Mariline Marcelino-Lee

Leilany Dumlao

PC 101 Life Skills

October 21, 2022

Perseverance to acquire English as Second Language

Learning English as second language can be tough for many. In a book published in 2009

entitled “Teaching English as Second Language” by C Paul Verghese, he states that “there are so

many factors that affect the process of learning a second language, including attitude, self-

confidence, motivation, duration of exposure to the language, classroom conditions,

environment, family background, and availability of competent teachers.” As I myself, have been

an English teacher for over twenty years, I witnessed how some students give up because some

of these factors, if not all, affect their English language acquisition. However, with the ever-

growing rate of English as a requisite for business and education, what can English learners do to

overcome the struggles and persevere in their acquisition of the language? English as second

language learners can persevere by being able to clearly identify their purpose of learning the

language and having the willingness to step into the unknown.

Being able to clearly identify the purpose of learning English can greatly influence

learners’ success in acquiring the language. In the 1999 research studies by Ingrtda Kramina for

the University of Latvia faculty of foreign languages, she explains that “the different purposes of

language use also dictate different rules to the language learners concerning their language skills

level and development.” I have proven this to be true because I have encountered a lot of

students who succeed in acquiring English skills because at the onset of their English studies,
they have defined why they want to learn English. The purpose they have set has helped them

mapped out “how they would learn” and “what they should do to learn”.

In addition to being able to define the purpose of English learning, there must also be

willing to step into the unknown. For non-English speakers, learning English is akin to exploring

an unknown place. The different sentence structures, pronunciation, even the usage of words as

compared to how its equivalent word in a learner’s own language is used can blur a student’s

sight towards the end goal of English language acquisition. However, in a 2015 research study

called “Exploring the relationship between tolerance of ambiguity of EFL learners and their

vocabulary knowledge”, Tutku BAŞÖZ states that “one of the most important learning styles is

ambiguity tolerance which is defined as the degree to which you are cognitively willing to

tolerate ideas and propositions that run counter to your own belief system or structure of

knowledge. Language learning is full of uncertainty and there is a considerable amount of

ambiguity in learning a foreign language.” He also emphasized that high ambiguity tolerance

students are likely to be more successful in reading comprehension, display higher metacognitive

awareness of reading strategies, and show higher perceived use of metacognitive reading

strategies. Stated differently, if English language learners are willing to step into the unknown by

having tolerance with the uncertainties and ambiguities in learning the language, they are likely

to improve on different English skills.

Acquiring English can be incredibly challenging especially when learners have no

purpose of learning such as English for education or for profession. When learners have a

purpose, they are likely to also identify the manner in which they can learn and what they can do

to learn. When identifying a purpose is coupled with willingness to step into the unknown, which

is the tolerance to uncertainties and ambiguities in learning a language, they become well-
equipped with the power of perseverance. Thus, overcoming the different challenges in learning

English and become a fluent speaker of the language.