Affective Factors

Affective factors are emotional factors which influence learning.

They can have a negative or positive effect.

By far the most potent Affective Factor is Self Esteem which refers to how you feel about yourself. Do you feel capable? Or do you feel hopeless? Your personal level of self-esteem can play a crucial role in how well you acquire a second language.

There are three levels of self-esteem. Global, situation and task

Global refers to the permanent level of esteem we usually reach in adulthood
Situational refers to our level of self-esteem in a given situation (e.g.when learning a language, meeting with a lawyer, presenting to 200 people in English)
Task refers to our self esteem when pursuing a particular task (e.g. interviewing a new recruit, negotiating a new pay deal, carrying out a disciplinary procedure)

We are all familiar with what it means to be extrovert or introvert. However, there are some false assumptions about which type is better at learning another language. There are no studies that definitively prove that an extrovert or introvert is better at learning a language more quickly.

However, an extrovert may be more inclined to use their newly learned skills in public more quickly than an introvert. Conversely, it has also been shown that intorverts perform better when it comes to pronunication.

Willingness to Communicate (WTC) is exactly as it seems: are you ready and excited to communicate with others (in English) or are you hesitant and shy?

In general, the higher the level of WTC the quicker the route to language proficiency.

Inhibition refers to how guarded you are. Are you focused on protecting your ego? Are you worried about making mistakes?

Inhibition plays a very large role in the acquisition of a second language and is often related to previous experience in learning a language (remember how awkward you felt during oral exams at school?).

We aim to provide a safe space where you can feel secure and conequently lower your inhibitions.

Do you feel comfortable making intellectual guesses? Or is the fear of embarrasment too much? This is what "risk taking" as an affective domain entails.

If you are more likely to "risk it" with your sentences or even your pronunciation you are more likely to progress more rapidly in your acquisiton of English

Everybody experiences anxiety at some point in their life.

However there is a specific kind of anxiety known as "language anxiety" that has been shown to affect second language acquisition.

This anxiety is not a permanent trait but rather stems from a fear of speaking a new language and the potential social / academic backlash that can accompany it.

We always assess the source of your anxiety and work actively to reduce it.

Although empathy and learning a second language may seem unrelated, research has shown that they in fact go hand-in-hand.

Empathy, and expressing that empathy, is tied strongly to verbal and non-verbal cues.

The more you can reach into yourself and relinquish your ego, the more rapidly you will acquire and want to use English.

Self-efficacy is strongly tied to self-esteem and refers to your belief that you can successfully accomplish something.

There is a strong tie between your self-efficacy and your ability to learn English with some people even suggesting that it is at the heart of learning a second language.

Studies have shown that higher levels of self-efficacy can result in more proficient and faster acquisition of a second language such as English.

Affective Factors

Affective factors are emotional factors which influence learning.

They can have a negative or positive effect.

By far the most potent Affective Factor is Self Esteem which refers to how you feel about yourself. Do you feel capable? Or do you feel hopeless? Your personal level of self-esteem can play a crucial role in how well you acquire a second language.

There are three levels of self-esteem. Global, situation and task

Global refers to the permanent level of esteem we usually reach in adulthood

Situational refers to our level of self-esteem in a given situation (e.g.when learning a language, meeting with a lawyer, presenting to 200 people in English)

Task refers to our self esteem when pursuing a particular task (e.g. interviewing a new recruit, negotiating a new pay deal, carrying out a disciplinary procedure)

We are all familiar with what it means to be extrovert or introvert. However, there are some false assumptions about which type is better at learning another language. There are no studies that definitively prove that an extrovert or introvert is better at learning a language more quickly.

However, an extrovert may be more inclined to use their newly learned skills in public more quickly than an introvert. Conversely, it has also been shown that intorverts perform better when it comes to pronunication.

Willingness to Communicate (WTC) is exactly as it seems: are you ready and excited to communicate with others (in English) or are you hesitant and shy?

In general, the higher the level of WTC the quicker the route to language proficiency.

Inhibition refers to how guarded you are. Are you focused on protecting your ego? Are you worried about making mistakes?

Inhibition plays a very large role in the acquisition of a second language and is often related to previous experience in learning a language (remember how awkward you felt during oral exams at school?).

We aim to provide a safe space where you can feel secure and conequently lower your inhibitions.

Do you feel comfortable making intellectual guesses? Or is the fear of embarrasment too much? This is what "risk taking" as an affective domain entails.

If you are more likely to "risk it" with your sentences or even your pronunciation you are more likely to progress more rapidly in your acquisiton of English

Everybody experiences anxiety at some point in their life.

However there is a specific kind of anxiety known as "language anxiety" that has been shown to affect second language acquisition.

This anxiety is not a permanent trait but rather stems from a fear of speaking a new language and the potential social / academic backlash that can accompany it.

We always assess the source of your anxiety and work actively to reduce it.

Although empathy and learning a second language may seem unrelated, research has shown that they in fact go hand-in-hand.

Empathy, and expressing that empathy, is tied strongly to verbal and non-verbal cues.

The more you can reach into yourself and relinquish your ego, the more rapidly you will acquire and want to use English.

Self-efficacy is strongly tied to self-esteem and refers to your belief that you can successfully accomplish something.

There is a strong tie between your self-efficacy and your ability to learn English with some people even suggesting that it is at the heart of learning a second language.

Studies have shown that higher levels of self-efficacy can result in more proficient and faster acquisition of a second language such as English.