語言學英語dissertation寫作-Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis 

 

Krashen, a U.S. linguist, summarized a complete second-language acquisition model in 1985 based on a large number of observation and practice. It is referred to as “Monitor Theory” and comprises of five hypotheses: 1) the Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis, 2) the Monitor Hypothesis, 3) the Input Hypothesis, 4) the Natural Order Hypothesis, and 5) the Affective Filter Hypothesis. Of these hypotheses, the Affective Filter Hypothesis is considered as one of the key factors for second language acquisition. The concept of “Affective Filter” was first proposed by Dulay and Burt as early as in 1977 and defined as “an internal processing system which subconsciously prevents language learners from language intake according to the elements called “affections” by psychologists.” In 1985, Krashen put forward the Affective Filter Hypothesis on that basis. This hypothesis argues that learners’ affective factors will filter the language input, and the filter effect will directly affect the amount of language input the learners can accept. Learners with stronger motivation and confidence can acquire a great deal of language input and convert the input into language competence. Conversely, when language learners are of little learning motivation, low confidence, or strong anxiety, the affective barriers will be reinforced and then the affective filter will get higher accordingly, decreasing the language input acquired by the learners.

 

According to Krashen, the affective filter not only cause differences of language learning among the second language learners, but also the differences between second language acquisition and first language acquisition. It is generally known that there is no affective filter in children’s first language acquisition. That’s why all normal children can acquire their native language. But in the process of second language acquisition the affective factors begin to take effect, which makes the second language acquisition more and more difficult, and learners also show different levels of learning. Language acquisition mechanism plays an important role in language acquisition. Besides, effective and comprehensible language input, moderate affective filter are essential factors for language acquisition.

 

Krashen considers a learner’s affective state as a filter, the true meaning of which is that it works prior to language acquisition mechanism. That is to say, not all the language entering into the learner's head has opportunity to be “acquired” by the learner, and only the unfiltered language materials can play a role in learning. This explains why the differences exist in learners’ foreign language proficiency in the same language learning environment and language acquisition mechanism. It is the “affective filter” that plays a critical role in language learning. Moreover, plenty of effective language input is a contributing factor for language acquisition, while the affective filter is a limiting factor for language acquisition. Therefore, how to reduce the affective filter, enhance learners’ learning motivation, improve their confidences, and reduce their learning anxiety has become the focus of the study.

1985年，美國語言學家克拉申(Krashen)通過大量的觀察與實踐，總結出一套完整的第二語言習得模型，被稱為“語言監控”理論（The Monitor Theory）,由五大假說構成。1)語言習得與學習假說（the Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis）,2)語言控制調節假說（the Monitor Hypothesis),3)語言輸入假說（the Input Hypothesis）,4)自然順序假說（the Natural Order Hypothesis),5)情感過濾假說（the Affective Filter Hypothesis）。其中的情感過濾假說被視為二語習得的關鍵因素之一。 早在1977年，Dulay和Burt就最先提出了“情感過濾”這個概念。定義為：“一種內在的處理系統，它潛意識地依據心理學家稱為‘情感’的因素，阻止學習者對語言的吸收。”1985年，克拉申在此基礎上提出了情感過濾假說，該假說認為，學習者的情感因素對語言輸入進行過濾，該過濾作用直接影響著學習者接受語言輸入的多與少。如果學習者的學習動機強，自信心高，那么情感對語言輸入的過濾作用就小，學習者就能獲得大量的語言輸入，并轉化為語言能力。反之，當學習者學習動機缺乏，自信心不高或焦慮感強時，情感屏障就會增強，情感過濾量就增多，學習者獲得的語言輸入就越少。  

    

按照克拉申的觀點，情感過濾不僅可以解釋第二語言學習者之間在學習上有差異，也能解釋第二語言習得與母語習得之間的差異。 眾所周知，兒童在習得母語的過程中，不存在情感過濾，因此正常兒童都能習得母語，但在后天的二語習得過程中，出現了情感過濾，第二語言的學習就變得越來越困難，學習者也表現出不同的學習水平。對語言習得而言，語言習得機制起著主要作用，此外，有效的可理解的語言輸入、情感過濾的適度也是習得語言必不可少的因素。

   

克拉申將學習者的情感狀態看作一個過濾器，情感過濾器的真正意義在于它是在語言習得機制之前發生作用的，也就是說并不是所有的進入學習者頭腦中的語言都有機會被學習者“學習”，只有未被過濾掉的語言材料才能在學習中發揮作用。 這就解釋了為什么在相同的語言學習環境和語言習得機制作用下，有的學習者外語水平高，有的外語水平低，“情感過濾器”在其中起著關鍵作用。另外大量有效的語言輸入是習得語言的促進因素，情感過濾則是習得語言的限制因素。因此，如何降低情感過濾，增強學習者學習動機，提高自信心和減少學習焦慮就成為了研究的重點。

Interpretation of Reading Information Processing by Double Structures Theory

Interpretation of Reading Comprehension by Double Structures Theory#p#分頁標題#e#

Perfect state

Both Goodman and Smith believe that reading is a process of guessing the textual content for readers. Goodman once said: “reading is a psycholinguistic guessing game. It involves an interaction between thought and language. The author encodes his thought into language, and then the reader decodes the language into thought.”

Grellet also maintains that reading is a constant process of guessing (Grellet, 2000).

 

Zhu Chuan, a Chinese scholar, said: “English reading is a complicated psychological and physiological process, which requires the learners to understand the author's intention between the language symbols by virtue of their own reading abilities to make the symbols meaningful, thus to communicate with the author in thought.” (Zhu Chun, 1994).

 

Words in reading materials are the carriers of information, by which the author convey information to the outside world, and the readers extract the information.

Double structures theory is a language learning theory put forward by Professor Yin Demo of Xihua University through summarizing teaching practice and experience of more than ten years, and combining with his explorations and researches on teaching method theories. The theory indicates that there are both Chinese and English thinking structures in the brains of Chinese English-learners; therefore, there are also both Chinese and English knowledge structures and first language cognitive structures. Knowledge structure is a knowledge framework with open, dynamic, universal and multi-level characteristics, which is constructed by someone for certain purpose and composed of various knowledge in certain combination way and ratio relation. While cognitive structure is a general term of the entire cognition process of a person's psychological activities such as perception, attention, memory, imagination and thinking. It dynamically organizes all the elements of personal cognition and their interrelation, and is established on the base of the linkage with the past experience. Knowledge structure and cognitive structure will accompany English learners all along. The new and old knowledge interact and are reorganized by the cognitive structure, thus creating a system of larger double structures, which includes the original smaller double structures. And the knowledge structure and cognitive structure coexist parallelly, work cooperatively, and exclude, penetrate and transform mutually.

Reading comprehension is a process that the two ways of information processing (from bottom to top and from top to bottom) interact and transform simultaneously, and it is also a process of combining existing background knowledge to get an overall comprehension. In addition to words recognition, the bottom-to top information processing way also includes the analysis of syntax and text. Lexical meaning is the base of the sentence meaning understanding; however, the understanding of sentences is not simply an addition of the lexical meanings. When it comes to English sentences that are abstract and difficult to understand, native language will be used to translate the English sentences for further understanding as well as the English thought. Thought corresponding to the native language will be also used for the comprehension. During the whole process of English reading comprehension, native language and thought as well as English and its thought all involve in the information processing and thinking activities of reading at all levels. However, most English learners in China begin to learn English at the age of 12 when they have had strong native language thought, thus their English thought is in an inferior state and influenced by the strong native language thought at the very beginning of English learning. Most of previous reading theories usually base the researches on native language reading, which neglects the existing strong native language thought possessed by the “late bilinguals”.

 

Imperfect state

Krashen put forward his creative structural theory in 1982, which has a strong influence on second language teaching practice. He holds that acquisition can result in enough language input on which affective factors play a filtering role. Affective factors, varying with each individual, can hinder or accelerate the language acquisition. Only in the best affective conditions can the true acquisition be achieved. There are two best affective conditions:  the learners have strong learning motivations; the learners are confident and in a great mood with little anxiety. However, most Chinese English-learners have more or less anxiety, less strong learning motivation, or low confidence. Thus, actual language teaching in China still has a long way to go to reach the best affective conditions. The writer believes that affective filter does exist in the process of information input and output, what matters is only that how much information is filtered. The aforementioned Cognition-Knowledge Bilingual Double Structures are all studied in an ideal state; however, English learning practices in China are carried out in non-ideal conditions (affective filter exists). Then, how do the Cognition-Knowledge Bilingual Double Structures operate in the process of reading comprehension in imperfect conditions? Take English-learners at medium-low and high level as target, this paper will make the explanations respectively below.

For medium-low-level English-learners, the process of reading comprehension is as below:

              via potential translation

                                                        

    High affective filter exist in the whole process

 

 (Double Structures in the reading comprehension process of Chinese English-learners (1)) 

 

It can be seen in the figure that reading materials first enter into the “knowledge-cognition structure” of English and “language-thought structure” system of medium-low-level learners. Due to the learner's low English level, the system will enter into the “knowledge-cognition structure” of native language and “language-thought structure” system through potential translation. The two systems work cooperatively, interact and transform mutually, thus forming a larger Double Structures system. Thereafter, the learners will digest and absorb the received information, comprehend the materials and then restore it in the short-term memory. For an English-learner, there are comparatively higher affective filter in the whole process. Weak learning motivation, low confidence or strong anxiety can all impede the information transfer.

 #p#分頁標題#e#

For high-level English-learners, information directly enters the “language-thought structure” of English and “knowledge-cognition structure” system without initiating the “thought structure” of native language and “knowledge-cognition structure” system. See the figure below:

                                                                 

 Low affective filter exist in the whole process

(Note: dotted lines represent that the system is not initiated)

(Double Structures in the reading comprehension process of Chinese English-learners (2))

 

“Thought structure” of native language and “knowledge-cognition structure” system is not initiated because high-level English-learners are more familiar with English language and culture, and they often use English in daily life and have proficient English skills. When reading materials stimulate their visual and auditory systems, they can think in English like British and American natives, rather than thinking in native language. Therefore, they can still comprehend the materials and store them in the short-term memory without initiating the “thought structure” of native language and “knowledge-cognition structure” system.

 

Psychological Mechanism of Reading

In general, reading is a process that a reader reads the article, comprehends the author’s intention, decodes the hidden information in the article, combines the new knowledge in the article with existing knowledge and experience and completes the knowledge assimilation, digestion and comprehension. Foreign language reading is not a monolingual affair, because individual cognitions will act and impact on each other between native and foreign languages. Koda (1994) holds that: “second language reading is cross-language in essence, at least between two languages”. For adult Chinese English-learners, English reading comprehension via visual way is completed in the “native language thought” system, while English reading via auditory way is completed in the “language-thought” systems of both native language and English.

 

Input information via visual system

For English reading process in which the information input is completed via visual system, the information is stored in the semantic concept system shared by the native language and English. Because Chinese English-learners have strong native language thought, most information processing is completed in “thought structure” system of native language, and the processed information is also stored in a foreign language visual psychological vocabulary of the “thought structure” system of native language. It is also called as foreign language reading psychological vocabulary, which is the only support of the foreign language semantic concept system. It is found in the study that the representation system function of the weak foreign language visual psychological vocabulary can only be completed in “knowledge-cognition structure” system native language. For English-learners who read primarily via visual channel, “language-thought structure” system of foreign language can not be initiated due to the closure of the auditory channel, thus the processing, storage and extraction of information are almost completed in the related system of native language.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

Input information via visual and auditory system

In the process in which the visual and auditory systems are initiated simultaneously, the information is processed in the neural network shared system of native and English languages, and the processed information is stored in the visual and auditory psychological vocabulary in the area of neural network shared system of the native and English languages. If the information processing of one language is blocked and can not be processed in the shared system, the other language will take over the task of information processing and storing the processed information in the visual and auditory psychological vocabulary of the language. For Chinese English-learners, there is much more possibility of information processing blockage than that of native language.