Stereotype Threats in Second Language Acquisition

CÓRDOBA, Spain - Oct. 16, 2014 - PRLog -- The stereotype threat has been defined as the fear to confirm a preconceived idea that other people from your community or outside of it might have. This insecurity that lies in our inner self not only affects the way we relate to other people, but also how we perform at work, academically and even how we communicate in other languages. Academia Hispánica in Córdoba has developed Spanish sessions that address issues such as this one.

We have taken the example of an American student called Donald. When he first started his Spanish lessons he would express himself in few occasions in Spanish. He was in a B1 level and his mastering of the Spanish language in writing, and listening skills was much better than other students’, who on the contrary participated more. We could think that Donald was a shy and introverted person, but this was not his case. When asked to read aloud he would mumble the words and hesitate when asked for an answer. As Donald, millions of language students face this problem daily. The constant idea that they will always have an accent while speaking Spanish or any other language, that locals will not understand them because they are foreigners is the main stereotype threat they need to deal with in class. Here are some examples we might face:

• ✓ “ I am (English/American/French)… so I cannot pronounce the sound r correctly”
• ✓ “ I am from … and since we do not pronounce… I will never learn to speak well”
• ✓ “ You have a… accent.”

In http://www.AcademiaHispanica.com, we are concerned about this psychological barrier in our classes and we develop sessions to help our students feel secure and comfortable while expressing themselves in class. Our teachers have attended many conferences in which they have acquired techniques to reduce stress and low performance in class. Therefore, we know that any language can be spoken with confidence when you become aware of your potential as individual. And we have developed activities in our classes that will help you to leave behind a poor oral performance.