PERSONALITY AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Submitted to fulfill the requirement of

lecture on Psycholinguistics

Lecturer: Dr. H. Syafrizal, M.Pd

Submitted by:
Raden Gunawan
Romadhon
Shinta Al Mabrur

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
SULTAN AGENG TIRTAYASA UNIVERSITY
2016
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

Building an understanding of personality typology, personality traits,
thinking styles and learning styles theories is valuable to enhance teacher’s
knowledge of student’s motivation and behaviour when learning language.
Motivation, management, communication and relationship become a lot more
efficient process when the teacher understand personality of the student.
Understanding personality is also the key to unlock unique human qualities, for
example leadership, motivation, and empathy.
Understanding learner’s personality is helpful to understand that while
learners’ characters are different, everyone has a value,special strengths and qualities,
and that everyone should be treated equally with care and respect. They just behave
differently because they are being themselves. There are many different personality
and motivational models and theories, and each one offers a different perspective.
Personality has unique feature that affect a number of factors in a person but
can we say that it could have effects on choice of words or even when it comes to
learning a language? According to Littlewood (1984, p, 64) A number of personality
characteristics have been proposed as likely to influence second language learning.
These proposals are often supported by observation or intuition, but it has not proved
easy to demonstrate them in empirical studies.Fromthat statement we can derive the
meaning that the link between personality and language learning is weak but however
there are many studies suggested that personality plays important role in language
learning. A study by Adelaide heyde (1979) cited by Littlewood (1984, p, 64) found
that a high level of self-esteem was associated with second language proficiency.
Littlewood (1984, p, 65) further stated that “Despite the largely inconclusive
results so far, many people believe that personality will one day be shown to be an
important influence on success in second language learning.” It means that knowing
about learner's preferred styles and strengths enables us to provide them with
assistance, opportunities, direction and responsibilities that fit well with their needs
and motivations. For example, it is more likely for an extrovert to talk about family
and friends, and to use words like “drinks” and “dancing”, which makes intuitive
sense given that people matching that personality type are expected to spend more
time socialising. On the other hand, introverts include more articles in their speech
such as “a” and “the”.
Based on the situations described above, this paper tries to discuss the
relationship between personality and language learning. It is expected that through

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this discussion we can have more information and explanation about how personality
affect language learning, why personality can dictate student’s language acquisition
ability and what are the links between language and personality.

1.2 Importance of The Discussion

This paper is expected to have a contribution to the efforts of finding a better
understanding of correlation between personality and language learning. The result
and conclusion of this discussion will have the use for the teachers and the students.

a) For the teachers, this discussion is useful to provide beneficial information as

reference in teaching English, especially in learning student’s personality.
b) For the students, this research is useful to give information in getting their
best achievement, especially in understanding their own personality so that
they can be effectively learning language.

1.3 Aim of The Discussion

The aims of this discussion are:
1. To find out what the relationship between personality and language
learning is.
2. To find out how personality affect language learning.
3. To find out why personality can have impact on student’s language
learning process.

1.4 Focus of The Discussion

The problems that are arisen and will be discussed are:
1. What is the relationship between personality and language learning?
2. How personalities affect language learning?
3. Why personality can have impact on student’s language learning process?

1.5 Limitation of The Discussion

Based on the statement above, this paper focuses on the effects of personality
towards language learning.How personality can affect language learning, why
personality can dictate student’s language acquisition ability and what are the links
between language and personality

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 CHAPTER II

SUPPORTING THEORIES

2.1 Defining Personality

The word personality comes from the Latin root persona, meaning "mask."
According to this root, personality is the impression we make on others; the mask we
present to the world Personality is defined as "a unique set of traits and
characteristics, relatively stable over time." Clearly, personality is unique insofar as
each of us has our own personality, different from any other person's. The definition
further suggests that personality does not change from day to day. Over the short-
term, our personalities are relatively set or stable. Sapir and Mandelbaum (1970, p,
164) argued that the term personality is too variable in usage to be serviceable in
scientific discussion unless its meaning is very carefully defined for a given context.
It means that the definition of personality does not suggest that personality is
somehow rigid, unchangeable, and cast in concrete. Definition recognizes that, over a
longer term, personality may change.

Sapir and Mandelbaum (1970, p, 164) further purposed five definitions which
stand out as usefully distinct from one another, corresponding to the philosophical,
the physiological, the psychophysical, the sociological and the psychiatric approaches
to personality.

As a philosophical concept, personality may be defined as the subjective

awareness of the self as distinct from other objects of observation. As a purely
physiological concept, personality may be considered as the individual human
organism with emphasis on those aspects of behavior which differentiate it from other
human organisms. The term may be used in a descriptive psychophysical sense as
referring to the human being conceived as a given totality, at any one time, of
physiological and psychological reaction systems, no vain attempt being made to
draw a fine between the physiological and the psychological.
The most useful sociological connotation which can be given to the term is an
essentially symbolic one; namely, the totality of those aspects of behavior which give
meaning to an individual in society and differentiate him from other members in the
community, each of whom embodies countless cultural patterns in a unique
configuration.
The psychiatric definition of personality may be regarded as equivalent to the
individual abstracted from the actual psychophysical whole and conceived as a
comparatively stable system of reactivity. The philosophical concept treats
personality as an invariant point of experience; the physiological and psychophysical,
as an indefinitely variable reactive system, the relation between the sequence of states
being one of continuity, not identity; the sociological, as a gradually cumulative
entity; and the psychiatric, as an essentially invariant reactive system.
The first four meanings add nothing new to such terms as self or ego,
organism, individual and social role. It is the peculiarly psychiatric conception of
personality as a reactive system which is in some sense stable or typologically
defined for a long period of time, perhaps for life, which it is most difficult to
assimilate but important to stress. The psychiatrist does not deny that the child who

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rebels against his father is in many significant ways different from the same
individual as a middle aged adult who has a penchant for subversive theories, but he
is interested primarily in noting that the same reactive ground plan, physical and
psychic, can be isolated from the behavior totalities of child and adult.

According to Goldburg (2011, p, 141) Psychologists have identified a number

of factors that influence the shaping of our personality: heredity or genetic factors;
culture; family background; our experience through life; and the people with whom
we interact. The culture and values in which we are immersed also shape personality,
our values and sometimes culture and ethnicity have a significant impact on
personality development. Our life experiences and family background also shape our
personality; for example, first born children have different childhood experiences
from those born later.

The education levels of parents and the socioeconomic status of the family, as
well as influences from extended family such as aunts and uncles, influence the shape
of personality to some extent. Whether we trust people, are generous or have high or
low self-esteem can be partially related to our life experiences or by the way we
interpret and learn from our experiences. The people we interact with also shape our
personality. The common adage says that ‘a person is known by the company s/he
keeps’. The traditional approach to understanding and describing personality is
through traits or characteristics. These characteristics or traits include shyness,
aggressiveness, submissiveness, laziness, ambition, loyalty and timidity.

2.3 Language Learning

According to Skinner cited by Littlewood (1984, p, 5) Language is not a

mental phenomenon: it is behavior. Like other forms of human behavior, it is learnt
by a process of habit-formation, in which the main components are:

1. The child imitates the sounds and patterns which he hears around him.
2. People recognize the child’s attempts as being similar to the adult models and
reinforce (reward) the sounds, by approval or some other desirable reaction.
3. In order to obtain more of these rewards, the child repeats the sounds and
patterns, so that these become habits.
4. In this way the child’s verbal behavior is conditioned (or ‘shaped’) until the
habits coincide with the adult models.

The habit-formation process is essentially the same as when a pigeon’s

behavior is shaped, so that it pecks at the correct discs in order to obtain food. Within
this framework, the child’s own utterances were not seen as possessing a system in
their own right. They were seen as a faulty version of adult speech. The ‘mistakes’
were simply the result of imperfect learning: the process of habit-formation had not
yet had time to run its full course.

Ortega (2013, p, 20) claimed that Child language acquisition happens in a

predictable pattern, broadly speaking. First, between the womb and the few first
months of life, infants attune themselves to the prosodic and phonological makeup of
the language to which they are exposed and they also learn the dynamics of turn
taking. During their first year of life they learn to handle one-word utterances. During
the second year, two-word utterances and exponential vocabulary growth occur. The
third year of life is characterized by syntactic and morphological deployment. Some

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more pragmatically or syntactically subtle phenomena are learned by five or six years
of age. After that point, many more aspects of mature language use are tackled when
children are taught how to read and write in school. And as children grow older and
their life circumstances diversify, different adolescents and adults will embark on
very different kinds of literacy practice and use language for widely differing needs,
to the point that neat landmarks of acquisition cannot be demarcated any more.

Once the child reaches this age of linguistic puberty and is capable of
handling true concepts, he has completed the language learning cycle. This does not
imply that he has stopped learning his native language; even if the lexicon of every
language were not open-ended, as indeed it is, the child simply could not in a life-
time of learning exhaust the lexical wealth of any language, nor could he put into
actual practice the infinite possibilities available to him from the recursive devices of
the syntax. The notion of linguistic puberty is useful because it provides a natural
linguistic dividing line between the child and the adult. The adult is aware
(unconsciously, to be sure) of the nature and use of language in the sense that he has
completed the language learning cycle, whereas the child, at any point in his
linguistic development is still not linguistically mature.

Furthermore, the adult has developed, in the course of his maturation, a

general overall psychological consciousness equipped to deal in generalizations and
abstractions as well as with linguistic concepts. This may explain in part why a child
will quickly and accurately acquire a second language "unconsciously from
playmates in the street or from a nanny, whereas the same child may acquire only a
very imperfect knowledge of a second language in many years of "conscious" class-
room study. The adult, on the contrary, may through "conscious" drill acquire an
excellent command of a second language, although the same adult, in a natural
situation, such as that of an immigrant in an alien speech community, may acquire
only a "broken," imperfect fluency after many years of natural exposure. It would ap-
pear that few adults can learn a language in the street and that few children can learn
a language artificially.

Although there may be elements acquired unconsciously by the adult in his

learning of a (second) language and although there may be elements consciously
learned by the child in his acquisition of a (second) language, broadly speaking, a
child acquires a language (his first or a second) unconsciously and an adult learns a
language consciously. Until the elementary classroom abandons adult "conscious"
learning procedures and is converted into a more natural street-like situation, it will
continue to be the case that adults in school learn languages much faster than children
in school; and, since few adults retain the flexibility of mind required to acquire
linguistic knowledge "unconsciously," the converse of this statement is also true: the
child will learn a language much faster than the adult in a natural situation. Language
acquisition by the adult is, then, an artificial process.

2.3 Personality and Language Learning

Before the 1960’s, attitudes were regarded as unimportant variables to be

studied in relation to language learning. During this period, the behaviorist approach
to learning was very much in vogue. Since language learning was seen as the study of

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behavior, cognitive or mental activity was denounced as mentalism, a construct
which was perceived as cannot be measured. However, language attitudes have
gained much interest especially among researchers in the field of Psychology. The
findings of studies among psychologists on the roles of attitudes in language learning
have acquired the attention of many language acquisition researchers regarding the
importance of this internal construct in affecting language learning process and
performance. In the early 1960’s, language researchers began to attribute the
importance of examining the cognitive aspects of learning.

Personality and emotions are fully involved when learning a second language.
learner's personality and how they handle the feelings that are evoked during the
learning process, what kind of motivation the learner brings to the learning task, as
well as personal values, beliefs and attitudes related to learning; whether they prefer
to work alone or in groups, and the kind of relationship the learner prefers to have
with the teacher and other learners. These are all key factors in the learning process.
The learner's personality type as well as these various emotional factors form the
affective side of a learner's total learning style.

Griffiths (2013, p, 170) argued that obviously, in any class, there is going to
be a range of personality types. Some of the students may be extroverted and
contribute willingly to speaking activities; others may be more introverted and more
reluctant to get involved. Some may be intuitive and quick to pick up subtle
inferences; others may need to think through information step by step in order to
achieve understanding. And personality may be related to learning style in the
classroom. We might expect, for instance, that extroverted learners would enjoy
group work, while introverts would probably prefer to work quietly on their own.

In turn, style and personality might be expected to influence students' choice

of strategies. Extroverts will probably make use of social occasions to learn whereas
introverts will probably prefer the self-study room or a library or their own rooms.
Since there does not seem to be any strong evidence that one kind of style or
personality is superior to another in terms of language learning, the important thing
from a pedagogical perspective would seem to be that classroom systems make
allowances for individual differences.

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 CHAPTER III

DISCUSSION

3.1 The Affective Domain

The affective domain is one of three domains in Bloom's Taxonomy, with the
other two being the cognitive and psychomotor. Brown (2000, p, 143) stated that
“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 states or feelings involves a variety of personality factors, feelings both
about ourselves and about others with whom we come into contact.” This domain is
concerned with feelings or emotions. Again, the taxonomy is arranged from simpler
feelings to those that are more complex. This domain was first described in 1964 and
as noted before is attributed to David Krathwohl as the primary author.

Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues (Krathwohl, Bloom, &Masia 1964) cited
by Brown (2000, p, 143) provided a useful extended definition of the affective
domain that is still widely used today.

Receiving. This refers to the learner’s sensitivity to the existence of stimuli –

awareness, willingness to receive, or selected attention. E.g. feel, sense, capture,
experience, pursue, attend, and perceive.

Responding. This refers to the learners’ active attention to stimuli and his/her
motivation to learn – acquiescence, willing responses, or feelings of satisfaction. E.g.
conform, allow, cooperate, contribute, enjoy, and satisfy.

Valuing. This refers to the learner’s beliefs and attitudes of worth – acceptance,
preference, or commitment. An acceptance, preference, or commitment to a value.
E.g. believe,seek, justify, respect, search, and persuade

Organization. As values or beliefs become internalized, the leaner organizes them

according to priority. E.g. examine,clarify,systematize, create, and integrate.

Characterization.This refers to the learner’s highest of internalization and relates to

behavior that reflects a generalized set of values and a characterization or a
philosophy about life. At this level the learner is capable of practicing and acting on
their values or beliefs. E.g. internalize,review, conclude, resolve, and judge.

Personality factors that significantly contribute to the success of second

language learning have been briefly explored in Chapter II. In this section, discussion

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will be focused on factors as put forward by Brown H. D. (2000). These factors are
self-esteem, inhibition, risk-taking, anxiety, empathy, extroversion, intrumental and
integrative orientations, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In the following, each
of these factors is to be related to the second language learning processes.
Specifically, how learning methods to be designed and prepared with regard to the
personality factors will in brief described.

3.1.1 Self-Esteem

The word “esteem” comes from a Latin word that means “to estimate”. So,
self-esteem is how you estimate yourself. It is the personal value, self-respect and
self-worth that you place on yourself. It can be said, too, that self-esteem is the
picture you have of yourself. In this sense, Brown H. D. (2000) argued that “no
successful cognitive or affective activity can be carried out without some degree of
self-esteem, self-confidence, knowledge of yourself, and belief in your own
capabilities for that activity”. An interesting question raised by Brown H. D. is the
classic chicken-or-egg question: Does high self-esteem cause language success or
does language success cause high self-esteem? Clearly, as he argued again both self-
esteem and language success are interacting factors. There should be no doubt about
this argument.

3.1.2 Inhibition

In contrast with the word “self-esteem”, it could be said that “inhibition” is

simply the opposite of it. The root of the word “inhibition” is “inhibit”. If you inhibit
something, it means that you do not want that thing happens, you prevent it from
existing, you give no way for it, and you may create a wall to stop it. On the other
hands, if you are inhibited, that means that you feel embarrassed to do or say
something, you are not confident to do it, you are not going to move on, and you may
stand still and keep silent. So, again, if you are inhibited, you are unable to relax and
express your feelings in an open and natural way. Thus, inhibition means anything
that stop you doing something, which could comprise obstacle, obstruction, barrier,
fence, wall, stumbling block, hindrance, and restriction or else.

As with the inhibition, Brown H. D. (2000) strongly argued that inhibition is

closely related to self-esteem. He stated that “Some persons – those with higher self-
esteem and ego strength – are more able to withstand threats to their existence, and
thus their defenses are lower. Those with weaker self-esteem maintain walls of
inhibition to protect what is self-perceived to be a weak or fragile ego, or lack of self-
confidence in a situation or task.”

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 However, it might also be acceptable to say that inhibition is, too, strongly
related to risk-taking. Inhibition discourages risk-taking, which is necessary for
progress in language learning. And also, it could be concluded that inhibition is a
negative force for second language performance.

3.1.3 Risk-Taking

It is said that “the biggest risk one can take is to not take one” (anonymous).
Yes, it is true since we quite often, hear someone says, “there is always risk in every
step you take, but it will be much riskier if you do not take any step at all.” For those
who want to take part in a sport competition – any kind of sport such as swimming,
climbing, riding, golfing, footballing etc – the best advice we can give him or her
might be this: “Take risks! If you win, you will be happy. If you lose, you will be
wise.” That is what it means by risk-taking.

Citing Rubin and Thompson (1982), Brown H. D. (2000) stated that

“impulsivity was also described as a style that could have positive effects on
language success. And we have just seen that inhibitions, or building defenses around
our ego, can be a detriment. These factors suggest that risk-taking is an important
characteristic of successful learning of a second language.”

3.1.4 Anxiety

Intricately intertwined with self-esteem and inhibition and risk-taking, the

construct of anxiety plays an important affective role in second language acquisition.
It is associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension, or
worry (Scovel 1978:34). The research on anxiety suggest that, like self-esteem,
anxiety can be experienced at various levels (Oxford 1999). At the deepest, or global
level, trait anxiety is a more permanent predisposition to be anxious. At a more
momentary, or situational level, state anxiety is experienced in relation to some
particular even or act. Three components of foreign language anxiety have been
identified in order to break down the construct into researchable issues (Horwitz et al.
1986; Maclntyre& Gardner 1989, 1991c) :

1. Communication apprehension, arising from learner's inability to

adequately express mature thoughts and ideas.
2. Fear of negative social evaluation, arising from a learner’s need to
make a positive social impression on others.
3. Test anxiety, or apprehension over academic evaluation.

Yet another important insight to be applied to our understanding of anxiety

lies in the distinction between debilitative and facilitative anxiety (Alpert and Haber
1960, Scovel 1978), or what Oxford (1999) called “harmful” and “helpful” anxiety.

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The notion of facilitative anxiety is that some concern, some apprehension over a task
to be accomplished is a positive factor. Otherwise, a learner might be inclined to be
“wishy-washy”, lacking that facilitative tension that keeps one poised, alert, and just
slightly unbalanced to the point that one cannot relax enrirely. In Bailey’s (1983)
study of competitiveness and anxiety in second language learning, facilitative anxiety
was one of the keys to success, closely related to competitiveness. Bailey found in her
self-analysis, however, that while competitiveness sometimes hindered her progress
(for example, the pressure to outdo her peers sometimes caused her to retreat even to
the point of skipping class), at other times it motivated her to study harder.

3.1.5 Empathy

Empathy is the process of “putting yourself into someone else’s shoes” or

reaching beyond the self and understanding and feeling what other person is
understanding or feeling. It is probably the major factor in the harmonious
coexistence of individuals in society. The human being is a social animal, and the
chief mechanism for maintaining the binds of society is language. Language is one of
the primary means of empathizing and must not be overlooked.

Some experts define empathy in more sophisticated terms, empathy is usually

described as the projection of one’s own personality into the personality of another in
order to understand him/her better. Empathy is not synonymous with sympathy.
Empathy implies more possibility of detachment, sympathy connotes an agreement or
harmony between individuals. Guiora (1972b) defined empathy as “a process of
comprehending in which a temporary fusion of self-object boundaries permits an
immediate emotional apprehension of the effective experience of another.” The
definition above could apply not only to the affective side but also to the cognitive
side. Psychologists generally agree with Guiora’s definition and add that there are
two necessary aspects to the development and exercising of empathy: first, an
awareness and knowledge of one’s own feelings, and second, identification with
another person (Hogan 1969). In other words, you cannot fully empathize or know
someone else until you adequately know yourself.

A sophisticated degree of empathy is required in communication. In order to

communicate effectively, someone needs to be able understand the other person’s
affective and cognitive states. When wrong presupposition or assumptions are made
about the other person’s state, communication breaks down. In order to make those
assumptions correctly, our own ego boundaries should be transcended, or using
Guiora’s terminology, we should “permeate” our ego boundaries so that we clearly
send and receive message.

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 Oral communication is a case in which, cognitively at least, it is easy to
achieve empathetic communication because there is immediate feedback from the
hearer. A misunderstood word, phrase, or idea can be questioned by the hearer and
then rephrased by the speaker until a clear message is interpreted. By contrast, written
communication necessitates a special kind of empathy, a cognitive empathy where
the writer must communicate ideas by means of a very clear empathic intuition and
judgment of the reader’s state of mind and structure of knowledge. Unlike in oral
communication, in this case the writer does not have the benefits of immediate
feedback from the reader.Certainly one of the more interesting implications of the
study of empathy is the need to define empathy cross culturally to understand how
different cultures express empathy.

3.1.6 Extroversion

Extroversion and its counterpart, introversion, are also potentially important

factors in the acquisition of a second language. The terms are often misunderstood
because of a tendency to stereotype extroversion. We are prone to think of an
extroverted person as a gregarious, “life of the party” person. Introverts, conversely
are thought of as quiet and reserved with tendencies toward reclusiveness. Such a
view of extroversion is misleading. Extroversion is 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 that affirmation within oneself.
Introversion, on the other hand is the extent to which a person derives a sense
wholeness and fulfillment apart from a reflection of this self from other people.

Extroversion is commonly thought to be related to empathy, but such may not

be the case. The extroverted person may actually behave in an extroverted manner in
order to protect his or her own ego, with extroverted behavior being symptomatic of
defensive barriers and high ego boundaries.

3.2 Myers-Briggs Character Types

The MBTI is a reliable and valid instrument that measures and categorizes
your personality and behavior. It is not a test. There are no “right” or “wrong”
answers. Around 1940 a mother-daughter team (Katharine C. Briggs and her daughter
Isabel Briggs Myers) developed this instrument to help people understand and use
Carl Jung’s theory of psychological type preferences.

Swiss Psychologist, Carl Jung, (1875 – 1961) theorized that you can
predict differences in people’s behavior if you know how they prefer to use
their mind. Jung (1923) cited by Brown (2000, p, 156) said that people are different

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in fundamental ways, and that an individual has preferences for “functioning” in
ways that are characteristic, or “typical,” of that particular individual.

Figure 1, Myers-Briggs character types. Taken from Brown (2000, p, 158)

There are a total of 16 possible “types” based on unique combinations

of the preferences. Four letters are used to represent a type, for example a person
with preferences for Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking and Judging is called an ESTJ.
Each type has strengths and weaknesses. Brown (2000, p, 158) explained that
Sensing (S) students displayed a strong liking for memory strategies; intuitives (N)
were better at compensation strategies. The T/F distinction yielded the most dramatic
contrast: thinkers (T) commonly used metacognitive strategies and analysis, while
feelers (F) rejected such strategies; and feelers used social strategies while thinkers
did not. And judgers (J) rarely used the affective strategies that the perceivers (P)
found so useful.

3.3 Motivation

Motivation is a word that both teachers and learners use widely when they
speak about language learning success or failure, and normally it is taken for granted
that we understand what the term covers. De Bot (2005, p, 72) argued that “Teachers,

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learners and researchers will all agree that a high motivation and a positive attitude
towards a second language and its community help second-language learning.” He
then further added that “Everyone will agree that motivation is related to someone’s
‘drive’ to achieve something.” It could be mean that accordingly, motivation
determines the direction and magnitude of human behavior or, in other words, the
choice of a particular action, the persistence with it, and the effort expended on it.

Figure 2, three views of motivation. Taken from Brown (2000, p, 162)

Brown (2000, p, 162) argued that motivation is something that can, like self-
esteem, be global, situational, or task-oriented. Learning a foreign language requires
some of all three levels of motivation. For example, a learner may possess high
“global” motivation but low “task” motivation to perform well on, say, the written
mode of the language. Motivation is also typically examined in terms of the intrinsic
and extrinsic motives of the learner. From that statement we can infer that motivation
is responsible for determining human behavior by energizing it and giving it
direction.

3.3.1 Instrumental and Integrative Orientations

According to Baker (1998, p, 651) an instrumental motivation to acquire or

preserve a language is mostly self-oriented, individualistic and often related to the
need to achieve success. Personal self-enhancement, self-development or basic
security and survival will be the utilitarian, pragmatic need of an individual. As an
example, language learners with instrumental motivation learn a language with a
more utilitarian purpose, such as applying for a well-paid job or achieving higher
social status. Learners with an instrumental motivation want to learn a language
because of a practical reason such as getting a salary bonus or getting into college.
Many college language learners have a clear instrumental motivation for language
learning that is they want to fulfill a college language requirement

Baker (1998, p, 651) stated that “An integrative motivation is about social or
interpersonal reasons for second language learning or minority language activity.

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Integrative motives reflect a desire to be like, or identify with members of a particular
language community.” In contrast to instrumental motivation, integrative motivation
describes learners who learn a second language due to the positive manners towards
the target language group and they wish to integrate into the target language
community. Learners who are integratively motivated want to learn the language
because they want to get to know the people who speak that language. They are also
interested in the culture associated with that language. Integratively motivated
learners may have significant others such as a boyfriend or girlfriend or family
members who speak the language, and heritage language learners typically have a
particularly strong integrative motivation for language learning.

3.3.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic means internal or inside of yourself. When you are intrinsically

motivated, you enjoy an activity, course or skill development solely for the
satisfaction of learning and having fun, and you are determined to strive inwardly in
order to be competent. Deci (1975: 23) cited by Brown (2000, p, 164) defined
intrinsically motivated activities are ones for which there is no apparent reward
except the activity itself. People seem to engage in the activities for their own sake
and not because they lead to an extrinsic reward. Intrinsically motivated behaviors are
aimed at bringing about certain internally rewarding consequences, namely, feelings
of competence and self-determination. It means that there is no external inducement
when intrinsic motivation is the key to behavior or outcome.As an example when you
are motivated intrinsically, you have fun and look for skill development and
competency, personal accomplishment and excitement.

Contrary to intrinsic, extrinsic means external or outside of yourself. This type

of motivation is everywhere and frequently used within society throughout our
lifetime. When we are motivated to behave, achieve, learn or do based on a highly
regarded outcome, rather than for the fun, development or learning provided within
an experience, we are being extrinsically motivated. Brown (2000, p, 164) argued that
“Extrinsically motivated behaviors, on the other hand, are carried out in anticipation
of a reward from outside and beyond the self. Typical extrinsic rewards are money,
prizes, grades, and even certain types of positive feedback.” Trophies, medals,
money, discounts, grades, entrance to programs or schools, higher commission
percentages, new clothes and losing weight are all examples of extrinsic motivators.

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Figure 3, Motivational dichotomies. Taken from Brown (2000, p, 166)

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 CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This paper is intented to show the relationship between learners’ personality

and the language learning processes. In other words, as to be effective in the learning-
teaching processes, it is imperative that a teacher should understand the characters or
the personality of the students he/she is teaching. Only by understanding the learners’
personality types will the materials and the methods to be impelemented be well
designed and prepared.

In order to get to the abovementioned objective, certain areas of educational

psychology have to be looked into. By conducting this, it is expected that some
principles of the educational psychology can be found out. Eventhough the
educational psychologist or experts did not talk very specifically about the
implementation of psychology in education, still their views on the importance of
understanding the students’ personality in the learning activities are of valuable
information.

Learning how to learn is an empowering experience, and discovering one's

learning style can lead to an increase in achievement and self-confidence. However, it
is important to realize that no one style is better than another, although many
language school programs favor certain types of learners over others. On the other
hand, students should be prepared to expand their learning style repertoire so that
they will be more empowered to learn in a variety of learning situations. It should be
emphasised that a person is probably not totally one 'type' (e.g. totally extrovert or
totally introvert) but somewhere along the continuum between the two. What you
should aim for is to strengthen those areas where someone is weak.

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Brown, H. Douglas. 2000. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Pearson

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Goldburg, Peta. 2011. Exploring Religion and Ethics: Religion and Ethics for Senior
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Ortega, Lourdes. 2014. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Routledge.

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