Unit 1: Introduction to Psychology in English Language Teaching

It seems too simple to say that educational psychology is the psychology of learning and teaching, and yet a
majority of educational psychologists spend their time studying ways to describe and improve learning and
teaching.

Competencies:

By the end of this Unit, students will be able to:

 Detail what psychology and educational psychology as professional disciplines refer to thoroughly and
clearly
 Illustrate the role educational psychology plays in language learning and in creating relaxed and
beneficial classroom environments

Content of the Unit:

1. Introduction
2. Definition and scope of psychology in English language teaching.
3. Relationship between psychology and pedagogy in the context of foreign language teaching.
4. Application of basic psychological concepts in the English classroom.
5. Summary and Conclusion
6. Assessment plan
7. References
 1. Introduction

The foundations of educational psychology remain in its core concepts and this unit relies on those
concepts. First, we will present some definitions of what Educational Psychology entails. Then, some
concepts of Psychology are going to be explained and finally, the relationship between psychology
and second language teaching and learning will be displayed. Hope you enjoy reading these lines as
much as I did when writing them. How about if we start the following section by brainstorming a
definition?

2. Definition and scope of psychology in English language teaching.

Task 1) Reflective questions:

Answer the following question: What do you think Educational Psychology is?

I´m sure you thought of educational psychology as a vital tool that can be of immeasurable help in
planning, delivering, and evaluating teaching. Let´s now explore some authors´ definitions that will
help you expand your knowledge in this regard. Let´s complete task 2.
 Task 2)
Step 1) Recall and use your answer on task 1 and compare it to the following concepts of
what Educational Psychology is.

 Educational psychology deals with the instructional process and how students work in the
academic setting. Specific areas of work include the management of behavior problems, acting
as a liaison between students, teachers, and parents, and working to maximize the efficacy of
the school's work in educating its students. (Bruner, 1996)
 Educational Psychology is the application of psychology to education by focusing on the
development, evaluation, and application of theories and principles of learning and instruction
that enhance lifelong learning. (William and Miller, 2003)
 Educational Psychology is the psychology of learning and teaching - educational psychology
includes topics that span human development, individual differences, measurement, learning,
and motivation and is both a data-driven and a theory-driven discipline. (Glover and
Ronning ,1987)
 Educational Psychology is the application of psychology and psychological methods to the
study of development, learning, motivation, instruction, assessment, and related issues that
influence the interaction of teaching and learning. This definition is broad because the potential
applications of educational psychology to the learning process are immense! (Elliott, 2000).
 Educational psychology is a broad discipline that focuses on the interaction of human
development, cognitive science, instructional methods, measurement, and assessment.
(Ormrod, 2006)
Step 2) Improve your definition in the following textbox, then share your definition with your
classmate
You probably mentioned you found Elliot’s definition interesting or you thought Bruner’s was the best
for you. As a starting point in conceptualizing the definition we are going to be using throughout this
course, let’s clarify we are going to refer to Bruner’s definition.

General psychology theories also promote personal development as the result of identifying and
treating mental or emotional disorders that result from a variety of situations. (Riggio, 2015).

Step 3) What things or words come to your mind when you hear/read the word psychology?

Write your answer in the following mind map

Step 4) Underline the words in the following definition that are in your mind map

• ‘Psychology is a science that relies heavily on observation and empirical data such as statistics. As a
science, empirical data is vital to ensuring the concepts and principles of the science are accurate.
Although psychology is defined as the study of the mind, many applications of general psychology can
help solve practical problems and issues. […] The theories that form general psychology are used in
[…] practical settings such as a therapist's office and research to better understand human behaviors,
emotions, and mental processes. (Riggio, 2015)

Psychology is defined as “the scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental
process (Gerrig and Zimbardo, 2008 p. 4).

Psychology can be defined as “the science of the activities of the individual. The word “activity” is used here
in a very broad sense. It includes not only motor activities like walking and speaking, but
also cognitive (knowledge-getting) activities like seeing, hearing, remembering, and thinking,
and emotional activities like laughing crying, and feeling sad. (Woodworth and Marquis, 1957, p.3).

Step 5) Identify and write the 4 most important keywords in the concepts of Educational Psychology
and Psychology in the following textbox:

1.

2.

3.

4.
Step 6) From the concepts of Educational Psychology provided and the definition of psychology reflect upon:
What aspects are represented as A in the diagram? Which traits or characteristics would appear in the
Psychology Circle? And which concepts will be displayed in the Psychology one? What surprised you? How
does this diagram help you out in figuring what psychology and educational psychology as professional
disciplines refer to?

After we reviewed and discussed the most relevant concepts of what Educational Psychology and
Psychology entail and the different definitions, we have, it is time to take a closer look at the
relationship between educational psychology and pedagogy of English Language Learning and
Teaching.

3. Relationship between psychology and pedagogy in the context of foreign

language teaching.
Task 3 A) Look at the diagram and try to explain what pedagogy is.
Pedagogy may be defined as the art of teaching. It involves being able to convey knowledge and
skills in ways that students can understand, remember, and apply. Pedagogical skills can be divided
into classroom management and control-related skills.

Task 3 B) Complete the following text box answering: What do you think the relationship
between psychology and pedagogy of second language teaching and learning is?

Pedagogy and psychology serve the general maturity of each person. But to understand the real
connection between these two, let's address real-life situations involving social problems that might
affect not only psychological but also pedagogical aspects.

Task 4) Observe the role-plays

A) After the role-play 1, answer the following questions
 Did the teacher look concerned?
 Do you think what the teacher did to solve the problem or said would make a student feel better?
 What academic factors can be affected in this situation?
 What is necessary to be ready to solve this kind of problem?

B) After the role-play 2, answer the following questions

 What academic pressures do you think students might experience?
 What feelings about the academic pressure do you think they might experience?
 How did the teacher communicate the problem and what suggestions did she provide?
 What would you do in a teacher's situation?
Hopefully, now you get the importance of finding a balance between academic expectations and
mental health, with input from teachers, parents, and students. And only when fostering
communication and resolution among teachers, parents, and students, effective learning will take
place.
The teacher has a complicated job. He or she has to consider the various sources of knowledge and
theory that exist, take into account the very specific classroom situation and students she is facing,
and determine when and how theory can inform her practice. Teachers in the classroom experience
what Dan Lortie (1975) called the “multidimensionality and simultaneity of teaching.” Every student,
for instance, brings his/her idiosyncratic, individual unique challenges, personality, and ability to the
classroom. As a teacher, you experience your students’ differences. The teacher has to do his or her
research as well. Good teachers have a kind of “personal practical knowledge” that enables them to
understand what’s going on with their students.

4. Application of basic psychological concepts in the English classroom

Task 5) Analyze the following concepts
1. Behaviorism was a theory of learning that was very influential in the 1940s and 1950s,
especially in the United States. Concerning language learning, the best-known proponent of this
psychological theory was B. F. Skinner. Traditional behaviorists hypothesized that when children imitated
the language produced by those around them, their attempts to reproduce what they heard received
‘positive reinforcement'. This could take the form of praise or just successful communication.
Thus, encouraged by their environment, children would continue to imitate and practice these sounds and
patterns until they formed 'habits' of correct language use. According to this view, the quality and quantity
of the language the child hears, as well as the consistency of the reinforcement offered by others in the
environment, would shape the child’s language behavior. This theory gives great importance to the
environment as the source of everything the child needs to learn. Behaviorists viewed imitation and
practice as the primary processes in language development.
Behaviorists noted that, unlike a parrot who imitates a family member and continues to repeat the same
things again and again, children appear to imitate selectively.
In a language classroom behaviorism is present when:
Students become ill during a particular topic or the day of the exam
Flickering lights (or a specific gesture) as a cue to be quiet
In the form of positive reinforcement: as rewards, and appraisal words when getting good grades.
Task 5 A) What do you think is the most relevant contribution of Behaviorism in your current teaching-
learning situation?

2. Humanism was the works of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow that accelerated the development
of Humanistic Psychology in the early seventies. According to Roger, the learners were not to be
considered as a ‘class’, but as a ‘group‟. They suggested that the learners ought to be considered as
‘clients’ and the teachers were ‘counselors’, who addressed the needs of the learners. When applied to
teaching, it gains significance because it is with the teachers that the learners spend most of their valuable
and moldable years. Teachers should realize that their responsibility doesn’t stop in just imparting
knowledge to the learners, but also in facilitating them toward self-motivation.
A humanistic approach to teaching not only helps learners easily learn things but also develops their
personalities in various ways. They easily solve problems in life situations, have good reasoning
capabilities, and are self-developed with free will and cooperation. So far, there has been value education
that taught humanism to the learners. But today, thanks to the various research done in the field of
education, teaching with humanism not only inculcates values in learners but also enables them to grasp
their subjects easily in a natural way.
In the world of language teaching, the humanism of the Rogerian kind made an indelible mark. In Roger’s
humanism, one can see quite a departure from the scientific analysis of Skinnerian psychology. Roger’s
humanism is not concerned with the actual process of cognitive learning since, he feels, if the context for
learning is created properly, then, learners will learn everything they need to. The teacher as a facilitator
must therefore provide the nurturing context for learning and not see his mission as one of rather
programmatically feeding students, quantities of knowledge that they subsequently devour.
This distinctively human quality, named Humanism shows itself in terms of one or more of the five
overlapping components: Feelings, Social relation, Responsibility, Intellect, Self-actualization
Moskowitz's (2004) first emphasis is that “Humanistic education takes into consideration that learning is
affected by how students feel about themselves”.
In a Humanistic Language classroom, the facilitator (teacher) commonly engages students effectively
considering their likes and dislikes when designing the material and activities for the class. Behaviors that
cause anxiety or stress should be avoided.
Learners should be actively involved in the learning process when personalizing a conversation and finding
a relevant goal to the content they are managing.
Task 5 b) What do you think is the most relevant contribution of Humanism in your current teaching-
learning situation?
 3. Piaget’s work on the development of knowledge and understanding is founded upon the basic
view that there is a set of processes that are unconsciously put into action each time an individual
encounters information from any of their senses. In practice, this means all of the time. To explain the
processes, it is easiest to isolate occasions when sensory information is encountered and outline the
possible mental processes that are initiated and followed through. Piaget describes three essential
processes that define the basis of how, according to the theory of genetic epistemology, learning takes
place. These are assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration.
In Piagetian terms, assimilation is the collecting and classifying of new information. When new information
is encountered – a car with no roof, a car painted with flowers – this is added to the existing schema. It is
assimilated. However, it will only be assimilated if it does not contradict something already established as
an integral part of what exists.
Accommodation is the alteration of a schema for new and contradictory information to be allowed. There
will perhaps be a time of denial. This will be followed by a period of adjustment, possibly over some time,
and eventually, based on experience, a situation of no contradiction will be returned to. As living, thinking
beings we strive for a situation of no contradiction.
Studies have shown that successful activities depend not just on content but also on their being carefully
structured with sections for a title, a motivational introduction, task/instructions, an answer grid, a time
guide, and feedback. (Lockwood, 1992, p.131).
Equilibration is the state of having no contradictions present in our mental representations of our
environment. The linked processes of assimilation and accommodation are the means by which a state of
equilibrium is sought.
Task 5 C) What do you think is the most relevant contribution of Humanism in your current teaching-
learning situation?
 4. Social Constructivism, by Lev Vygotsky, considers that social interaction is a fundamental aspect
of successful cognitive and intellectual growth. Vygotsky places great emphasis on dialogue and other
interaction between the learner and another. He tells us that [e]very function in the child’s cultural
development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between
people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological).
Another crucially important element of Vygotsky’s work is the idea that the potential for cognitive
development and learning is dependent upon transition across the Zone of Proximal Development
(from now on ZPD).
The ZPD is a notional area of understanding or cognitive development that is close to but just beyond a
learner’s current level of understanding. If learners are to make “progress” they must be helped to move
into this zone and then beyond it to a new and higher level. From this new level, there will, of course, be a
new ZPD, implying a capacity for more development at every stage. In Vygotsky’s own words, the ZPD is
the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in
collaboration with more capable peers. . . What children can do with the assistance of others might be in
some sense even more indicative of their mental development than what they can do alone.
(Vygotsky,1978)
Successful and timely movement across this notional zone is dependent upon social interaction. Learners
can be assisted in the progress made across their ZPD in a given situation by a more knowledgeable other
who can provide the sort of support that will make progress possible.
In a sense, measured social interaction is a tool for allowing progress to be made. Progress across a ZPD is
central to learning and in the context of a social classroom, it is usually, but not exclusively, the teacher
who takes the role of scaffolder. In formal learning situations, the role of the scaffolder can be a complex
part to play. It is interesting to briefly note here that the scaffolder need not always be a teacher or even
an adult.
The term “more knowledgeable other” is used to suggest that social interaction with any other individual
has the potential to support Vygotskian learning. This might be in the context of group or paired work in a
classroom or it might be in the informal context of two friends chatting about a topic of interest in a park,
at home or anywhere else for that matter.

Central to learning from this perspective is the zone of proximal development, which focuses on the gap
between what the learner can currently do and the next stage in learning – the level of potential
development – and how learning occurs through negotiation between the learner and a more advanced
language user during which a process of scaffolding occurs. To take part in these processes the learner
must develop interactional competence, the ability to manage exchanges despite limited language
development. Personality, motivation, and cognitive style may all play a role in influencing the learner's
willingness to take risks, his or her openness to social interaction, and attitudes towards the target
language and users of the target language.
Task 5 D) What do you think is the most relevant contribution of Humanism in your current teaching-
learning situation?

5. Bandura developed a social cognitive theory which in part paid homage to Piaget’s earlier work.
He considers learning to be an active process, in line with all constructivist thinking and stresses the
importance of the social nature of learning. Bandura’s major theoretical beliefs are fully consistent with
social constructivist thought. He points out that human lives are not lived in isolation (Roger, 2004). He
writes about what he terms “collection agency”, which is an extension of more individualized “human
agency”.
The notion of collective agency is concerned with people working together on shared beliefs and common
aspirations to improve their lives. Bandura (1997) describes his theory of self-efficacy and its application to
education, health, psychopathology, athletics, business and international affairs. Bandura argues that
people learn from observing role models in day-to-day life. He explains that “Learning would be
exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own
actions to inform them what to do” (1977:22).

The notion of Bandura’s observational learning links with yet another aspect of social constructivism. It
links with the concept of situativity, which is encapsulated within the theory of situated learning (Lave and
Wenger, 1991).
Situated learning and what is referred to as the “apprenticeship model” is a description of learning that
takes place in highly social situations. In this sense, the word “social” refers to a situation in which two or
more individuals are together and interacting in one or more of a variety of different ways, but specifically
in a way that encourages learning to take place for one or more of the participants.
The label “apprenticeship” is used as a reference to the master craftsman and young apprentice model of
traditional learning in any of the craft or more physical occupations. The apprentice, in a way, looks and
learns (Bandura’s observational learning). The apprentice is guided in his efforts to master a new skill by
the highly skilled master.
Bandura focuses on social cognitive principles of learning which also apply to the learning of language.
Children pay attention to some of the people they come into contact with and imitate their behavior
through observation. In observation, language is acquired through the influence of others who are models.
Task 5 E) What do you think is the most relevant contribution of Humanism in your current teaching-
learning situation?

6. Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett (1886–1969) was a British psychologist. The schema theory was one
of the leading cognitivists learning theories and was introduced by Bartlett in 1932 and further developed
in the ’70s by Richard Anderson.
Bartlett advanced this concept to provide a basis for a temporal alternative to traditional spatial storage
theories of memory since schema theory describes the way knowledge is acquired, processed, and
cerebrally organized.
While exploring the recall of Native American folktales, Bartlett noticed that many recalls were not
accurate and involved the replacement of unfamiliar information with facts already known. To categorize
this class of memory errors, Bartlett suggested that human beings possess generic knowledge in the form
of unconscious mental structures (schemata) and that these structures produce schematized errors in
recall when they interact with incoming information.
Thus, it is through schemata that old knowledge influences new information. So, schemata (plural of
schema) are psychological concepts that were proposed as a form of mental representation for selected
chunks of complex knowledge, which are then stored in long-term memory.
The key elements of a Schema are:
1. An individual can memorize and use a schema without even realizing of doing so.
2. Once a schema is developed, it tends to be stable over a long period.
3. The human mind uses schemata to organize, retrieve, and encode chunks of important information.
4. Schemata are accumulated over time and through different experiences.
Task 5 F) What do you think is the most relevant contribution of Humanism in your current teaching-
learning situation?
Research task
Piaget also describes some stages of cognitive development. So, find out about them.
Step 1) Complete the chart by searching the web for the missing information. Keep this information in
mind since it will be discussed in this unit’s forum.
Stage Age Description
Range
Sensorimotor

2-7 years
old

Concepts attached to concrete situations. Time, space, and quantity are understood and can be
applied, but not as independent concepts

Formal
Operations

The chart is taken from https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/piaget-stages

If you have no internet, use the following text.
Let’s have a look at Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, the first one is the Sensorimotor Stage (0 – 2
years)
A child’s thinking at this stage is governed by actions as demonstrated by his attempts to learn about the world
by grasping, watching, sucking, and manipulating objects. The child is ruled by his sensations and actions and,
as such, learns by sensing and doing.
From an infant who is at the mercy of reflexes and responds through random behavior, the child now develops
into a goal-oriented toddler with more complex cognitive and behavioral schemas. Schemas comprise
categories of knowledge that help people interpret and understand their world. And as we mentioned before
some educators believe it is there the commencement of learning.

Then we have the second stage which is called the Preoperational Stage (2 – 7 years) where the use of
language is one of the most significant developments during the preoperational stage. At this stage of Piaget’s
stages of cognitive development, a child can make use of internal representational systems to describe people,
his feelings, and his environment. The symbolic play also evolves at this stage allowing the child to engage in
pretend play using available objects to represent something else, such as a spoon being waved in the air to
represent an airplane.

In this stage according to Jean Piaget’s theory, the child is so engrossed in egocentric thoughts that he
believes his view of the world is shared by everyone around him. The child can’t comprehend that there are
other ways of looking at the world and interpreting information. For example, a child who plays hide and seek
may close his eyes while standing in plain sight, believing that since he cannot see, no one else can see him.
Relating this to English language learning I can say we can focus on vocabulary and very basic chunks of
grammar. Remember TPR (total physical response) activities are particularly meaningful at this stage.

On the fourth stage, Piaget's (1977) establishes the concrete operational stage (7 – 12 years) the growing
understanding of the principle of conservation signals the entry to the Piaget’s concrete operational stage. At
this Piaget’s stage of cognitive development, a child begins to think with logic but is still constrained by his
affinity to the concrete, physical realities of the here and now. Therefore, he still has some difficulty
understanding questions and problems of an abstract or hypothetical nature.
In addition to mastering some aspects of conservation, the child acquires greater proficiency at tasks that
require logical reasoning, distinguishing facts from fantasies, classification of objects, deduction, and induction,
formulating judgments about cause and effect, spatial thought, seriation, and knowledge of numbers. In
English, we may introduce more complex grammatical structures and we not only identify the number with its
written form, we are aware of the concept it represents.
Lastly, Piaget (1977) mentions the Formal Operational Stage (12 years to adulthood) where a child’s thinking is
no longer bound to observable, physical events. The child now utilizes abstract, logical, and formal thinking to
make sense of his environment. He is able to approach and resolve problems systematically by formulating
hypotheses and methodically testing them out. However, according to Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development, not all individuals reach this stage of development are capable of formal operational thought. It is
here where we finally can teach passive and active voice and all the conditionals since we are now aware of
unreal or hypothetical situations.

It is complex to imagine psychology and second language teaching and learning as isolated aspects and
one without the other. Burden & Williams (1997) state ‘The process of education is one of the most
important and complex of all human endeavors. A popular notion is that education is something carried
out by one person, a teacher, standing in front of a class and transmitting information to a group of
learners who are all willing and able to absorb it. This view, however, simplifies what is a highly complex
process involving an intricate interplay between the learning process itself, the teacher's intentions and
actions, the individual personalities of the learners, their culture and background, the learning
environment, and a host of other variables.’
If you agree, I’d add it is impossible to carry out those processes without a psychological approach. What
this means is that Educational Psychology can help us understand how language learners acquire linguistic
and communicative knowledge, can develop motor skills, and the role emotions play in developing these
two areas (knowledge acquisition and skill development). As teachers, we have to be aware of the fact
that there is an interplay of mental (cognitive), behavioral, and affective factors going on at all times in our
language classroom and we as teachers should be prepared to attend to them as they arise out of the
activities and interactions in which students are engaged.
As an example, when we use worksheets and flashcards in the language classroom, they may work well for
students who ‘absorb’ knowledge visually, but for a learner who needs to hear the information to grasp it,
traditional methods of teaching force him or her to use a physical sense that may not be that well-
developed.
If a teacher comes to the classroom with the basic knowledge that students learn differently, they will be
better equipped to arrange lessons in such a way that all ‘channels/senses’ are activated.
We are using aspects of Educational Psychology when using songs or rhythms in the class since we are
considering an auditory learning style.
Hopefully, this subject will help you, as a language teacher, to make connections between these different
aspects of the learning process and to make informed decisions about what to do in their classrooms
based on a psychological theory.

5. Summary and conclusions

As previously stated, Educational psychology has been defined in many different ways. However, some similarities
(development, behavior, etc.) define the relationship it holds with Psychology.
Psychology deals with a wide variety of issues such as disorders, perceptions, social processes, and cognition. It is in the last one,
where Educational Psychology arises as one of the most important fields of study for our career.
Cognition refers to mental processes of different types as retention, attention span, and memory and those (and many more) are core
elements in Second Language Teaching and Learning processes. That is, Learning cannot take place without a cognitive process
present.
Reflect

Answer the following questions briefly. (50-75 words per response)

 What do you think is the role of Educational Psychology in Language Learning?

 What is the significance of Educational Psychology in your current teaching practice?

 How does the school you work for or studied in deal with cognitive, behavioral, and developmental issues? Is there an
Educational Psychologist? What are his responsibilities?

6. References
 Elliott, S. N. (2000). Educational psychology: Effective teaching, effective learning. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
 Gerrig, R. J. & Zimbardo, P. G. (2008). Psychology and Life. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
 Glover, J. A., & Ronning, R. R. (1987). Historical foundations of educational psychology. New York: Plenum Press.
 Reynolds, M. & Miller G. E. (2003) Handbook of Psychology: Educational Psychology. vol 7.New Jersey.
 Ormrod, J. E. (2006) Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2006, ISBN 0131190873,
9780131190870.
 Riggio, R. E. (2015) The 5 Top Reasons to Study Psychology. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2017, from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201208/the-5-top-reasons-study-psychology.
 Williams, M., & Burden, R. L. (1997). Psychology for language teachers: A social constructivist approach. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.