How emotions affect how we learn language

Language learning can be surprisingly emotional

I have an emotional block in my brain when it comes to grammar in other languages. Actually, that’s not true. I also have a block in my brain when it comes to grammar in English, too. Hi, it’s Natasha, by the way. Colin, being a linguist who loves this stuff, does not have this problem.

Over the last week, I’ve sat in two classes where grammar was being taught. They used terms I didn’t even understand in English, all layered on top of each other to explain a concept I also didn’t understand. 

As soon as I see these explanations, my heart starts beating fast, my eyes widen, and my brain feels like it goes blank. I immediately tell myself that I’m not going to understand (a fair observation, given that I don’t), and I get upset and frustrated. 

The funny thing is, sometimes I’ve already started using the concept, having picked it up through input. But tell me that “the conditional form of the verb consists of the auxiliary verb volt followed by the past participle of the verb” or that “if the main clause follows the dependent clause, as it frequently does in conditional sentences, volt comes immediately after the dependent clause if and is followed by the subject and then the participle”...what? I just shut down. 

Even though in this case, I literally had already picked up the concept and I knew how to use it. My (granted, sometimes dramatic) response to learning of this kind has a visible and substantial impact on my ability to engage with aspects of language learning. And even though I know better, I’m constantly coming up against this mental block whenever grammar concepts come up, even tangentially. Sometimes I literally want to cry about it. 

It also probably doesn’t help that in my head, I’ve identified as someone who “can’t do grammar”. 

Over the past few weeks, we’ve talked about how motivation and mindset affect language learning. In this issue, we’re going to be talking about a third factor: emotion.

What these three factors have in common is that they’ve all been appealed to as potential sources of the differences we see between individuals in their language learning outcomes. Why do some people attain higher levels in their target language than others? Why do some people progress faster than others? 

So as a way into talking about emotion, let’s consider a common explanation for the fact that some people do better at learning languages than others. Maybe you’ve heard this one before: 

“Some people just have a knack for learning languages, and others don’t.”

Does that statement bring out any emotions in you? It does in Colin – he gets a bit angry when he hears it. He has a sneaking suspicion that people often use this as a handy explanation for why they may have failed in the past, and an excuse not to try in the future. 

Natasha feels called out. BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE JUST SEEM TO GET THIS GRAMMAR STUFF, ok?

But we’d be lying to you if we said this idea that some people are just better at learning languages hasn’t been explored by researchers.

Our advice to you is: even if there is something to the idea that some people are in some sense “better language learners” (heavy scare quotes) than others, you should wipe it from your mind.

But why?

First, the construct of linguistic aptitude has come under attack as only applicable to explicit learning. Remember, explicit learning is the “memorize verb charts” kind of learning that Natasha has no interest in. And fortunately for Natasha, this explicit learning doesn’t seem to have much to do with the kind of implicit learning that makes up language acquisition.

Second, even among researchers who do propose aptitude as an explanatory factor, it’s only one of many, and has not been claimed to account for all the variation we see between learners.

Third, the belief that some people have a fixed, innate ability to learn languages is associated with low achievement! Not that correlation is the same thing as causation, but hey, it’s free to change your mind.

If you need an explanation for why you’ve not had success in the past, put it down to not knowing how language is learned.

To solve that problem, keep reading this newsletter!

To sum up this little rant: We all have the ability to learn new languages. We’ve all done it once before, and we can do it again. Don’t let anyone tell you any different!

Now that we’ve dealt with our emotional baggage, let’s take a closer look at how our emotions affect how we learn language.

The importance of emotional factors – things having to do with the subjective experience of learning and using the target language – has been a recurring theme in second language acquisition research going all the way back to the 70s. 

Let’s start with an intuitive understanding of what seems to happen before we move into what the research says.

Has this ever happened to you: You’re sitting in a language class and the teacher calls on you to say what you did last weekend. You freeze – you don’t know how to say “I stayed in bed and watched Frasier reruns.” – so you stare blankly for what seems an eternity before somehow stringing together a few words in no particular order and hiding your head in shame?

Ok, maybe some details differ, but we’ve almost all had situations where we felt put on the spot in our target language. It’s anxiety inducing! And not only that, it seems to shut down our learning as well. It’s as if we need all our mental resources available to soothe our wounded ego and can’t spare anything for acquiring the language.

This kind of experience is captured by a theoretical construct called “The Affective Filter”, originally proposed in the late 1970s and popularized by Stephen Krashen’s work on second language acquisition.

The idea behind the Affective Filter is that the input that we receive – which is the raw material which our minds use to build our knowledge of a target language – can be prevented from reaching that part of our minds where the magic of language acquisition happens. 

In other words, the input is more or less thrown away. What makes this happen? Negative affect – that is, experiencing negative emotions.

The Affective Filter hypothesis – and remember, it’s a hypothesis meant to explain the kinds of experiences we all seem to have when anxiety gets in the way – has some interesting implications.

One implication is that language learners should try to keep frustration and anxiety far, far away when receiving input. This means the pop quiz approach so popular in certain classrooms is likely extremely counterproductive.

For individual language learners like ourselves, it means we should be sure not to frustrate ourselves or give ourselves anxiety by trying to do things beyond our level. 

Since we are all bothered by somewhat different things, the ways to avoid anxiety and frustration in language learning will always be individual. But they all boil down to something like: if you find yourself getting anxious or frustrated doing something, stop doing that thing. Radical, I know!

So if, like Natasha, you find grammar lessons about as appealing as a dental procedure, avoid those kinds of classes. Ditto for classes that force you to speak when you’re not ready to. Take those hours and replace them with hours spent on input-rich activities. 

Frustration can also come up even within generally positive conversations, say, when we can’t yet express something we want to say. Here, our recommendation is: don’t worry about it! Try paraphrasing, or just let it go. Not knowing how to say “Frasier reruns” on any given day isn’t an indictment of your language learning abilities. It’s merely a snapshot in time.

And here’s another thing to think about: how are you feeling more generally in your life right now? If you’re stressed, anxious, busy, exhausted, under pressure, sad, or angry, you might be struggling with language learning. This is totally normal and expected. After all, those emotions can make doing any task challenging - why would learning a language be any different?

This is something that both of us dealt with last year. During bereavement, high stress, medical emergencies, and much more - we were trying to keep up with our language learning. We found it difficult to concentrate in class, dedicate outside time to further our learning, and to retain information. 

Granted, we don’t have any papers to back this up but…it’s kind of just human nature that it’s a hell of a lot easier to learn when you’re happy, relaxed and have time and headspace to dedicate to the task at hand. 

So, what’s the ultimate takeaway from this issue? Take it easy! Don’t be so hard on yourself! It’s good for you!

Until next time!

Natasha & Colin

Image Credit: Alberto Cerriteño/Flickr