English as Second Language Learning and Psychological Obstacles

Abstract

Understanding the psychological process of teaching learning is essential as it can also mould the psyche of the children in specific way. At the same time, understanding students’ psychology is a dire requirement of the time. With the advancement of different sciences and theories and technological means, the teachers have attempted to view the students and their study material with different aspects and angles. Since the beginning of the 20th century, psychologists have attempted to understand the students’ psyche and their process of learning. Behaviorist psychology, cognitive psychology and more recently humanistic psychology have tried to understand the language learning process and gave different approaches to teach language. However, the general observance of all these psychologies is that the major problem of learning a second language is the problem of overcoming the pull of the mother tongue. Hence, learning and the knowledge of the first language becomes hindrance in the syntax pattern and pronunciation of the second language. So, one can conclude that the beginners of English language learning should not be taught the language through the use of the first language. Instead, they should be introduced second language directly. Moreover, the most important requirement for success in second language acquisition is motivation which is also a psychological need