1.
a. Anxiety is associated with feelings of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and
worry. At global level, trait anxiety is a more permanent predisposition to be anxious.
At situational level, state anxiety is experienced in relation to some particular action
or event, the language learning, for instance. There are debilitative anxiety and
facilitative anxiety. The latter, in some study of SLA, is said to be beneficial, or even
one of the keys to success, on second language learning.
b. Empathy is the process of “putting yourself into someone else’s shoes”, of
reaching beyond the self to understand what other person is feeling. Communications
require a sophisticated degree of empathy. We need to transcend our ego boundaries
so that we can send and receive messages clearly. Therefore, the problem of empathy
is acute in a second language learning situation, which involves learners-speakers or
learners-hearers.
c. Extroversion is the extent to which a person has a very need to receive ego
enhancement, self esteem, and sense of wholeness from other people rather than from
himself or herself. In the light of an appropriate definition of extroversion, it may be a
factor of oral communicative competence, but not listing, reading, and writing. But
still, there is no apparent evidence that extroversion helps or hinders the process of
SLA.
d. Flow theory claims that as a result of the intrinsically rewarding experience
associated with flow, people push themselves to perform better. And flow research has
found that intrinsic involvement is of much importance for learners in attaining
proficiency in second language.
e. Second language learning involves the acquisition of a second identity. This
creation of a new identity is at the heart of culture learning, or acculturation. This
includes a reorientation of thinking and feeling to the new culture, not to mention
communication, if necessary.
f. In the four successive stages of cultural acquisition, mastery or skillful fluency in
the second language occurs somewhere at the beginning of the
third—recovery—stage of acculturation because the pressure to acquire the language
is neither too overwhelming (such as culture shock of stage 2) nor too week (such as
assimilation or adaptation of stage 4) but appropriate in the gradual recovery of stage
3, or culturally based critical period.
g. The rapid growth of English as an international language has stimulated interesting
but often controversial discussion about the status of English in its varieties of what is
now commonly called world Englishes. Moreover, the process of nativization of
English has spread from the inner circle of countries (such as U.S. and U.K.) to an
outer circle of countries include India, Singapore, and others.
2.
According to Gardner and Lambert, there are instrumental and integrative orientations
to motivation. The instrumental orientation refers to acquiring a language as a means
for attaining instrumental goals, such as furthering a career, reading technical material,
translation, and so forth. And the integrative orientation describes that learners wish to
integrate themselves into the culture of the second language. However, they are not
mutually exclusive. Both of them are important factors accounting for successful
language learning. As for motivation, intrinsic motivation means that there is no
apparent reward except for the intrinsically motivated activity itself. People with
intrinsic motivation aim at attaining feelings of competence and self-determination.
On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is fueled by anticipation of a reward from
outside and beyond the self. And according to my personal experience, intrinsic
motivation is more lasting and powerful for the people who are learning English. For
example, people who memorize dozens of theories of SLA for avoiding being flunked
and getting higher grades on this course (extrinsic motivation) are usually “suffering”
from studying them, while the others who are really interested in learning languages
and understanding those theories and who consider it a means of self-actualization
(intrinsic motivation) are usually more effective and efficient on studying them.
3.
The five parameters of Schumann’s model of social distance are as followed:
1. Dominance. In relation to the target language group, is the second language group
politically, culturally, or economically dominant or nondominant?
2. Integration. Is the integration pattern of the L2 group assimilation, acculturation,
or preservation?
3. Cohesiveness. Is the L2 group cohesive? What is the size of L2 group?
4. Congruence. Are the cultures of two groups congruent?
5. Permanence. How long does the L2 group propose to stay in the area of TL?
According to Schumann, a “good” language learning situation is that the L2 group is
nondominant in relation to the TL group, both groups desire assimilation for the L2
group, the L2 group is small and noncohesive, the two cultures are congruent, and the
L2 group intends to remain in the TL area for a long time. Under such conditions, the
case of American Jewish immigrants living in Israel is the example of “good”
language learning situation.