Affective factors in SLA: a focus on motivation

Abstract

Affective factors play a very important role in learners' language achievement. In this paper, I want to investigate both influence and effect degrees of these factors, mainly motivation, over students along their second language acquisition, SLA, process. Therefore, I will introduce the concept of acquiring a second language, L2, focusing on Krashen's input hypothesis and more concretely to the affective filter hypothesis, which will be used as an introduction to the different factors affecting language acquisition process. In this way, I offer background knowledge which will serve as link to the new matter, which will have as main concept, the affective factor of motivation in SLA. This factor, has been considered by many scholars as the most or one of the most determining ones in SLA. Consequently, I will employ one section of this paper for studying it more deep than the rest of the factors. At this point of the work, the several second language motivation stages, the evolution of L2 motivation as a concept along these periods, the reasons and motives for its importance inside this applied linguistics field, the latest approach to L2 motivation and the important role it plays in students' language achievement success will be analysed