[MUSIC] Welcome back to Teach English Now. Today, we are going to talk about something called The Effective Filter, and it's relation to self awareness. Do you know what it means to be self aware? Self awareness is the ability to see yourself, or perhaps imagine yourself, from someone else's viewpoint. Like seeing yourself in a mirror. Self awareness is something that evolves over time, meaning that kids are usually less self aware, and adults, more self aware. Now, let me ask you an impossible question. I love impossible questions. Is it good or bad to be self aware? Well, let's think about it. On the positive side, self awareness gives you the chance to know how you look, how you feel, why you feel what you feel. You have a certain amount of confidence because you know you look and sound pretty good. On the negative side, self awareness can sometimes be paralyzing. Sometimes, and, especially, in new environments, you think so much about yourself, who you are and what you are doing, that you have increased anxiety, and lose your confidence. Can you tell it's time for another story? When I was 16 years old, I had big glasses, big hair, and a big dream. I wanted to be a singer, and a group called The Music Machine was a nationally recognized glee club, that for some reason, girls, I wanted to be a part of. The day before my audition my friend Joseph invited me to his house, so that I could memorize one of my audition songs, Under the Sea. I sang it about a half dozen times to 60 second perfection. When I arrived to my audition the next day, I got onto a stage for the very first time. Does anyone else here remember a first audition? Well, let me tell you what it looked like for me. The music director and choreographer sat behind a table, in the back of a long, dark auditorium. On the table was a microphone. And directly beside the table, and the two people, was a large stage light. When I walked onto the stage, I already had butterflies in my stomach. The director spoke and the microphone crackled. Whenever you're ready, he said. The music began and I had 60 seconds to convince them that I could sing. The problem was, I was so frightened, I couldn't remember a single line. In fact, earlier that day, I had started forgetting my lines to the point that I had everything written on my hands. Now with that stage light directly in my face, I couldn't even read what was on my hands, because sweat had begun to smear the words. So, what did I do? I stood there, staring into my hands, letting the 60 seconds of music go by me, as I, awkwardly, tried to stammer out a few nonsensical words to a song originally sung by a crab. Please remember my age, I was 16 years old, and I desperately wanted to be cool, and this was about the not coolest thing I had ever experienced. I was convinced that anyone that saw me would have thought I had absolutely no business ever being on a stage. Now, what does this have to do with learning a language? And what does it have to do with self awareness? I shared this story which, otherwise, would be just a bad memory, to illustrate a feeling I believe many of your learners share. In many ways, learning a new language gives students a peculiar kind of self awareness. In language learning, self awareness means you are aware of your accent, your grammar mistakes, and how well you are doing at communicating your idea. In a sense, learning a language is a lot like being on a stage. And learners are trying to perform something for the first time, and that can be very uncomfortable. Stephen Krashen, our famous ESL theorist, explains this concept using the term affective filter. The affective filter, he explains, refers to the complex emotions your students might have as they process all this new information, and try to produce language. In short, when your affective filter is high, it means you are feeling a lot of emotions. Annoyance, anger, frustration, or anxiety. And when your affective filter is low, it means you aren't nearly so stressed. So the flow of information can come more easily. Let's discuss. During my audition, what level was my affective filter? It was off the charts. I couldn't even remember simple things that I had accomplished, very easily, the day before. Having to produce what I already knew became impossible, because I focused so much on myself and my possible mistakes, that I couldn't remember a thing. So what does this mean for you as a language teacher? Well, let's start with the fact that we as language teachers can never forget how hard it is to learn and perform something new, and how difficult it can be to perform in front of those that are judging us. Recognize that the affective filter, especially in classroom settings, can be particularly high. And that you as a teacher must create an environment to help lower that filter, and give learners confidence to remember the material that they have prepared and studied. In the next few videos, we will discuss some very effective ways to lower the affective filter, and invite students to take more risks. Thanks for watching. [MUSIC]
