The academe has undergone changes to respond in the development of holistic and skillful 21st century language learners and global situation. People all over the globe have become more persistent and aggressive in indulging themselves in learning the Universal Language. In fact, different races have already considered “Second Language Proficiency” as an essential tool in producing competent individuals who can strive globally; thus, helping them to contribute to the welfare of their nations. In line with this, English Teachers are now perceived as the agents of “Quality Language Teaching”. With the current global pandemic, language learning is now taking place online across the world thus, language teachers have to deal with language and educational technology pedagogies. They are given enormous responsibilities in carrying out triumphant strategies in teaching the second language and transition to online learning. With this regards, promoting an anxiety-free learning environment during language teaching is inevitable.
In Stephen Krashen’s definition of SLA (Second Language Acquisition), he said that SLA does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill. Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language – natural communication – in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding. There are a number of strategies that support and promote SLA in classrooms and now, online however, Krashen also validated that anxiety in learners leads to a filter that blocks linguistic output from entering, also known as the affective filter hypothesis.
Language educators and learners are facing a lot of challenges and working under considerations of significant stress nowadays because of the transition to online education and remote learning. Language educators are navigating the new teaching environment while language learners are continuously motivating themselves, requiring self-discipline and great responsibility.
The best methods are therefore those that supply comprehensible input in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are “ready” recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production. Victoria Russell also reiterated in her study that it is important to analyse the learner’s language development and digital literacy, consider feedback, increase interactions and create support systems in alleviating learner’s perceived levels of anxiety.
Successful teaching involves much more than the transmission of content and skills. The ultimate goal is to create independent, self-directed, self-motivated learners who are capable of critiquing and directing their own work; who are open to alternative. This can be done successfully if the facilitators will eliminate anxiety in language teaching. Language educators and learners are experiencing a significant amount of general anxiety due to the current global pandemic, instigating strategies and activities that can alleviate anxiety during language learning should bring at least some level of comfort to students during these uncertain times. A stress-free learning environment can promote a more meaningful and substantial learning.
By: Ms. Patricia Celine C. Montero | Teacher II | BNHS-Senior Highschool | BAlnga City, Bataan
