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Change Essay

Literacy environments differ from individuals and depending on the eras they are living

in. They vary from books in the past, to the Internet in modern times, for example, which

correspond to traditional literacy and digital literacy (Zhang, 2021a); for minorities in

particular, they are facing two obstacles in the literacy environment – second language

learning and racism (Zhang, 2021b). In this sense, the following question to ask is, how can

the education environment support students to overcome these obstacles? It is important that

these challenges posed by the environments are impacting students’ literacy performance

from an emotional aspect. This essay will discuss how an emotional framework can explain

these impacts from minority students’ perspective, as well as how emotion-related

pedagogies scaffolding that may lead to change for these students. It is important that these

challenges posed by the environments are impacting students’ performance from an

emotional aspect. This essay will discuss these impacts from an emotional perspective, as

well as corresponding pedagogies scaffolding that may lead to change.

How emotion impacts change in second language acquisition

Hopewell and Escamilla’s study (2014) has shown that minorities of second language

learners are facing the struggles of inappropriate placements and labels. Such mislabeling is

one of the main resistances that minority students must overcome in their literacy

environment. Krashen’s review (1981) has indicated that a wide range of affective variables

are related with the success of second language acquisition, which can be mainly summarized

to three categories: motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety. Higher motivation,

self-confidence, and lower anxiety levels are associated with more successful second
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language acquisition. Krashen has explained the mechanism of how they impact the second

language acquisition by the Affective Filter hypothesis, which was originally proposed by

Dulay and Burt (1977). The existence of the Affective Filter makes the input of the second

language do not reach human brain directly, that is, if one feels anxious and unconfident, for

example, one will not be able to acquire as much second language input as those who are not

anxious or unconfident. A higher Affective Filter makes it harder to acquire a second

language.

In order to make change in reducing the resistance to second language acquisition, it is

critical to lower the Affective Filter. One approach to lowering the filter, as Krashen (1982)

advocated, is that the topics discussed in class should be comprehensive and engaging to the

extent that “the student ‘forget’, in a sense, that the message is actually encoded in another

language” so that much of the pressure normally associated with a language class will be “off”

(p. 74). Another approach is that some “discourse devices” can be taught to cue the native

speaker to explain parts of the conversation (Scarcella, p. 5), ranging from repeating the

problem word with confusion to utterances such as “sorry, what does that mean?” The

purpose of such a language instruction is to provide students with what they need so that they

can progress without teachers (Krashen, 1982, p. 79).

Emotional impact in second language learning

Krashen’s review (1981) has indicated that a wide range of affective variables are related

with the success of second language acquisition, which can be mainly summarized to three

categories: motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety. Higher motivation, self-confidence, and

lower anxiety levels are associated with more successful second language acquisition.
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Krashen has explained the mechanism of how they impact the second language acquisition by

the Affective Filter hypothesis, which was originally proposed by Dulay and Burt (1977).

The existence of the Affective Filter makes the input of the second language do not reach

human brain directly, that is, if one feels anxious and unconfident, for example, one will not

be able to acquire as much second language input as those who are not anxious or

unconfident. A higher Affective Filter makes it harder to acquire a second language.

Therefore, in order to reduce the resistance to second language acquisition, it is critical to

lower the Affective Filter.

One approach to lowering the filter, as Krashen (1982) advocated, is that the topics

discussed in class should be comprehensive and engaging to the extent that “the student

‘forget’, in a sense, that the message is actually encoded in another language” (so that much

of the pressure normally associated with a language class will be “off”) (p. 74). Another

approach is that some “discourse devices” can be taught to cue the native speaker to explain

parts of the conversation (Scarcella, p. 5), ranging from repeating the problem word with

confusion to utterances such as “sorry, what does that mean?” The purpose of such language

instructions is to provide students with what they need so that they can progress without

teachers (Krashen, 1982, p. 79).

How emotion impacts change in racism

The importance of subjective emotions, such as “love”, “like” is oftentimes overlooked

by people, but in fact they play a vital role in individuals (minorities, in particular)’s learning

process. When students are not provided with curriculums centered by elements of care, love,

and respect, they tend to display resistance to the curriculum and instruction, as well as to
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teachers and the school (Johnston et al., 2017). “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like”

(Every Kid Needs a Champion | Rita Pierson, 2013). Students of color deserve a literacy

environment with positive emotions to be educated, because they are and they will be facing

a society of the biased hierarchy shaped by power (Zhang, 2021).

For changes with this respect, the critical race theory proposes counter-storytelling as an

approach to disrupting the ideology that makes current social arrangements seem fair and

natural” (Delgado, 2000, as cited in Vue et al., 2017, p. 875). It means to tell stories of

underprivileged communities. “Most oppression does not seem like oppression to the

perpetrator” (Ladson-billings, & Tate, 1995, p. 57). Counter-storytelling can affect the

oppressor. The pedagogy of discomfort (Boler, & Zembylas, 2003) also has noted the

importance of challenging one’s beliefs, including patriotism and others that shaped by power.

Another approach is to incorporating students’ experiences and cultures as assets to education

rather than deficits to overcome (Paris, 2012). Gay (2010) also suggests that students’

engagement in learning increase when educators use pedagogies connected to their

experience.

Summary

As the two main resistance for minorities’ literacy environment, second language

acquisition and racism, can be changed by emotion-related approaches and pedagogies such

as lowering the affect filter, using discourse devices, counter-storytelling, and the pedagogy

of discomfort. This essay implies that teachers may utilize these pedagogies scaffolding to

support minority students with their specific literacy environment.

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References

Boler, M., & Zembylas, M. (2003). Discomforting Truths: The Emotional Terrain of

Understanding Difference. In P. Trifonas (Ed.), Pedagogies of Difference: Rethinking

Education for Social Change: Rethinking Education for Social Justice (1st ed., pp.

109–136). Routledge.

Dulay, H. and Burt, M. (1977) Remarks on creativity in language acquisition. In M. Burt, H.

Dulay and M. Finnochiaro (Eds.) Viewpoints on English as a Second Language. New

York: Regents. pp. 95-126.

Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson. (2013). [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkw

Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York:

Teachers College Press.

Immordino-Yang, M., Damasico A. R. (2007). We feel, therefore, we learn: The relevance of

affective and social neuroscience to education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1),

3–10.

Immordino-Yang M. (2016). Emotions, Learning, and the Brain: Exploring the Educational

Implications of Affective Neuroscience. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

Johnston, E., D’Andrea Montalbano, P., & Kirkland, D. E. (2017). Culturally responsive

education: A primer for policy and practice. New York: Metropolitan Center for

Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, New York University.

Krashen, S. D. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.

Alemany Pr.
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Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition (Language

Teaching Methodology Series). Alemany Pr.

Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. F., (1995). Towards a Critical Race Theory of Education.

Teachers College Record, 97(1), 47-68.

Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology,

and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93-97.

Tyng, C. M., Amin, H. U., Saad, M. N. M., & Malik, A. S. (2017). The Influences of

Emotion on Learning and Memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 8.

Vue, R., Haslerig, S. J., & Allen, W. R. (2017). Affirming Race, Diversity, and Equity

Through Black and Latinx Students’ Lived Experiences. American Educational

Research Journal, 54(5), 868–903.

Zhang, Y. (2021a). Interdisciplinarity Essay. Unpublished paper.

Zhang, Y. (2021b). Diversity Essay. Unpublished paper