TheEffectsofAffectiveStrategyTrainingintheESLClassroom

on what goes on inside and between the people in the classroom"(p.4).In his affective filter hypothesis,Krashen (1982)posited the existenceof an internal barrier that interfered with second language acquisitionwhen learners were anxious or bored.Schumann (1997,2001),informed byrecent developments in cognition research (Damasio,1994;LeDoux,1996),proposed that the psychology and neurobiology of stimulus appraisal(based on novelty,pleasantness,goal/need significance,copingpotential,and the self-and social image of the learner)determine theextent to which second language learning is achieved.These theoriesregarding the important role of affect in learning have resonated stronglywith the intuitions of many second and foreign language teachers.Over the past three decades,research in second language acquisition hasconfirmed hypotheses that language learning is indeed enhanced byattention to affect.Gardner and colleagues (Gardner,1985;Gardner&Clement,1990;Gardner Lambert,1972;Gardner MacIntyre,1993)conducted extensive investigations of individual differences in languagelearning success;other studies (Horwitz,Horwitz,Cope,1986;HorwitzYoung,1991;MacIntyre Gardner,1989,1991b)examined the constructof language anxiety.Price (1991)interviewed learners who reporteddebilitating anxiety caused by instructors who criticized theirpronunciation or focused on classroom performance rather than learning.Bailey's (1983)diary of her French classroom experience indicated thatcompetitiveness and anxiety motivated her both to work harder on someoccasions (facilitating anxiety)and to avoid class on others(debilitating anxiety).Young's (1990)research with language learnerssuggested that teachers who used humour and created a friendly,supportive,and relaxed classroom atmosphere that encouraged risk-taking were mosthelpful in alleviating foreign language anxiety and facilitatinglearning.The majority of studies that explored the relationship between affect andsecond language performance were non-interventions (e.g.,Brown,Cunha,Frota,Ferreira,2001;Gardner,1985;Gardner,Moorcroft,&MacIntyre,1987;MacIntyre Gardner,1989;Madsen,Brown,Jones,1991;Price,1991;Young,1991).Although several laboratory experiments were conducted inthis area (e.g.,Gardner,Day,MacIntyre,1992;MacIntyre Gardner,1991a,1994a,1994b;Steinberg Horwitz,1986;Stevick,1999),fewexperimental classroom studies focusing on affect have been documented.A series of interventions conducted by Moskowitz (1981,1999)with highschool second and foreign language students reported positivecorrelations between the use of humanistic exercises and students'attitudes towards language learning,their classmates,and themselves.Results of questionnaires administered to the teachers in this study also