Self-Esteem as an Affectin Factor in Sla

Self-ESTEEM AS AN AFFECTIN FACTOR IN SLA

Since the beginning of human civilization, language has played a key role in the learning process. It is an essential tool through which one expresses himself to another in a precise and comprehensive manner. With time, the number of languages grew and undergone many changes. Today, with the increasing need of globalization, there exist more than thousands of languages in the world which are shared and understood by different communities and groups.

Language can be categorized as first and second language. The first language or the native language is the one an individual starts learning from the very early stage of his life. However, the second language has to be acquired through hard work and consistent struggle. People usually learn second language in order to get a better know how of their surrounding and to adjust themselves among other social groups. Although, second language acquisition is an interesting task but it involves a lot of challenges for the learners. The researches show that personality factors play the most important role in second language acquisition which includes anxiety, motivation, extrovert and introvert behaviors, empathy and self-esteem. However, among all these factors, self-esteem has a very deep impact on the learning process.

Self-esteem is a psychological term which means how you evaluate your personal worth or the opinion that you hold for yourself in general. As Coopersmith (1967) mentioned self-esteem is "a personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed in attitudes that the individual holds towards himself, and indicates the extent to which the individual believes in himself to be capable, significant and worthy." It is the knowledge through which you determine your inner abilities and qualities and value them accordingly. It is the corner stone in the personality development of an individual and encompasses everything from his behavior, attitudes, communicating powers to his overall outlook. Infect, the behavior of an individual is the reflection of his self-esteem. Self-esteem is also defined as "the experience of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and being worthy of happiness" by Nathaniel Branden (1969).

An individual may possesses high or low self-esteem. From a psychological perspective, high self-esteem people are associated closely with optimism and low self-esteem people are characterized with pessimism, anxiety and depression. A person with high self-esteem is more enthusiastic, confident and creative. He knows how tackle challenges and doesn't give up easily. But the opposite type lacks these qualities. On encountering a problem, a low self-esteemed person can easily get stressed and depressed and may face failures at multiple times.

Language acquisition process can be influenced by self-esteem to a great extent. Researchers have proved that students with higher self-esteem tend to learn faster than those with the low self-esteem. As discussed by Clyne (2005), a high correlation resulted between task self-esteem and performance on oral production measures. Other researchers have observed similar results. As Stephen & Scott (2005) observed that the self-esteem is perhaps one of the most empowering qualities that a person can inhabit, and the lack of it can result in serious difficulties for the person.

During second language acquisition process, a student is completely new to the environment. He wants to adopt new styles of communication which needs a lot of patience and perseverance. During the learning process, a student may want to express his thoughts to others in a more precise manner but due to lack of vocabulary and know-how of the new language, he sometimes, fails to do so. This obviously can make him feel a bit frustrated and embarrassed. He needs a lot of understanding and support at this stage. However, if he fails to receive it he may develops a feeling of incompetency. This can turn down his confidence and inner spirits for learning and consequently, he may get de motivated and reluctant towards studies. Similarly, on receiving appreciative remarks and encouragement, the same individual can produce better results and get more confident. Hence, classroom and community factors play a significant role in turning the self-esteem of an individual up and down.

In a classroom, a teacher must be fully aware of the personalities of his students and should treat them accordingly. The curriculum must be designed and shaped in such a way that it develops interest among the entire student. No extra work load or strict deadlines should be imposed on students as this can put stress on them. The teacher should know how to tackle the problems of the students and must comprehend their needs.

Second language acquisition requires a lot of hard work. The students learning capabilities can vary from person to person. Some individuals are more confident and witty, according to researchers; they tend to be good learners. They can grasp on things fast and quick.. Their inner strength helps them to expose positive behavior and this behavior becomes the reflection of their high self-esteem. Whereas, students with low self-esteem find a lot of problems during the learning process of second language and may face failures a lot of times. As Schutz (2005) mentions in his research that motivated second language learners who are self-confident and have self-esteem tend to do better in language acquisition.

Hence, the atmosphere in which the learning process is taking place needs a lot of focus. The students must get a friendly and comfortable environment where he doesn't feel embarrassed or overly stressed for making mistakes. A famous psychologist, E.L Thorndike (1874-1949), introduced Trial and error theory as an effective way of learning. This method should be adopted in the classroom to enable students to learn through their mistakes rather than getting anxious. Most importantly, teacher must avoid assigning heavy load of work such as homework and assignments to the students.