Thursday, January 31, 2013

Learner Factors in Language Acquisition


A.   Introduction
Every people need language. Because language can be regarded as a communication system that relates something to be communicated with something that communicates, a message on the one hand with a set of sign or symbols on the other (Soekemi, 2000, p. 3). Language is a tool of communication therefore language cannot be separated from human life.  They try to understand what others mean by language. Language can help them to know what other want.  Every time language is always developed, especially in young learners’ world. Young learners like to improve their language depends on their social and psychology.
            Young people like to switch the language between first language and second language. That is not only happened in informal situation but also in formal situation. Then, the language that they used depends on their psychological. And environment and habit are influencing young learners’ psychological and teacher one of model to teach young learners’ language.
            Teacher cannot teach a language without psychological theory of the language learner and of the language learning process (Stern, 1983, p. 317). The young learners many times make their own language and the teacher should explore their language to analyze the psychological theory and the teacher should guide the young learners to use better language.
             It is clear that young learners are learning two languages simultaneously acquire them by the use of similar strategies. They are learning two first languages and the key to success is in distinguishing separate contexts for the two languages. In the reality, the acquisition of both languages in bilingual for learner is slightly slower than the normal schedule for first acquisition. 
            According to Jung (Jung, 1981), a person with emotional problems is likely to deviate markedly from the common verbal associations on his speech community.  It also happened to the learners when they use their language. Emotional also influence it. Then, social surrounding also influence their language used.
            In this paper will explain the background of three schools which have different ability to use foreign language or second language as their language. Here will explain the factors which make the different ability to use second language. The schools are Sekolah Ciputra, SMP YPPI 2 Surabaya, and SMP Antartika Surabaya.
1.    Sekolah Ciputra
            Sekolah Ciputra is the largest International Baccalaureate (IB) World School in Indonesia and the only IB school in Surabaya and East Java to offer all three International Baccalaureate programs.  These programs span the years from Play Group to Year 12. The IB Primary Years Program (PYP) provides the educational framework for our students in Play Group, Kindergarten and the Elementary School, the IB Middle Years Program for Years 7-10 and the IB Diploma Program for Years 11-12. Currently, students going into Year 11 are also able to choose a science or humanities strand in the two-year Indonesian Program which leads to local matriculation.
            Sekolah Ciputra provides a rigorous international education, one which enables students to take an active role in any society while retaining and valuing the customs and traditions of their own cultural backgrounds. The curriculum is broad and balanced with programmes that support the growth of the developing child, encompassing social, physical, ethical, emotional and cultural needs in addition to strong academic development.
            The facilities are excellent, providing students with access to a running track and football fields, gymnasium, basketball courts, Art, Music and Drama rooms, computer laboratories, technology rooms and science laboratories. The school is in the second year of a four year project to provide interactive technology to every classroom.
Program across the school are delivered in English by qualified and experienced native English speaking expatriate teachers and IB trained Indonesian teachers. The school enrolls students from Indonesia as well as from many countries around the world and works with parents to provide language support to meet the needs of individual students. The language which used in this school is English. All of people in this school fluently in second language.

2.    SMP YPPI 2 Surabaya
            SMP YPPI 2 Surabaya has diverse activities and achievements regional and national. The learning situation and various facilities used optimally in improving students and teachers. Students and parents believe that YPPI is nowhere fitting for growth the nation.
            The facilities in SMP YPPI 2 Surabaya are excellent. The facilities are each class has digital projector, air conditioner, and locker. This school has many laboratories, such as physic, biology, electronic, computer media, and language digital. Besides there are music room, art room, aula, library, and big yard.
            This school has program, such as the educational program has been completed (MY IPPT), students exchange with educational abroad, character building, learning Mandarin Chinese, and many activities like wushu and computer educational program. This school uses bilingual language, English and Indonesian. And it makes the students able to speak foreign (English) language in the middle level.

3.    SMP Antartika Surabaya
            SMP Antartika Surabaya is public school which located in poor economic environment. Almost the students in this school are from poor economic and situations. Almost of the students cannot speak their national language (Indonesia) as well as their mother language (Javanese language).
 The situation and facilities in this school are different from two schools above. This school has minimum facilities. This school has small yard, simple library and only has biology laboratory. In this school has conversation subject to support their foreign language (English). But because of their environment doesn’t support them, they hard to use English as their language communication although in simple conversation.

B.     Factors
            There is no doubt at all about the importance of examining personality factors in building a theory of second language acquisition. If we were to devise theories on second language acquisition or teaching methodologies that were based only on cognitive considerations, we would be omitting the most fundamental side of human behavior. There are seven factors which can influence students’ ability to speak foreign language as their second language (Brown, 2000). They are :

1.    The affective domain
Affect refers to emotion or feeling. The affective domain is the emotional side of human behavior and it may be juxtaposed to the cognitive side. The development of affective stated or feelings involve a variety of personality factors, feelings both about their selves and about others with whom we come into contact.
2.    Self-esteem
Self-esteem is probably the most pervasive aspect of any human behavior. Mallinowski (1923) noted that all human beings have a need for phatic communication- defining oneself and finding acceptance in expressing that self in relation to valued others. Personality development universally involves the growth of a person’s concept of self, acceptance of self, and reflection of self as seen in the interaction between self and others.
3.    Inhibition
All human beings build sets of defenses to protect their ego. The new born baby has no concept of life. He will learn from his environment about concept of life. In adolescence, the physical, emotional, and cognitive bring on mounting defensive inhibition to protect fragile ego, to ward of ideas, experiences, and feelings that threaten to dismantle the organization of values and beliefs on which appraisals of self-esteem have been founded.
4.    Risk-taking
Risk-taking is important characteristics of successful learning of second language. Learners have to be able to gamble a bit, to be willing to try out hunches about the language and take the risk to be wrong. Bebe (1983, p. 40)  described some of the negative ramifications that foster fear of risk-taking both in the classroom and in natural settings.
5.    Anxiety
The construct of anxiety plays an important role in second language acquisition. It is associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension, or worry (Scovel, 1978).
6.    Empathy
Empathy is the process of putting yourself into someone else’s shoes of reaching beyond the self to understand what another person is feeling. Language is one of the primary means of empathizing, but nonverbal communication facilitates the process of empathizing and must not be overlooked.
7.    Introversion and Extroversion
Introversion and extroversion are potentially important factors in the acquisition of second language. Both are the extent to which a person has a deep-seated need to receive ego enhancement, self-esteem, and a sense of wholeness from other people as opposed to receiving the affirmation within oneself. It actually needs other people in order to feel good. But extroverts are not necessarily loud-mouthed and talkative.

  1. Discussion
From three schools above, the students have different background. Sekolah ciputra always use English as their language. And the families always support their children to speak English. So, the students have big motivation to speak English. But sometimes if the students get angry, they will speak in Indonesia or Javanese. So, in this case the affection domain is influence of someone in language. They also learn to speak English since they were child. it has been observed for centuries that young children seem to learn a second language ‘more easily’ than adults (Stern, 1983, p. 361). Children are more easily to memorize new learning than adults. In this school, since in kindergarten has used English as their language. A child learns the language of its social surrounding. Inhibition factor plays here.
In this school, all of the factors which can influence English as their language are playing here. The students do not anxiety and do not need take the risk. Their environment supports them to speak English. So, they will empathy to speak English and they feel extroversion.
In the second school, SMP YPPI 2 Surabaya comes from middle background students’ family. It means the family from middle economic and education. So, it makes students easier to learn English from their family. Because almost of students’ family can speak English.   The social status of the second language in relation on first language, group relation, economic, or politic factors, are likely to influence motivation to learn a second language (Stern, 1983, p. 378).
Learning in environment is also of importance to general and theoretical psychology (Stern, 1983, p. 304). The psychology is particular interested in the interplay of stability and change in man. And learning is also general concept which refers to the modifications and adaptations of organisms to their environment. Self-esteem in this part is so help learner to speak another language.
In this school, the students not too notice their grammar. Osgood and Sebeok (1954) in (Stern, 1983) that grammar is not to important but the important thing is the psychological of the learners when they use the foreign language. The net effect for psychological approach to language behavior was a reorganization of the complexity of that behavior. The important thing is they can communicate by that language and they know how to use that language.
The students can learn grammar in the class. Then, the teacher asks the students to apply the grammar in their daily speaking. In the class teacher should correct if the students have mistakes. The teacher should give right manner when give students correction. If the teacher makes the students offense, it will be influence student’s psychology.
Here the teacher should help the students to build their confident to speak English, because they have self-esteem to speak English. Before going to the students, the teacher must learn to speak English first, such as greeting, parting, common, and other simple conversation. It will support students’ ability.
The last school has difference and lowest school from two others. SMP Antartika is the lowest students’ ability and facilities. Students’ families in this school have low economic and knowledge in education, moreover foreign language. If they find people who speak foreign language, they will sneer. They are taboo with people who speak foreign language.
When a student tries to speak English with their friend or teacher, other will sneer the student who speaks English. It makes students anxiety when they speak English and afraid to take the risk. When the teacher asks, why the student doesn’t want to speak English, the student answers those they afraid to sneer by their friend. They have big anxiety when they will speak foreign language.
Besides not all of the teacher support the students to speak foreign language. Not all of the teacher can speak English, although greeting and parting. It is different with concept of empathy. The concept of empathy which has been used in clinical and personality psychology has been applied to the ability of the second language learner to identify with the communicative behavior of users of the target language (Stern, 1983, p. 381). The situation in this school does not give full support for the students to speak foreign language. Actually, the headmaster decides to give the students conversation as subject in the class. But in reality, the teacher who can help the students to speak English only the headmaster and English teachers.
To the tendency to withdraw from social interaction and be preoccupied with inner thoughts and feeling (introversion) and the tendency to be outgoing and interested in people and things in the environment (extroversion) (Eysenck, 1970). The students in this school have small interaction to apply their English as their foreign or second language. That is not only happened in the school but also in home. The society in their home knows nothing about English. They still surprise if someone speak in English. This condition can’t help the students to apply their ability. Actually children learn their language from their environment. Stern (1983, p. 293) stated in his book that “proportion or aspects could be explained most convincingly as the result of environmental influences and learning”. Social is strong aspect which influences students’ ability and knowledge about everything that students want to know.
The fact which has explained above also has relation with inhibition of young students. The inhibition is relates with someone’s ego. When someone was born, he knows nothing about what they need. He will learn from his environment. From his environment, someone will build their ego. In adolescence, he has fragile ego. Because when someone adolescence, their soul unstable. So, the language that used in his society will influence someone’s language. And the society will build the characteristic and psychological. Characteristics and psychological of students also influence students’ ability. That was I stated in the previous paragraph.
The condition of learning and the learning process are influence students’ learning. Expected possibilities of a more profound analysis of foreign language use which could prove to be very helpful to foreign language learning (Clark & Clark, 1977). The teacher will find many difficulties if the students do not confident to practice. There are two main condition which can help learners learn foreign language; environment condition and classroom condition. Many researchers believe that the condition which learner should study in the first place was not of language learning in the target language environment and outside the classroom or in informal teaching.
Teaching learning process in language acquisition can apply outside the class not only in the inside the class. In the educative society’ teaching is not confined to formal school setting. If the learning does in informal condition, the students are more enjoy practicing the language. The natural language setting and the educational treatment should complement each other.
The important for the interpretation of the language learning process is the specific condition. The various determinants impinging on language learning like social context and learner characteristic. It is the educational treatment that can most readily be modified and adjusted to different social and language environments and to individual learner factors. Sometimes, teacher needs give the students special treatment to increase their ability in using English as their language.
The best reserved for general tendencies or overall characteristics of the approach employed by the language learner, leaving learning of the approach employed by the language forms of observable learning behavior, more or less consciously employed by the learner. Active planning strategy can help students to improve their language.  
Conclusion
            Each student always has reason, why they cannot master language. Besides each student has different ability to master a second language or foreign language. It depends on the surrounding which influence student’s growing. Family, environment, and teaching learning process in the class are most influence the learner to mastering second language acquisition. Each learner has different ability to produce their own language acquisition.
            There are seven factors which influence the learner to produce language acquisition well. They are the affective domain, self-esteem, inhibition, risk-taking, anxiety, empathy, introversion and extroversion. The factors which will they get are from their own learners’ surrounding. The support from their own surrounding can help them to produce and use their second or foreign language. 
           


References


smpantartika.wordpress.com
sekolahyppi.net
http://www.sekolahciputra.sch.id/

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