A Critical Look at the Status of Affect in Second Language Acquisition Research: Lessons from Vygotsky’s Legacy

Abstract

The phenomenon of affect and its relationship to second language learning is well-known and has been experienced by most language learners. One of the main debates that has recently appeared in the Second Language Acquisition (SLA) literature is related to the status of affective factors in this domain. The present paper attempts at mulling over the current controversies over affect with a special attention to Vygotsky’s account of the matter.

Keywords

• affective factors, affective filter hypothesis, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, perezhivanie, collective ZPD, dialogic thinking framework, and second language acquisition