Personality factors in SLA I

Belgin Sahin, Beyza Tezcan, Eda

Trkcan and Zehra Savran.

AFFECTIVE FACTORS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

SELF-ESTEEM

Self-esteem is a term used in psycohology to reflect a persons overall

evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses
beliefs (for example, "I am competent" or "I am incompetent") and emotions
such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. A person's self-esteem may be
reflected in their behaviour, such as in assertiveness, shyness, confidence or
caution. Self-esteem can apply specifically to a particular dimension (for
example, "I believe I am a good writer, and feel proud of that in particular") or
have global extent (for example, "I believe I am a good person, and feel proud
of myself in general").
Dr Stanley Coopersmith (1967: 4-5), defined self-esteem as:
Research has shown that a student who feels good about himself is more
likely to succeed. Holly (1987) compiled a summary of many studies and
pointed out that most indicated that self-esteem is the result rather than the
cause of academic achievement. In addition, Dr Martin Covington (1989)from
the University of California carried out

a personal judgement of worthiness that is expressed in attitudes that the individual holds
towards himself, and indicates the extent to which the individual believes in himself to be
capable, significant and worthy.