A Study Of How To Alleviate Freshmens Oral English Fossilization Based On Affective Filter Hypothesis

With the quickening pace of China’s reform and openness, China has attracted more andmore attention in the world. Consequently, the interaction between China and the countriesall over the world has been inevitable. If we Chinese can communicate with foreign friendsand negotiate with international representatives in English fluently, accurately and locally, itwould not only improve Chinese citizens’ images in the world, but also help raise an imageof a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation. However, there is a shared problem formost English learners, i.e. most Chinese college students’ oral English are more or lessfossilized. Therefore, the author focuses on the essence and characteristics of oral Englishfossilization, and also analyzes and induces the causes of fossilization held by numerousdomestic and foreign scholars. Above all, the author seeks to explore effective strategies tolessen fossilization with the light of the Affective Filter theory and improve Chinese collegestudents’ English proficiency.Selinker describes fossilization as the incorrect linguistic form or inaccurate usephenomenon. It means the learner’s second language level stopped improving like the initiallearning stage after some time but appeared to be in a stable situation. Krashen, American’seminent linguist, thinks fossilization can be avoided, who proposed five central hypotheses,namely, Acquisition and Learning, Natural Order Hypothesis, Monitor Hypothesis, InputHypothesis and Affective Filter Hypothesis. The affective filter is the mental block betweenlearners and the environment that is restricted by affective factors. The affective filterhypothesis explains why it is possible for an acquirer to obtain a great deal ofcomprehensible input, and yet stop short (and sometimes well short) of the native speakerlevel (or ’’fossilize’’; Selinker,1972). When fossilization occurs, it is due to the affective filter.Affective factors mainly include three aspects, namely, anxiety, motivation andself-confidence. Motivation is the internal drive that stimulates individual to pursue goals.Anxiety in linguistic field refers to students’ worries and fears when using the targetlanguage, which is the core factor that influences SLA. Confidence means the psychologicaltendency that one believes in himself and pursues positive self-achievement.The author finds that non-English major freshmen spoken English existed fossilizationcommonly. The fossilization, to a large extent, hindered these freshmen oral English improvement or even impacted their linguistic performance if they are not corrected.Therefore, this paper is intended to explore effective strategies to lessen fossilization withthe light of the Affective Filter theory and improve non-English major freshmen Englishproficiency. The author seeks to explore a new way of teaching so that students could grasptarget language and decrease fossilization fundamentally.The author takes freshmen at Changchun University of Technology as experimentalobjects, and collects their first semester’s oral English tests recording, and finds that theirspoken English existed fossilization commonly. Then, several experimental methods such asquestionnaires, surveys, observations, interviews, oral tests will be adapted appropriately inthe experiment. The conclusion is drawn that the Affective Filter theory facilitates alleviatingfossilization and improving English proficiency. In the end, the author puts forward someadvice: teachers should create a pleasant and cheerful atmosphere and a less stressfulenvironment; stimulate students’ learning motivation, reduce anxiety and strengthen students’self-confidence; build a harmonious relationship between teacher and students.