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Affective filter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An affective filter is a learning blockage due to a negative emotional ("affective") attitude. It is a hypothesis of second language acquisition, a field of interest of educational psychology. Although the term was made popular by linguist Stephen Krashen in his Monitor Theory, he himself stated it was invented by someone else.
Experiments demonstrated that learners do not learn well when they are affected by negative feelings such as boredom, anxiety or low self-esteem. According to this hypothesis these negative emotions activate a filter that prevents efficient processing of the learning input. The hypothesis is unproven, yet also unchallenged.
Experiments also demonstrated that the blockage can be reduced by dampening the negative feelings. This can be achieved by sparking interest, providing low anxiety environments or bolstering the learner's self-esteem. The effect can also be produced by drugs like alcohol, although in most cases this is not an acceptable alternative.