Grundtvig Learning Partnership

Nr. LLP-GRU-MP-2013-LT-00159

Improving Participation in Adult Education

How to overcome psychological barriers while learning foreign languages

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS IFear of disappointment / failing

Impatience towards learning

Lack of commitment

Fear to start

Fear of committal

Dislike of teacher / co-student

Lack of self-confidence

No belief in impact on career

Social anxieties

Bad learning experiences (own or of others)

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS IILack of support or encouragement

Fear of being "different"

Standing out in the community is depicted negatively

Peer pressure

Resistance to offers because they are mandatory to get social benefits

Resistance to offers because they don´t take into account personal experience

Lack of persistence

Lack of awareness of the meaning of learning

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS IIILack of self-reflection

Lack of conviction to be master of his own destiny

Fear of change

Lack of ability to make choices

Lack of hope to be able to change one´s situation because of continuing or long-lasting discouragement

Fear of new technology

Fear that AE won´t have the wished for impact

Fear / risk that employer won´t give recognition to AE

Start effective language learning!

We offer guidelines and course “Start effective language learning!” to our learners.

The guidelines cover psychological barriers for studying foreign languages.

They can be applied to those studying other subjects.

They were developed based on the surveys in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia that were conducted among the language learners and the language teachers.

None of the above-mentioned

I think it`s too difficult for me

I think I am not good at learning languages

Quite often I am not satisfied with my learning results

I have a lack of motivation

I am too shy to speak

I am afraid of failing

I am lazy

I do not have enough language practice

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Psychological problems,% of respondents

None of the above-mentioned

I do not like learning at all

I have had a bad learning experience

My learning materials are not good enough

I have had a bad teacher experience

Mixture of languages I know

I do not know how to study effectively

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Learning experience, % of respondents

None of the above-mentioned

Other

I live in a place without internet access

I do not know where to get study materials

I do not have any information about language learning

In my residence area there are no suitable language courses

I do not have enough money

I do not have enough time

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

External factors affecting the learning of foreign languages,

% of respondents

Psychological aspects.Main difficulties

Lack of belief in oneself, in one’s abilities, in success Lack of proper motivation, clear and achievable goals Negative way of thinking, negative emotions in the process of learning

(boredom, tiredness, annoyance, etc.) Negative attitude towards the studied language Laziness, poor memory and attention Fears (failure, talking, expressing one’s opinion, etc.) Having had a bad experience Frequent dissatisfaction with oneself, with the results, the teacher, etc. Unwillingness to spend a lot of time learning Lack of patience, insistence, creativity Conflicts with the teacher Lack of self-analysis

Other

I can

get

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or lit

tle h

elp

I don

`t try

to s

olve

them

I suc

cess

fully

sol

ve th

em

I ask

my

rela

tives

for h

elp

I can

`t an

swer

this

ques

tion

I ask

my

teac

her f

or h

elp

I ask

my

frien

ds fo

r hel

p

Only

on m

y ow

n

I sea

rch

for a

dvice

on

the

Inte

rnet

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Ways in which the problems are solved

Principles of successful learning In-depth treatment Everyday learning Real life practice Following the teacher`s requirements Importance of doing homework and other self-study Importance of a good teacher Knowing what you want Taking the responsibility Importance of getting regular feedback Loving what you’re studying Regular review Working hard Believing in yourself Positive emotions Being open-minded Creating the learning environment

The solutions for overcoming barriersIncreasing the motivationShowing the importance of the subjectRemote training, homeworkNo criticsCommunication and interactionTraining program must be individualized according to the

needs of the studentsTraining program must be individualized according to the

personal learning difficultiesRegular improvements both for the teachers and for the

students

Specific suggestions

Describe your experience connected with foreign language learning. Describe both positive and negative moments. Do your best to find more positive ones. Describe your achievements (even if you think they are not so important).

Close your eyes and dream a little. How would you like to study the language? What about your teacher? What about the learning materials? Write down your ideas.

Overcoming the psychological barriers.

Barrier: Low self-esteem, pessimism, negative beliefs, lack of self-confidence

Identify your beliefs (positive and negative) concerning learning. Write them down. You must replace every negative belief with a positive one.

You regularly have to convince yourself of the new positive ideas in order to absorb them completely. Auto-suggestion is a good way of changing way of thinking if it is often used.

Think of your achievements even if they don`t seem significant. Remember your new achievements and expect the further ones.

You should also read at least one book about positive thinking and practice the main ideas.

Barrier: Constant dissatisfaction

You must learn to praise yourself and feel grateful for any work you do and anything you achieve. Even if you fail to do a simple exercise, you should praise yourself for your time and efforts, anything done correctly, precious learning experience, etc.

Don`t wait until your teacher or someone else says something good about you and your work. Instead praise yourself!

Barrier: Laziness and passiveness

It is your choice. Every time you win or your laziness wins. Everyone has some will-power to overcome laziness.

If you tend to be lazy, you should often think about your goals. Think about achieving your final goal in detail and your desire to learn will become stronger.

Barrier: Fears

Identify your fears concerning learning. Think about the possible reasons. Understanding your fears and the reasons can help you a lot when solving this problem.

Imagine doing something without any fear, for example any successful communication, public speaking, etc. and believe in it.

In some cases you need to discuss your fears with the person you trust (your teacher, your psychologist, your friend, etc.).

Barrier: Lack of patience, too high expectations

Any learning takes a lot of time and patience.

In order to be able to speak any foreign language at a more or less good level (especially communicating with native speakers) you need to know a language at B2 level.

If your real language level is A1, you need a one-year intensive course (i.e. most of your time is devoted to language learning) or at least 2-3 years of studying as usual.

Barrier: Lack of self-discipline and being irresponsible

If you have a goal concerning learning, you should have all the responsibility for anything connected with achieving your goal.

You should have all the responsibility for attending classes, working hard, doing all of homework, etc.

Barrier: shyness and bad communicative skills

Shyness is mainly the tension of your body and mind. You must relax your body and mind to get rid of any tension. You can find a number of easy relaxation exercises which can help you a lot.

Shyness is also based on a low self-esteem. Build up your sense of self-esteem by regular thinking about your achievements and your goals.

And you must develop your communicative skills. Take up communication training or something like that. Be more active when studying and in everyday life.

Find a number of interesting people to practice communicating.

Barrier: Innate conservatism

You should consider anything new and any changes.

Don`t try to reject anything new immediately. Try it. It can be interesting and useful for you.  

Barrier: Lack of persistence

Pay your attention to a small child learning to do something, e.g. learning to walk. A small child falls down and stands up, falls down and stands up, falls down and stands up, etc. until one day he/she is able to walk.

Adults should do the same. After “falling” they should stand up and try again. So if you fail to do something in your learning, you should analyze the reasons, “learn this lesson” and move on.

Sometimes a huge success comes after a number of failures.

Barrier: Perfectionism 

Don`t try to be perfect!

Take your mistakes lightly!

All the successful language learners have made a lot of mistakes so far and they still make them.

How do you feel?

How do you usually feel when studying (with the teacher and on your own)? Do you often feel good or bad? What emotions do you usually have? Do you often feel bored, indifferent or interested? Do you often feel irritated or satisfied? Do you often feel tired or relaxed? Do you often think of something else are do you concentrate properly on learning? Do you study because you mainly want to or have to?Do you like how you learn the language?

Knowing the real cause(-s) of your usual bad mood can help you to find

appropriate ways out

You must learn how to put yourself in a good mood quickly.

You can use various simple methods e.g. some relaxation, thinking about something pleasant, doing what you like, listening to your favorite kind of music, chatting with interesting people, doing exercise, etc.

There are also other useful methods of controlling emotions which you can learn and practice.

If you have been ill, it is wise to avoid attending your language courses for a while.

If you want to and you can, revise what you have learnt, e.g. practicing listening.

If you have to work with the teacher or someone else you don`t like, you must change your attitude.

You must pay attention to something good about this person and ignore something bad about him/her.

If you have to attend really boring and tiring language courses, you must try to find something good and useful in this challenging situation.

You can learn to feel good even at the most boring lessons!

Fortunately, you can meet some teachers who can often put you in a good mood.

Even if you feel really bad before the lesson, you can feel much better during the lesson.

But very often you will have to be able to control your emotions and feel better, especially when doing any self-study.

The book for an effective language learning can be found on website:

www.effective-learning.euhttp://effective-learning.eu/en/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Effective-Language-Learning-Project-Book.pdf

Thank You