1. Affective factors

Krashen (1985) has suggested the notion of the affective filter. This is a representation of the way in which affective factors such as attitude, anxiety, competitiveness, and other emotional responses can help or hinder language learning. The filter can be imagined as a sliding barrier which moves into place when a student is, for example, tired, dispirited, tense or angry and which prevents the the processing of input. A learner who has generally negative attitudes towards learning English will have a high affective filter and the task for the teacher will be substantial. The precise functioning of this filter is not explained, for example in relation to how it might affect the attention that students pay or do not pay to various elements of input. However, the concept of the filter highlights the role of the teacher in creating beneficial conditions for language learning.