lectures,parties,games,etc.Teacherscanusetheseeffectivemeansofmotivatinglearnersbycapturingtheirattentionandcuriosity.
IIIConclusion
ThebriefdiscussionoftheabovemajorpersonalityfactorsinL2learningoffersasurveyoftherelevantresearchfindings.Althoughourknowledgeaboutthefactorsthatinfluencesecondlanguageteachingisstillquitelimited,itisobviousthatthelearners’personalityfactorsconstituteamajorfactorintheproficiencyofsecondlanguagelearning.TeachersshouldbewellawareofthesefactorsandhelpthelearnerstohaveaproperanddeeperunderstandingoftheprocessinL2learning,and,mostofall,learntoeffectivelyapplytheprinciplesconcerningthesefactorstotheirlanguageteaching.
References
［1］EllisRod.UnderstandingSecondLanguageAcquisition.［M］.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1985
［2］Skehan,P.InpidualDifferenceinSecond－LanguageLearning［M］.London:EdwardArnoldPublishers,1989：49
［3］Brown,H.D.PrinciplesofLanguageLearningandTeaching［M］.PearsonEducation,Inc,2005
［4］EllisRod.TheStudyofSecondLanguageAcquisition［M］.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1994
［5］Child,D.PsychologyandtheTeacher:ApplicationofPsychologyfortheTeacher［M］.London:CassellEducationalLtd.,1986
［6］Krashen,S.SecondLanguageAcquisitionandSecondLanguageLearning［M］.Hertfordshire:PracticeHallInternational,1981
〔责任编辑：王以富〕