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eISSN: 2577-8250

Arts & Humanities Open Access Journal

Review Article Volume 4 Issue 1

English language education and learner’s psychology

Bahram Moghaddas,2 Leily Fathollahzadeh1

1Ph D scholar, IAU-Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Mazandaran, Iran
2Ph D in TEFL, Khazar Institute of Higher Education, Mazandaran, Iran

Correspondence: Bahram Moghaddas, Ph D in TEFL, Khazar Institute of Higher Education, Mazandaran, Iran

Received: April 01, 2019 | Published: January 16, 2020

Citation: Fathollahzadeh L, Moghaddas B. English language education and learner’s psychology. Art Human Open Acc J. 2020;4(1):1-3 . DOI: 10.15406/ahoaj.2020.04.00144

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Abstract

In the globalization era, educational system is so much complex that no single learning approach works foreveryone. Hence, educational psychologists focus on identifying and studying learning methods to betterunderstand how people absorb and retain new information. They apply theories of human development toreveal the individual learning and the instructional process. Interaction with teachers and students inlanguage classrooms is not the only facet of the job. Through education learners try to impart knowledge,improve their power of reasoning, and make them prepare intellectually for a long-life process of education.Teachers as the vital elements of the educational system try to identify the learners’ educational needs,abilities, attitudes, interests, motivational level, and temperaments by observing their treatments to unraveltheir difficulties and involve these variables in performance. Through effective interaction andsocialization, an educator can induce social and moral values of the society in learners, cause them to fully participate in and contribute to self-development and to the needs of the classrooms and educational centers.The present research tries to figure out the learners’ educational needs in EFL classrooms and tackle theirlearning difficulties. It also examines how students learn in various contexts to identify approaches andstrategies to make learning more effective.

Keywords: learners’ psychology, language education, EFL classrooms, educational psychology

Introduction

English is seen as a very prestigious language. In the educated community, multilingualism is in vogue and English language has a very substantial role amongst other languages. Today, English language has created a new horizon in the world culture with the globalization and with the development of knowledge and technology. English language learning provides lots of facilities and possibilities to different learners. Knowledge is mostly available in English in each field of study. English language aids us in the national and world integration. In Iran, English is purely considered as a stranger’s language but has a very delicate position in various educational settings. But the implementation of English language helped our Iranians in gaining knowledge in different spheres. Language is a means of communication and interaction. As a result, English not only facilitates communication but also helps in obtaining knowledge in the world. It is learned in different educational institutions and is a medium of instruction in rural and urban areas.1 As it was necessary to acquire the language and the method of imparting it, great change happened to fuctionalize the application and implementation of English language. English language teaching has its aims and objectives which varies from place to place. Depending on the type of learners in the classroom, the teacher is supposed to follow supporting teaching methods and flexible, suitable methodologies to make them comprehend the language appropriately. The teacher should have a clear cut idea of what to teach, how to teach and how much to teach.

Education is the procedure of supplying or acquiring knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and preparing oneself intellectually for a mature lifestyle. Learners’ psychology is a discipline of psychology that deals with wonderful mental health of students, instructors and the education system massively.2 The trainer performs the critical function in the schooling system. Occasionally learners get confused when their educational desires aren't met. Counseling students discover the stressors and determine reasons and in some instances prevent the scenario from worsening. Assisting pupil’s cope with issues is the need of the hour. A trainer can also stumble upon issues that are tough to deal with including coping with low stimulated or complicated students and address learning difficulties. To make teaching more powerful, a teacher need to perceive the instructional needs of the learners, their motivational level, competencies, attitude, pursuits, and temperaments by observing their behavior to resolve their problems and contain these variables in action.3

Learner’s psychology

Learner’s psychology has attempted to use the findings of social, developmental, and child psychology and individual variations to help in understanding of learning methods which consist of social and ethical, as well as educational learning. Learner’s psychology seeks to find out, via understanding the intellectual, physical, social, and emotional behaviors of individuals, elements which affect the quality and quantity of learning. It allows instructors to apprehend students’ capabilities and tries to help the learners in all aspects. It also shapes the character of the learner that is properly appropriate to the morals of the society.4

Psychological perspectives of learning

To recognize the personality of students at distinct levels, educational psychology develops and applies theories of human development which are primarily based on the levels through which they mature in mental skills (cognition), social roles, moral reasoning, and beliefs about the kind and nature of knowledge. In Leaner’s Psychology, there are two important views of learning – Behavioral and Cognitive, which can be utilized in academic settings.5

Behavioral perspective

This is the crucial technique used in various educational settings where the teacher alters the learner’s behavior through a systematic rewarding and motivation. There is evidence that tangible rewards motive students to perform better and yield desired results as well as adapt to the culture of the institution. There is proof that tangible rewards cause students to carry out better and yield preferred consequences as well as adapt to the culture of the organization.

Cognitive perspective

Even though behavioral perspective has a vital and critical function, contemporary educational psychologists argue that the cognitive perspective is more powerful than the behavioral perspective, as it deals with intellectual constructs which includes tendencies, beliefs, reminiscences, motivations and feelings. Cognitive theories declare that memory structures determine how information and knowledge is perceived, processed, saved, retrieved and forgotten.6,7

Learning difficulties

For decades teaching has been ruled by teacher–centered strategies. In this approach, information is transmitted from the instructor to the learner. Knowledge is static due to the fact individual learners passively acquire information. It's also characterized through extra speak and questions from the part of instructor than students. Instructors are no longer aware of the variation in intellectual capabilities of the students. Due to physical, mental, behavioral and emotional issues, students are mainly afflicted by learning difficulties. Frustration and strained relationship at home or at school also influence learning. Whilst a child has learning problems, he/she is not able to acquire, keep in mind, and reproduce the material being taught.8 Learners face a number of troubles in their educational settings, at times sufficient enough for them to emerge with severe physical or mental problems. They are either academic orpersonal or both.The learners’ different stressors are as follows:

  1. Parents’ pressure for high grades
  2. Lack of educational resources at the institution or schools
  3. Pressure of homework and assignments
  4. Mismatching between the institution and the learner’s abilities where can be toohigh or too low
  5. Negative behaviors and attitude of teachers
  6. Learners’ low self-esteem as the organization expectations are not met
  7. Fear of tests and examinations
  8. Time management problems
  9. Mismatch between planning and implementation
  10. Interpersonal relationship issues
  11. Teacher’s discouraging behavior
  12. Learner’s negative thought and feelings
  13. Inability to tackle challenges and issues

Counseling services should be provided for mentors in the academic and non-academic settings by the educational institutions. Their duty is to reduce various stressors. Counselling and guidance would help students in gaining more power and obtaining the clarity of thoughts which would help them in making important decisions affecting their lives. Decision making plays a vital role in the counseling process. While guidance focuses on helping individuals select what they value; counseling focuses on helping them make change. The role of instructor is to sensitize learners to the various requirements and constructively cope with them and be more efficient and effective.

Benefits of good teaching

Different studies have been carried out to understand the development oflearners thatstrive to promote the language development and academicachievement of minority learners. Chickering claimed seven major principles of good practice in teachingwhich leads to desired outcomes. 

Excellent teacher–student relationship

Student-teacher interaction in and out of the classroom plays a key rolein teacher-student relationship which results in motivation and involvement in class activities. Managers and teachers’ concern helps learnersto handle difficult situations appropriately and let themmove forward. 

Good interpersonal relations with peers

Learning is team work effort than a solo task. An effective learning is collaborative and social, not competitive and isolated. Team and group work enhances involvement in learning which helps sharpen thinking and deepen understanding as learners share their ideas and get feedback to others’ reactions. 

Prompt and genuine feedback

Appropriate feedback on performance is a must and need for learners to benefit and for continual improvement. Learners need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence. In educational settings, students need regular opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for development and improvement. Reflecting on the subjects and knowledge learned and that much they need to know and how to assess themselves is a chance for learners during and at the end of the course of study. 

Learner-centered learning

Learners do not learn and absorb knowledge just in classes, listening to teachers, memorizing, and passing the exams. They must engage in the process of teaching and learning through talking about what they are learning, writing about it, relating it to their past experiences and use it in their lives. Hence, teachers and mentors must accommodate the knowledge and experiences of individual students in classes. The teacher tries to assist learners helping them develop their various skills to enable learning language throughout their lives. Learner has the most important role in the process of learning as the teacher just facilitates the learning process at the individual and group levels. The teacher constantly assesses the progress of the learner in terms of learning effects and outcomes.

Excellent time management

Learning is the result of time and energy. The proper use of time is necessary and critical for learners to improve their performance in the educational environments.9,10 Effective time management helps effective learning by students and effective teaching by instructors and teachers. Time expectations for students and the different personals in the educational settings and the effective utilization of it provide the basis of high performance for all which results in the success of an organization.

High expectations are communicated

High expectations are communicated and important for the slow learners, for the marginal performers, and for the clever and well-motivated learners. Correct performance of students becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers and institutions hold high expectations for them and make extra efforts. In this condition, the students need to be equally motivated and supported to reach to the desired educational level as expectations are raised.11 

Diverse learning styles

As roads tolearning are different, understanding individual differences such aslearning difficulties, intelligence, learning styles, needs andinterests is supposed to be necessary for a teacher if the goal ofteaching is effectiveness and efficiency. Therefore, the teacher should utilize thelatest and diverse learning techniques and strategies to make theclassroom environment more conducive for the students andlearning appears to be more vivid and interesting.

Conclusion

The basic purpose of teaching is to facilitate learning. Therefore, teachers need to focus on preparing students for life, equipping them with more skills, induce social and moral values of the society in learners, enable them to participate in and contribute to self-development. Through different teaching methods, the field of psychology made a great contribution in the language learning process and methodology, keeping in view the behavioral attitude and mental disturbances of learners. The teaching methodology and its impact on the students have merits and demerits. Traditional methods to temporary communicative approaches need active, dexterous and competent teachers to understand the learner’s psychology. They should also adapt to humanistic approaches along with the learner psychology which helps both the teachers and the learners in developing positive thinking. Hence, these approaches in teaching foreign languages improves self-esteem, develops positive thinking, increases self-understanding, builds greater closeness among students, and clarifies the strengths and goodness in the learner and his/her classmates. These goals are obtained through the process of sharing of memories, feelings, values, experiences, wishes, and fantasies along with giving positive feedback. When the teacher interacts, stimulates and shares information with different learners in the classroom and is conscious of the place, environment and social background, he/she can help students learn the language properly and effectively.

Acknowledgements

None.

Conflicts of interest

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding

None.

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