Factors Affecting The Learning Of English As A Second Language In Israel

Factors Affecting the learning of English as a second language in Israel.




Research questions objectives, hypothesis:
The influence of the Israeli social context on the learning process of the majority group of Jews studying English as a second language is of central importance to the present study. The contributions of each independent variable-students' culturalbackground, language of text, cultural content of text, proficiency in first and second languages, and instrumental versus integrative motivation (Gardner & Lambert, 1972) -- are related to reading comprehension, and the findings are discussed with an emphasis on the sociopsychological dimension of the language-learning experience. I explored the effects of Israeli students' Jewish cultural background and attitudesabout learning English on their second-language learning. Researchers who study second-language learning have traditionally focused either on the social aspect of students' attitudes and motivation toward learning a second language or on the cognitive aspect of their cultural background knowledge, studying the individual effects of each factor. In the sociopsychological dimension, Gardner (1959)conducted empirical studies demonstrating the effects of two different types of attitudes, integrative and instrumental motivation, on second-language learning.
Gardner's (1959) results indicate that the second-language learner's attitudes toward speakers of the target language played an important role in the process of his or her second-language acquisition. Students with positive attitudes towardthe target-language speakers and their culture (integrative motivation) were found to be more successful in learning a second language than students whose attitudes were negative or ambivalent. Typically, instrumental motivation differs from integrative motivation in that the focus is on a more utilitarian value of linguistic achievement (for example, securing a better position), whereas the goalof integrative motivation is to learn more about the target-language group and identify with it. Gardner (1983) argued that, because language is an integral part of culture, the learning of a second language is dependent upon the learner's willingness to identify with the culture of the target language and to incorporate aspects of the target-language culture, including linguistic repertoire,into his or her own behavior.
Gardener's (1959) socioeducational model suggests that second-language learning is facilitated by this integrative motive, which "reflects a high level of drive on the part of the individual to acquire the language of a valued second language community in order to facilitate the communication with that group" (Gardner, Smythe, Clement, & Gliksman, 1976, p. 199).According to Clement (1980), this concept of integrativeness may be tempered by the fear that involvement with the target-language group may result in alienation from one's own-group. Wong-Fillmore (1991) suggested that success in learning a second language is contingent on the existence of the following conditions: (a) motivated students who realize they need to learn the target language, (b)target-language speakers who support the second-language learners, and (c) frequent social contact between target-language speakers and learners. Carrell (1981,1983,1987) conducted a series of studies in terms of the cognitively-based schema theory, investigating the effect of cultural familiarity with texts on reading comprehension. Carrell's 1981 study was a comparison of advanced Japanese and Chinesesecond-language learners' recall of folktales from three different cultural orientations-native culture, second culture, and unfamiliar culture. The results indicated that the cultural origin of the text and the degree of the second-language students' familiarity with the culture affected their judgments of the difficulty of the texts and their recall of information from the texts. The results of...