Journal 6

As we all know there are six affective factors in learning a foreign language: self-esteem, inhibition, risk-taking, anxiety, empathy, and extroversion. They play very important roles. In my case, I think the most dominant factors are self-esteem and anxiety. According to Coopersmith, the definition of self-esteem is a personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed in attitudes that the individual holds towards himself, and indicates the extent to which the individual believes in himself to be capable, significant and worthy. And I think it really impacts my language acquisition. When I become confident with myself, I don’t feel any shame when I speak in FL, even though I make some mistakes. And from those mistakes, I really learn a lot. And through anxiety, I have experienced feelings of anxiousness when I learn a second language. I love to explore new things. My anxiety forces me to learn more and more and it really affects my second language acquisition.

            A language ego is like the identity people develop in reference to the language they speak. Basically, our identities are tied up with the languages we speak. If we lose a native accent, we lose a part of our identity. According to me, it affects me both positive and negative sides. The positive is my fluency in using the foreign language becomes better. On the other hand, it affects my native accent which can be considered as losing my own identity. So, in my opinion, it would be better if I could suppress a sense of a second ego developing within me as I use the foreign language. Though it’s good for my second language acquisition, it affects my first language. I don’t want to lose my own language because it’s like my identity.

            If I have low task self-esteem, for example, when doing certain kinds of exercises, I think I might change my way of thinking. Supposing that due to my low self-esteem, I tend to be quiet when it’s time to use my foreign language, then I need to trick it somehow. What I could think about is how to maintain the tendencies to boost my self-esteem. For example, if there would be a kind of exam tomorrow, I would be studying a week before the exam so that I will be able to master the lesson well. Even if there is no exam, I need to learn at home so if suddenly the teacher gives us a kind of exam or a quiz, I will be ready to face it. And without even realize it, it will boost my self-esteem.

            I have read the Myers-Briggs type on pages 172-173 (158 table 6.1), I found that my type is ESTJ. I am extroversion because I like to socialize with others. Sensing, because I’d prefer to do something based on my experience rather than just hunches. Also, I’m more realistic rather than speculative. When I was thinking, I put it myself in other shoes, which makes me more objective in thinking. So, I’m more into Thinking rather than Feeling. And the last one, between Judging and Perceiving, I think I am in judging simply because I don’t like to wait or to pending something. And sometimes, I could make a decision really fast. So, those types really picture my style of learning.

            As I learn English, I realize that I have both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. I am intrinsically motivated when I think that I really want to be fluent in English. That way, I send impulses to my brain to be motivated when learning English. Since I love English, I really enjoy it through its learning. And my extrinsic motivation affects me in a way I use English to support my hobbies. I love watching western TV series which are using English as a medium of communication. It pushes me to be better in English so that I can understand what the movie is all about.

Little Tiny or Thumbelina (Children Literature's analysis)

Little Tiny or Thumbelina

            Before I start my analysis about Little Tiny or Thumbelina, first of all, I’m going to give a brief explanation about the facts regarding this story. According to Wikipedia*, Thumbelina is a literary folktale written by Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published on December 18^th 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Later on, it was spread all over the world and became one of the most famous folk tales in the world. However, the first English version of Thumbelina was translated by Mary Howitt. She changed some parts of the story where Thumbelina was first obtained from a barleycorn that was given by a fairy. She changed a fairy with a beggar. Well, in this project, I use the Hans Christian Andersen’s version of Thumbelina.

            Basically, this story tells us about a tiny little girl with a very big dream. The story started when a childless woman who wished to have a child came to a fairy to fulfill her wish. The fairy then gave her a barleycorn and then she planted it. Magically, once planted, a girl in a size of a thumb came out from it. Thumbelina, that’s what her mother called her. One day, when Thumbelina was asleep, she was kidnapped by a toad who wanted to marry her. Luckily, with the help of the fish and the butterfly, she managed to escape from the toad. She always dreamed about a prince in a same size of her to marry her. During the winter, she was alone and no one helped her. She couldn’t stand the cold. Fortunately, a mouse helped her and invited her to his house. The next day, the mouse asked Thumbelina to marry his neighbor, the mole. Thumbelina refused it, and she flew away to a faraway land with the help of a bird which once she took care of during the winter. On that place, Thumbelina met her fate, a prince in the same size of her.

According to Folklorist Maria Tatar, “Thumbelina is a runaway bride story and notes that it has been viewed as an allegory about arranged marriages, and a fable about being true to one’s heart that upholds the traditional notion that the love of a prince is to be valued above all else (directly cited from Wikipedia)⁽¹⁾.”

            After reading the story, I found that the story contains a lot of positive morals suitable for the children. The moral I found in this story is to never give up, no matter how hard it is. From the story, we can see how hard Thumbelina tries to avoid several marriages in which the others had forced her to agree.  Starting from she was kidnapped by a toad until she was forced to marry with a mole. She never gave up until finally she found her true match.

--” There lay a great white marble column which had fallen to the ground and broken into three pieces, but between these grew the most beautiful white flowers. The swallow flew down with Thumbelina, and set her upon one of the broad leaves. But there, to her astonishment, she found a tiny little man sitting in the middle of the flower, as white and transparent as if he were made of glass; he had the prettiest golden crown on his head, and the most beautiful wings on his shoulders; he himself was no bigger than Thumbelina. He was the spirit of the flower. In each blossom there dwelt a tiny man or woman; but this one was the King over the others.”— ⁽²⁾

From the above quotation, we can see that all the hardships Thumbelina have faced will be paid. As for children, it will give them more courage in doing their daily activities. It’s just like what Jack Zipes has stated that folk and fairy tales “were written with the purpose of socializing children to meet definite normative expectations at home and in the public sphere”. So, after reading this story, I believe it will give some positive impacts to the children. They will learn that if they don’t give up, they will get the best result. Just like how Thumbelina has taught them. In summary, the children will naturally implement this thing through their daily life.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbelina

¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbelina

² Quoted from Little Tiny or Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen (Source: http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_tiny.html)