Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem

One of the biggest issues in many Universities and Colleges in the present time is the

gradually increasing number of students who manifest a high level of affective factors in their

performance, particularly in their academic. To present it in a clear manner, the theory of

affective factor is first proposed by Dulay & Burt in 1977. Later on, in 1982, Stephen Krashen

(1982) improved and refined the hypothesis in an organized and flawless way. In a particular

classroom setting, it is very significant for the learners that they will feel comfortable and be

at ease during the learning process. When students feel nervousness and gets bothered, they

will often get mental block, which is viewed an affective factor. It pertains to certain emotions,

such as motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety in the process of acquiring a language (Teach

Abroad, 2008).

Aziz (2007) mentioned one problem that may be encountered in language classes.

Learners are taking a risk whether they speak or they will keep quiet. They are afraid of

making mistakes. Xiaoyan (2009), explained that the filter is down when the acquirer is not

concerned and trying to be part of the team that speaks in English. On the contrary, the filter

is up when the acquirer is not motivated and lacks of self-confidence. Furthermore, the

identified learners with low affective filter will permit more input that is significant in their

language acquisition device or known as the LAD. In contrast, learners with a high affective

filter will certainly lower their language intake (Krashen, 1985). This absolutely means that

the higher the affective filter of the student, the lesser the probability they will possess or

acquire the target language.

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In Taiwan, many English language learners do not have lots of time and opportunity to

converse with their teachers (Chang, 2011). It has also been identified that most of the target

learners feel anxious when they will speak in front of many people, and as a result of this,

learners have the tendency to keep themselves away from responding to the teacher directly

when they are asked, and rather, they choose to be mere listeners. For the results, it can be

clearly seen that for this class, a large number of English language learners show anxiety, lack

of motivation, and self-confidence. In connection to this, Parrish (2004) formulated that

affective filter can be minimized if the instructor allows his/her students to commit mistakes,

does not put and push students in the attention of the crowd, willingly considers learners’

different learning styles, will respects all learners, and most importantly, provides meaningful

encouragement to the learners.

Through affective factors, Schunk, Pintrich and Meece (2008) expressed that learners

can make use of the cognitive strategies such as motivation, attention and working memory.

In addition, affective factors can also produce positive results with the use of affective

strategies (White, 2008) such as reducing the level of anxiety, encouraging and uplifting one

self from time to time, and monitoring one’s emotional state (Oxford, 1990). In order to make

the performance of the learner more successful, this major concern of this study is to examine

the learner’s affective factor and how motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety can be of

beneficial factors that can influence their learning.

Purpose of the Study

This study aims to examine the level of motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety of

students in an their English 202 subject.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1) What is the level of affective factors in terms of:

1.1 motivation;
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1.2 self-confidence; and

1.3 anxiety?

Review of Related Literature

This section tackles various related studies regarding affective factors collected from

unfailing sources like published articles, books, online journals and other dependable sources.

Krashen’s theory under second language acquisition runs a long period of time hence

there were various works he presented (Krashen (1981, 1982, 1985, 1989, 2003; Krashen &

Terrell 1983). It was composed of the Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis, Natural Order

Hypothesis, Monitor Hypothesis, Input Hypothesis, and the Affective Filter Hypothesis) these

five are the basic hypothesis that Krashen presented within that timeframe. He has also

formulated the reading hypothesis that was an extension of the Input Hypothesis.

Based on those series of studies, the study focuses deeper on Krashen’s Filter

Hypothesis. In this hypothesis, he claimed anxiety, self-confidence, and motivation, which are

affective variables do not play big roles in language learning. Nevertheless, it obstructs the

input from getting into the portion of our brain system that was assigned in language

acquisition. In fact, it is connected to Chomsky’s theory of Language Acquisition Device. The

term input refers to the picking up of the parts of the language (e.g grammatical items). If a

student is anxious, has lacks self-confidence and motivation, he/she has a tendency not to

consider himself or herself a good speaker capable of speaking the language. Although, the

student might understand the language input, it will not reach the language acquisition device.

It means to say that affective filter is a stumbling block.

Affective Factors

One of the most significant studies which considered affective factors in teaching

second language learners was shown in Pappamihiel’s (2002). It showed direct evidence that

the anxiety of Mexican ESL (English as a second language) learners led to the extraction of
 4

the learning experience. Furthermore, it has been found that in his study, anxiety of Mexican

ESL learners play a significant role on affective factors specifically in learning the second

language.

Affective factors are connected to the acquisition of the second language because

aside from the fact that they are evident in the learners, affective factors such as motivation,

anxiety and self-confidence can affect their acquisition of the second language specifically

when the communicative test has been used. Its implication of the communicative test result

will emphasize and give focus on the acquired rather than the learnt system (Krashen, 1982).

Furthermore, based on the affective filter hypothesis in acquiring the second language, the

attitudinal variables that relate to success will usually relate straight to language acquisition.

However, it will not necessarily relate straight to the acquisition of the second language

(Krashen and Terrel, 1983).

Some of the proponents of the affective factor are Jack C. Richards, and Theodore S.

Rodgers, (2000), who both believed that a learner who is open-minded to the input they had

received, a learner who is able to interact with their friends and teachers confidently, and a

learner who seek more comprehensive input has a low affective filter. In the contrary, an

anxious learner who is afraid to commit a single mistake has a high affective filter in which it

prevents the acquisition of the second language. In addition, the filter will rise in the age of

adolescence, and it may account for children superiority to the older acquirers.

Motivation. There are proponents who defined motivation in a different way. One of

them is Brown (2000), who claimed that motivation serves as a stepping-stone of the learners

beyond success. He added that it only serves as a stepping stone beyond success if only a

learner has proper motivation. In contrast, Doryei (2001), who says that motivation plays an

essential role in order to enhance the learning of the students. However, in the study of Lai

(2011), which is entitled “Motivation; A Literature Review”, he cited Guay et al., (2010),

whose defined motivation as an ultimate reasons underlying the behavior of a person. Gredler,
 5

Broussard, and Garrison (2004), paraphrased the given definition of Guay (2010). They both

claimed that motivation is the characteristic that advocates us to do or not to do something. In

connection to this, Deci (2000), added that people who have a characteristic wherein they are

able to feel that he/she is motivated or encouraged throughout his/her life are simply

considered as unmotivated. On a different side, people who have a characteristic wherein they

consider themselves as energetic or rejuvenated thoroughly in his/her life are considered as

highly motivated. This is the ultimate reason on how motivation is defined as “to move” or

“do something”.

As discussed above, it is very important for us to look at the conclusion of one’s

achievement, the effort made, and being emotionally involved. According to Dornyei (2001),

it is mandatory. Thus, there are three essential questions formulated. These are: “Why do

humans prefer to act?”, “How tough do they stick their responsibility?” and “How long they

will continue the accomplishment?”. Therefore, a learner must be aware of both intrinsic

motivation and extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic Motivation. According to Lai (2011), it is an impetus of being active through

personal enjoyment, pleasure, and curiosity. Nowadays, intrinsic motivation plays a very

important role in our life. It can be a sign of natural human propensity on how to understand.

Above all, how to learn. Furthermore, it is also incorporated in doing an activity for

satisfaction purposes, and it is not just a form of motivation or a volitional activity. Rather, it

is said to be a persistent and a very important one.

Extrinsic Motivation. If the intrinsic motivation is often connected to the involvement

of complex tasks, in contrast, extrinsic motivation is believed to be important in involving the

learners in simple tasks (Osterloh & Frey 2000: Gagne & Deci 2005) as cited by Reinholt

(2006). Furthermore, it is most often associated with activities that will promote engagement

to the learners because it can lead to advantageous consequences such as receiving rewards.
 6

Self-Confidence. According to Horwitz (2000), it is very essential and necessary to

bear in mind and be aware of how different it is to learn the second language and its process,

and how learners perceive themselves in considering their self-esteem. It is not always

considerable that the more advanced learners in the classroom will have the higher level of

self-esteem than those who are not.

As discussed above, Horwitz (2000) defined self-confidence as similar to self-esteem.

In order to understand the difference among the two, it is helpful to note its distinction. Self-

confidence and self-esteem are exchangeable terms, even if they have elusive differences

Self-confidence is considered as completely similar with the term self-esteem

(Horwitz, 2000). In order to comprehend the inconsistency between the two terms, it is better

to make a note of its dissimilarity. Self-confidence is as to how we feel about ourselves, to

what we are capable of doing, while self-esteem is the direct appreciation and importance we

see in ourselves. In other words, if we have healthy self-esteem, it is an indication of being

self-confident. Self-esteem entails an individual’s personal judgment of self whether the

person is naturally positive or negative (Sedikides and Gregg, 2003). William James (1890),

first coined the term “self-esteem” that was considered as the oldest notion in psychology and

placed as the 3rd recorded occurring subject in psychological literature. According to

Rodewalt & Tragakis (2003), wide various history is expected to see differentiated viewpoints

of self-esteem. However, William James (1890) originally defined that self-esteem is seen as

a quotient of success matched to failure on things that are significant to us in life. On the other

hand Albert Bandura’s “Social Learning Theory” established the idea of “self-efficacy” which

was said to be comparable with self-esteem. Ormrod, J.E. (2006) defined self-efficacy as an

impression or a belief that a person is skilled to do a task with the attainment of specific goals.

Hashemian, (2012), states that self- esteem is clearly looking at how people perceive

and estimate themselves. How they look at themselves as a valuable and important member of

the society and in the world as a whole, and how worthy they perceived they are others.
 7

Hashemian elaborated that positive self- esteem enables people to be more accountable with

regards to their lives while having low esteem gives people negative outlooks in life making

them dreadful in whatever they want to do.

Past experiences create a big role in fostering wholesome self-confidence. If we had

prior cheerful experiences, it is possible to become confident and attain high self-esteem. Self-

confidence is a conviction that you can do a task based on your competence. In short, it trusts

yourself that you are capable, it is a fact that people with higher self-confidence develops a

motivation to an individual’s interest in a performance that shapes up self-esteem. It is fueled

by other people like, parents, teachers, friends, and colleagues that want to see a person act.

These interpersonal strategies are studied by Benabou and Tirole (1999). While in the context,

for a person with time constraint, the self has this self-confidence and interest of future selves,

which opposes the possibility to simply give up in tasks with time frames. In psychology;

believing in oneself is a must to attain personal success.

Anxiety. Based from Dornyei (2005), anxiety is complex and very functional. Hence,

in the study of foreign language acquisition (Gardner, Lalande, Moorcroft, & Evers, 1987; as

cited by Wu, 2004), it was revealed that anxiety can negatively influenced the comprehension

of the learner. Moreover, it has been found out that inside the classroom, most of the students

showed different feelings that can hinder their learning such as: feelings of uneasiness,

frustration, apprehension, worry or self-doubt.

In fact, there has been a debate concerning the feasibility of the anxiety in the language

acquisition whether it can hinder the learning or not (MacIntayre, 1995; Sparks, Ganchow &

Javorsky, 2000; Horwitz, 2000). In line with this, Sparks et al., (2000) as cited by Horwitz

(2000), clearly stated that anxiety is a hindrance in acquiring the second language. Therefore,

anxiety itself is one factor that can make the learning process slower.

Notionally, there are diverse levels of language anxiety with the students in the middle

schools (referred to secondary students) depending on the context. These circumstances

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consist of learners being fearful of being evaluated in a negative way, anxiety in taking tests,

identity, and the apprehension to communicate. It has been concluded that learners who

qualified have more pressure in their day-to-day communication with ordinary learners.

On the other hand, anxiety will increase among the university learners during the final

exam compared to the mid-term exam (Gardner, Masgoret, Tennant, and Mihic, 2004).

Moreover, the learners in the University of Shanghai have been tested for their perceptions on

both pedagogical and personal factors via interviews. There was an age ranges between 17 to

21 with high, moderate and low anxiety. Yan & Horwitz (2008) concluded that there was a

negative effect of anxiety and achievement. They also suggested that it needs attentiveness to

both “personal and socio-cultural” factors in learning the language.

As a whole, affective factors namely the motivation, self-confidence and anxiety have

a great influence to better acquire the language. It may lower or increase their meaningful

intake of knowledge depending on how a student reacts to that specific factor and as to how

the teacher would give attention and remediation. With all the authors varying point of view

being mentioned, it can be summarized that the effect of those affective factors can be

manageable with proper guidance. However, there is a risk that can be tolerated and neglected.

Delimitation and Limitations of the Study

The researchers conducted the study in the University of Mindanao, Davao City. The

survey was distributed to 50 students studying the English 202 subject. The respondents

enrolled in the second semester SY: 2016-2017. It is the researchers reason to focus more on

students with the said subject because it was described as communicative speaking. Therefore,

they have more opportunities to speak and interact using the English language. They are also

more experienced because of the English prerequisite subjects that should be enrolled before

taking up English 202 which are also very useful for the students.

The researchers modified 2 questionnaires. One of the questionnaires was from Park

and Lee’s (2004), Self-Confidence Questionnaire and Anxiety Questionnaire, both can be seen
 9

in Appendix A. Furthermore, the researchers only collected quantitative data and did not

include interview questions.

Significance of the Study

School Administrators. The findings of this study will provide insight to school

administrators as to the programs which can build the self-confidence as well as motivation of

students especially as they engage in speaking activities.

Guidance Councilor. The result of this study can be used as one of their bases in

developing new strategies, orientations, other forms of methods that will help the students

overcome anxieties, develop self-confidence, motivation and improve their performances.

Teachers/Instructors. The outcomes of this study will contribute to the teaching-

learning process, learning styles and meaningful encouragement. It will also give a great

impact to teachers who have students with negative notes on affective factors.

Students. The result will guide them on how to deal with problems such as anxiety, to

respond to it properly, to make teaching-learning more effective and most of all to develop

self-confidence and motivation.

Definition of Terms

Affective Factor. Ni (2012) stated that affective factors are feeling of sentiments, way

of thinking, ambience and the way a person behaves. It is also weighed as a significant part in

learning the second language.

Motivation. The study of Lai (2011) cited that it is the success on happenings, ethics,

different insights, way of living, and happiness that make up motivation. It is reaching a

person’s ultimate goals that makes them driven to do things hence these are called their

motivators. Gredler, Broussard, and Garrison (2004) as cited by Devi (2016), agreed by

saying that it is the attribution of the things that we want which will eventually provoke us.
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Self-Confidence. In the study of Löf (2010) entitled “Self-Confidence: Becoming a

Better Person”, he stated that self-confidence can be self satisfying. He then considered that a

person who lacks of self-confidence is called “timid”. One of the signs of this is being afraid

of failure, and it can sometimes be the implication of the past experiences. Furthermore, a

person with self-confidence often has a fulfilment with one’s personal life, an enjoyable

demeanor, and has a cheerful viewpoint in life.

Anxiety. Rachman & Taylor (2005). The term anxiety as the anxious, unsettling

expectation of a certain event, and it can also be an emotion. It is a negative outcome that is

somehow similar to fear and this is due to many adverse circumstances. In line with this, it

has been said that anxiety often follows after the fear wherein it might lose the control or it

might panic again. Barlow (2002) concluded that there was no a person generally accepted

description of anxiety with the way in which this word was used.
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Chapter 2

METHOD

Highlighted in this section are the discussions of the research design, the research

subjects, the research instruments, the data gathering procedure, and the statistical treatment

of data.

Research Design

The descriptive survey method was used in the study. In the descriptive method

according to Calmorin (1995), the present condition is focused. The purpose of this method is

find new truths which may have different forms such as increased quality of knowledge, a

new generalization or a new law, an increased insight into factors which are operating the

discovery of causal relationship, a more accurate formulation of the problem to be solved, and

many others.

The descriptive study is valuable in providing facts on which scientific judgments may

be based. It provides essential knowledge about the nature of objects and persons. It also plays

a large part in the development of instruments for the measurements of many things, and

instruments that are employed in all types of quantitative research as data gathering

instruments. In this study, it describes the level of affective factors (motivation, self-

confidence and anxiety) among students studying English 202 subject.

Research Subjects

The respondents of this study were the 50 second year college students studying the

English 202 subject from the University of Mindanao enrolled for the SY 2016-2017.
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Research Instruments

The test questionnaire used in this study was Self-Confidence and Self-Anxiety

questionnaire adapted from Park and Lee (2004). The questionnaires can be seen in the

Appendix section 1. This instrument consisted of 30 statements that represent the anxiety and

confidence related to English Oral Performance. It consisted of 11-items in Self-Confidence

related to English education, and were developed on the basis of the previous literature and

19- items under anxiety were adapted from Aida (1994) and Horwitz et al. (1986). The

respondents were asked to rate each statement by using this scale: (1) Strongly Disagree, (2)

Disagree (3) Neither Disagree nor Agree (4) Agree and lastly (5) Strongly Agree.

The mean score was also used in the interpretation of the results, if it reached the level

of 1-1.79, this that implies a Very Low number of students supported the statement, 1.8-2.59

indicates low level of students who supported the statement, 2.6-3.39 implies the Average

level, 3.4-4.19 implies the High level and 4.2-5 indicates Very High level of students have

supported the statement.

Data Gathering Procedure

The following were the steps in the gathering of data:

1. Seeking permission to conduct the study. The researchers sought permission

from the Dean of the College of Teachers Education to conduct the study.

2. Administration and distribution of the questionnaires. After the approval, the

study commenced. Questionnaires were personally administered to the respondents by the

researchers.

3. Retrieval of the questionnaires. The data were then retrieved, collected, tallied,

tabulated, analyzed and interpreted confidentially and accordingly with the aid of the

statistician.
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Statistical Treatment of Data

The data collected were tested using the following statistical tools:

Mean. This was used in order to determine the level of affective factors to the students

studying the English 202 subject.

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Chapter 3

Result and Discussion

Presented in this chapter are the presentation, analysis and interpretation of the data

gathered. The test questionnaire has 48 items which falls into 3 categories; self-confidence,

anxiety and motivation. The collected data were computed using mean to determine the level

of affective factors among students enrolled in the English 202 subject.

Table 1 shows the level of affective factors in each area.

Table 1
Level of Affective Factors

Affective Factors Mean Level

Self-confidence 3.48 High

Anxiety 2.55 Low

Motivation 3.56 High

Overall 3.13 Average

Among the three affective factors, motivation got the highest mean of 3.56 or high.

This means that the students are motivated to learn the target language and even use it since

their subject is communicative speaking. They see the subject as helpful in their future

profession, and in day-to-day basis. It can also be said that their teacher might have employed

an aura of meaningful interaction to the students, observes appropriate way in giving feedback,

and constant advice. The teacher may not be very strict that creates an aura of fear to the
 15

students that may make them uneasy. Hence it made them more motivated in the English

language.

Next is anxiety, it has 2.55 mean score or low. It can be surmised that the students’

anxiety level is low since they are highly motivated and self-confident as shown in the table.

As Krashen claimed if the anxiety is low and self-confidence and motivation are high there is

no barrier in acquiring the target language. In short, they are not anxious in speaking,

expressing their ideas and views, they are confident and positive in acquiring the second

language. Therefore, teachers can be acknowledged with good classroom management,

approach and strategy in the class because students are not scared or worried in expressing

themselves.

Lastly is self-confidence which has a total mean score of 3.48 or high. This might be

attributed to the fact that they are positive in the way they think about themselves. They are

optimistic in expressing themselves in varying situations, achieving their dreams, and

accepting responsibility. They are positive that they can learn to speak fluently in English

someday as this item reached the highest score among all self-confidence statements

presented in table 2.

As a whole, the overall mean score of the affective factors is 3.13 which is described

as average level. This can be considered boundary, heading back to the theory anchored in

this study, students should have met low level of affective factor for easier grasp of the target

language Krashen (1985). Since they acquired an average level it means they still have to

work on their emotions, anxiety and feelings inside the class for better performance and

positive acquisition of knowledge. This can be done through the given recommendations

mentioned in this study and personal awareness of the significant contribution of affective

domain in teaching-learning process.

Table 2 presents the respondents’ level of affective factor in terms of self-confidence.

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Table 2
Affective Factor

Self-confidence Mean

I can easily learn to speak English. 3.7

I feel competent in my English speaking skills. 3.4

I am an important member of my group. 3.54

My group needs me to come to class every week. 3.32

I don’t feel shy speaking English to my classmates. 3.16

I don’t feel shy speaking English to a foreign professor. 3.2

I don’t feel shy speaking English to my English professor. 3.38

I think that I will speak fluently in English someday. 3.94

I think that I will get a high grade in my English class. 3.66

The highest mean score in the data above is 3.94 in which students think that they will

speak fluently in English someday. These can be drawn in from positive experiences that they

have encountered from their past English class, lessons, teachers and even classmates. Their

teachers might have done a very good job in fostering neutral and meaningful interaction with

students using the English language since they have developed well in terms of self-

confidence. It is important that teachers draw attention to the emotional well being and the

development of the learners’ self confidence. Indeed, in the study of John et.al., (2005) as

cited by Maclellan whatever kind of circumstance that aims to improve the social relationship

of the learner; such as service learning, volunteering, or customized learner- teacher

conferences, can have great and positive effects in learners’ self-confidence. Considering that

self confidence is one of the important factors which influence the learners’ language

performance, they are expected to perform and participate well in class, as well as be active in

showing their ability and interest in learning the language.

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On the other hand, the lowest mean score for self-confidence is 3.2 in which they

don’t feel shy speaking English to a foreign professor. It simply shows helpful implication for

the students since they are not anxious in speaking the English language to other people

especially to the native speakers. They do not feel worried or scared when they have to use

the English language and it means they are well rooted in using the language.

All in all, the students’ result in self-confidence is high; they are positive towards

learning the target language and are looking forward to become proficient in the said field. As

a result, they will mostly likely get a high grade in English class, and are expected to perform

confidently in various classroom performances. They will possibly achieve their highest mean

score statement that says they will speak fluently in English someday.

Table 3 presents the respondents’ level of affective factor in terms of anxiety.

Table 3
Affective Factor
Anxiety Mean

I can easily learn to speak English. 3.7

I feel scared when a foreign professor talks to me in English. 2.7

I feel scared when my English professor talks to me in English. 2.34

I feel scared when my classmates talk to me in English. 2.28

I feel scared when I speak English to a foreign professor. 2.7

I feel scared when I speak English to my English professor. 2.36

I feel scared when I speak English to my classmates. 2.22

I worry if I speak better English than my classmates. 2.32

I worry if my classmates speak better English than I do. 2.42

I worry that my classmates will get a higher grade than I do. 2.5

I worry that I’ll make a mistake if I speak English. 3.06

I worry that people will laugh at me if I speak English. 2.86

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Cont…

I worry when the professor corrects my English mistakes. 2.44

I worry when my classmates correct my English mistakes. 2.58

I worry about English writing tests. 2.5

I worry about English speaking tests. 2.74

I worry about the Licensure Examination for Teachers. 2.76

I worry about my grade in English Class. 2.68

I feel more scared in English class than in other class. 2.38

I forget to speak in English when the professor asks me a question. 2.66

The highest mean score for anxiety is 3.06 that say students are worried that they will

make a mistake if they speak English. Students are experiencing this kind of anxiety maybe

because their subject is all about communicative speaking in which they are expected to use

and master the universal language. They might be pressured to use the said language and are

afraid of their teacher’s reaction if they commit a mistake. However, Parrish (2004) argued

that affective filter such as anxiety can be lessened if the instructor will allow his/her students

to commit mistakes, will not put students in the attention of the crowd, will accept different

learning styles, will respect all learners, and most of all will provide meaningful

encouragement. Hence the teacher must build rapport toward students to eliminate their

anxiety in speaking the target language and develop positive ambiance inside the classroom.

Meanwhile, the lowest mean score is 2.5 in which they are worried that their

classmates will get a higher grade than they do. It means that the students are more anxious in

terms of committing mistakes in speaking the English language than their classmates

performing way better than them. It is an implication that they are more particular with their

own mistakes than others do. They are also worried about English writing tests. It tells that

they show anxiety in English writing tests which are associated to exam that contain essays,

projects like term papers, essay writing, and other assignments that contain lengthy of writing
 19

tasks. As a matter of fact, these activities are common especially in universities nowadays, the

role of the teacher and his/her strategy will be needed to overcome this anxiety and conduct

more English writing activities for the students to be well exposed in that area. In turn, that

can help them overcome the said anxiety.

As a whole, the students’ level of anxiety is low as shown in its mean score of 2.55. Di

(2010), as cited by Numaya, (2013) claimed that way back, there were many debates and

researches conducted by Krashen, Horwitz, and Oxford about anxiety in the English language,

even in language teaching. It agrees to the result of the study that anxiety is still evident even

in this generation. In line with this, the students’ anxiety level is low. It implies that they are

not anxious inside the class. They can do activities and group works with meaningful social

interactions to others as the affective domain may find a more welcoming climate in the halls

of the academe (Hellyer, 2012; Hughes, 2012; Humphreys, 2012; Mullin, 2010). Nevertheless,

Yukina (2003) said that there are factors that can also be considered to be affected by anxiety

like a person’s age, gender, characteristic, learning preference, and motivation. For instance

on age, a student who is already married and way older than his/her classmates will most

likely experience anxiety inside a class in which most of the student’s age is a lot younger

than his/hers.

Pappamihiel (2002) added that there are different levels of language anxiety. In fact

this study gathered data that the following students who participated fortunately reached the

low level of anxiety, which means they can increase their learning intake. As the theory

anchored from this study states the lower the affective filter the greater they will acquire the

target language (Krashen, 1985). The result found emphasizes the account of affective domain

in the students learning, as Boekaerts (2005) said that affective variables such as the

aforementioned are assumed to be important in learning. In addition, Klassen & Chiu (2010)

said that the social cognitive theory like cognition, emotion, and motivation also play a big

role in the teaching-learning process.

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Though others can manage their affective factors well, some of the students don’t

know how to cater to these factors particularly anxiety. In fact, Wu (2010) and Zheng (2008),

considered anxiety as a major obstacle of students in foreign language learning and Hashemi

and Abbasi (2013), as cited by Elaldi (2016), said that anxiety obstructs a learner from

positive language performance. Cui (2011) agreed by stating that students with low anxiety

perform better than those who have high levels of anxiety. It can be understood that students

should be guided accordingly in overcoming their anxiety because it may lead to poor

performance. It is a risk toward the successful learning of a student if these factors, such as

anxiety, will not be given attention in the classroom.

Table 4 presents the respondents’ level of affective factor in terms of Motivation.

Table 4
Affective Factor
Motivation Mean

I mainly focus on using English for class assignments and the exams. 3.32

I simply quote the textbooks and do not really communicate myself 2.78
when speaking or writing in English class.
I am interested in reading only English textbooks for my university 2.54
study, but not other English texts e.g. newspapers, magazines.
I am more interested in earning a university degree and a good job 2.82
than learning English language itself.
I am more interested in furthering my higher education than learning 3.02
English language itself.
Learning English is important for travelling abroad. 4.14
Learning English is important for making me a knowledgeable 3.78
And skill full person.
Learning English is important for making me an educated person. 3.06
Being proficient in English can lead to more success 3.07
and achievements in life.
Being proficient in English makes other people respect me. 3.12
 21

Cont…
Studying English enables me to understand English 3.08
books, movies, pop music etc.
Studying English enables me to better understand and appreciate 3.86
the ways of life of native English speakers.
Studying English enables me to keep in touch with 3.76
foreign acquaintances.
Studying English enables me to discuss interesting topics in 3.92
English with the people from other national backgrounds.
Studying English enables me to transfer my knowledge to other 3.92
people e.g. giving directions to tourists.
Studying English enables me to participate freely in academic, 3.84
social, and professional activities among other cultural groups.
Studying English enables me to behave like native English speakers: 3.4
e.g. accent, using English expressions.
Studying English enables me to appreciate English arts and literature. 3.82

Studying English helps me to be an open-minded and sociable 3.78

person like English speaking people.
I am determined to study English as best as I can to achieve 4.18
maximum proficiency.

Based on the data above, 4.18 is the highest mean score. It illustrates that many of the

students are determined to study English as best as they can to achieve maximum proficiency.

This might be attributed to the atmosphere that the teacher builds up in the classroom which

makes the students very motivated or it could be their family, loved ones, or relatives that are

inspire them to do well in class. They also think learning English is important for travelling

abroad. It can be seen that students are motivated inside the class, since they want to develop

maximum proficiency because they think it can help them in travelling abroad. The results

can merely be interpreted based on the students’ positive view of the English language and

their high motivation.

 22

Dornyei (2001) claimed that motivation is essential to increase learning. It can be

inferred that students who are more motivated increase intake of learning inside the classroom.

They do well in activities, inspired to perform and eager to acquire knowledge.

In fact, Hudson (2000) explained that an individual who is motivated to learn has the

ability to adapt with others, and looks at situations positively. This person is classified as

integratively motivate. On the opposite end is the instrumentally motivated a person who

generally wants to learn with practical and concrete subjects. However, students feel scared

when a foreign professor talks to them in English, and they are worried about English writing

tests. Dornyei (2000) suggested that there are three common grounds of motivational theories.

Those are choice, persistence, and effort. This means that with proper guidance, and advice

students will be able to make a stand with these common grounds, and overcome their

unenthusiastic response on written tests and conversations to a foreign professor. It can be

managed through positive actions like gradual exposure to people who speak the target

language so they will be able to be calm when conversing using the target language. More

activities in terms of English written tests should be given to students and engage them in

different performances for them to manage this factor. After all, the total result for motivation

is at 3.56 a high level which entails good impression for the students in the learning process,

nonetheless, too much motivation, anxiety and self-confidence would give a high rating of

affective factor which in turn can make the learning of the target language problematic. Hence,

the right amount of these said factors are highly recommended for successful language

acquisition and adaptation.

Conclusion

This study was concerned with the affective factors of students enrolled in the English

202 subject. Based on the analysis of data above, it can be summarized that motivation has the

highest mean score of 3.56 which is equivalent to a high level. It can be understood that the

students are inspired and driven to learn the target language by means of speaking, reading
 23

and even writing. Conversely, anxiety has the least mean score of 2.55 which is equivalent to

low level. Therefore, the students are not anxious or worried about sharing their opinions in

the class. As a matter of fact, the result of the anxiety agrees with the result of self-confidence

as well as motivation. In short, the students are very motivated and they have strong self-

confidence which can be seen in the result of each indicator that appeared to have high level.

Hence, they have a low level of anxiety in which they are not afraid. However, they show

enthusiasm given that they are motivated, so they are positive toward the target language and

they have strong self-confidence which would help them overcome mistakes and learn lessons

during instruction.

All in all, the result showed an average level of affective filter. Indeed the result

supports Krashen’s (1985) claim that a student who has a high level of anxiety but low level

of motivation as well as self-confidence is considered as a barrier when it comes to acquiring

the language. Since the result showed a low level of anxiety and a high level of both self-

confidence and motivation, it is clear to see that the theory in this study agrees to the result

gathered. Therefore, affective factors have an influence on students input and intake of

knowledge.

Recommendations

From the given findings and conclusion, the following recommendations are offered:

For the Teachers. It is suggested that to enhance the approach in handling students, they

must pay consideration to student’s affective factors namely; self-confidence, anxiety, and

motivation. The way learners take affective factors can be a basis in fostering helpful concepts

which in turn can result to effective learning specifically in the field of learners’ positive

performance. Teachers must give an effort to diminish anxiety and shape confidence toward

students as they communicate in English.

For the Students. It is proposed that they should be open minded and take every

opportunity for improvement; they should perceive advice, consultations, and open
 24

conversations as keys to become better individuals, and bear in mind that positive outlook in

life will bring positive conditions.

For the Future Researchers. More Affective factor research should be done in Second

Language Acquisition particularly with varying respondents which would examine students’

individual differences, and proficiency levels, like the variances in their course and

preferences. They may also discuss the relationship of each affective factor and make use of

this study for supplementary information that would help them in the future.
 25

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