On Affective Factors of English Education.doc

on affective factors of english education nowadays, with the prevalence of exam-oriented education in primary and secondary schools, more and more teachers tend to attach great importance to the cognitive factors of students learning while neglecting the affective ones. they over-emphasize the importance of memorization and accumulation automatically without considering students true feelings. consequently, students have to not only spend a lot of time learning what the teachers have taught by heart, but also deal with piles of exam papers in order to gain high scores in their final exams. as time goes on, students will feel tired of learning under such circumstances, which will in turn impair their interest of learning. finally, they will lose motivation and play a passive in learning. during the early period of this century, dewey, montessori and vygotsky had focused their researches on students cognitive abilities. however, such perspectives of researches have certain limits. with the application of humanistic psychology to education, george lsacc brown and gloria castillo stressed the necessity of combining the cognitive and affective domains in order to educate the students effectively. ernest hilgard also recognized the need for an integrative approach: purely cognitive theories of learning will be rejected unless a role is assigned to affectivity”(jane, 1999, p.7). moreover, teaching methodologies, such as suggestopedia, silent way, community language learning, total physical response have laid emphasis on the affect of the learners. this paper mainly discusses the importance of affect in english education. whats more, it lists several methods for teachers to apply their affect to their teaching, and also methods for students to obtain affect in their learning. affective education1.1 definition of affect the term “affect” is used interchangeably with “affectivity”, and it has long been interpreted in a variety of ways (zheng, 2004, p.60). it is a synonym of emotion with an even broader range. in the present context, affect will be considered in aspects of emotions, feelings, moods, dispositions and preferences.1.2 categories of affect of all the factors that determine students ability to acquire a second language, individual affect has a strong influence on the students. the way students feel about themselves can either enhance or impede their learning; thus, the affect would have a positive or negative influence on the students. it should be noted that the various types of affect are interacted with each other and it is impossible to be separated. the following are the aspects of affect, which are of essential importance in english education. 1.2.1 anxiety anxiety is the affective factor which is most likely to obstruct students learning. gardner claims that language anxiety is fear or apprehension occurring when a learner is expected to perform in a second or foreign language (jane, 1999, p.59). this anxiety is closely linked to students performance in the classroom. the negative aspect of anxiety, also known as harmful anxiety, can decrease students motivation, impair their language performance and even reduce their self-confidence. as a result, they will be unwilling to prepare the lessons before class or to be volunteers in class. with harmful anxiety, even the most attractive and the most innovative teaching methods tend to be less effective. whereas the positive affect can greatly benefit students learning process. therefore, teachers should help their students to reduce anxiety, thus turning the harmful anxiety to its helpful side. not only can teachers enable students to recognize the symptoms of anxiety, but they can create a comfortable atmosphere for students to ease their anxiety as well. 1.2.2 inhibition in language learning, mistakes and faults are inevitable. students in primary schools are not likely to be inhibited and thus can participate freely in the learning activities. however, students in secondary schools will probably suffer from inhibition as they are aware of the necessity of maintaining their self-esteem in case of losing face. teachers criticism may hurt their self-esteem, which will leave them to be more inhibited. with the advent of language teaching approaches concerning the reduction of inhibition in learning situations, teachers can stimulate their students to communicate freely. for example, they can establish appropriate criteria for the correction of students mistakes. some students prefer to have explicit error corrections while others think that they are able to correct the mistakes themselves. therefore, teachers have to deal with different situations according to students real need. 1.2.3 self-esteem self-esteem has something to do with the evaluations one makes about ones own worth. it is a basic requirement both for the cognitive and the affective activities. nathaniel branden, a psychologist, claims that all problems, except those that have a biological origin, are related to low self-esteem (jane, 1999, p.87). students who suffer from low self-esteem may have more difficulties while exerting their potential. since childhood, students have already formed the concept of self-esteem. some students have such a strong sense of self-esteem that if they are treated improperly, they will feel frustrated about their learning. thus, it is better for teachers to create an environment that is conducive to students self-esteem. in such an environment, students are more likely to be loved, valued and appreciated. by this way can students receive affective support during their learning process, and finally their self-esteem can be promoted. 1.2.4 motivation motivation is one of the most important elements in successful language learning. chomsky clarified the importance of activating learners motivation: the truth of the matter is that about ninety-nine percent of teaching is making the students feel interested in the material (jane, 1999, p.13). motivation can be divided into two orientations: the instrumental motivation and the integrative motivation. the former relates to the practical reasons in language learning, such as considering the language as a tool for getting a job or having a promotion, and the latter refers to the desire to learn the language in order to become part of the target culture. the current situation is that most schools still have teacher-orientated classrooms instead of student-centered ones. the teachers almost dominate the whole class and the students have to learn what have been taught passively in order to please their teachers and parents, rather than learn out of their own curiosity and interest. to improve this situation, teachers themselves should be motivated by the pleasure of participating in the classroom activities first, and then students would be influenced by their motivation and increasingly have the interest of learning.1.3 functions of affect hamilton affirms that affect is encoded to various degrees in the cognitive schemata of memory (jane, 1999). it plays a very important role in learning-that is, in the process of changing a learners inner resources so that they will become more useful. it functions in the following aspects :(jane, 1999, p.55) 1. affective data are stored in the same memory networks with other kinds of data, and may even be the kinds of data around which those networks are organized. 2. affective data may call up from long-term memory certain other kinds of data, and these extra data may act as clutter on the workable, using up processing capacity and keeping the kinds of data we have interested in from being processed efficiently. 3. the affective side o