INTRODUCTION OF LINGUISTICS

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS

A PAPER

Compiled and submitted to fulfil on of the structured tasks in the

Introduction of Linguistics course

Lecturer: Yulian Purnama S.Pd.,M.Hum.

Created by:

Group 1

1. Satriani 214110404025
2. Amita Nur Khasanah 214110404031
3. Ida Selfia Yuanita 214110404068
4. Maura Sabrina 214110404137

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING

UIN PROF. KH. SAIFUDDIN ZUHRI PURWOKERTO

2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 PSYCHOLINGUISTICS

A. Preface
Psycholinguistics as a study of the psychology of language is realized in language
teaching. It helps to study the psychological factors that are possibly involved in
languages learning. Psycholinguistics focuses on the application of the actual language
and communication. It is necessary to make a decision in applying various methods that
allow students to easily understand a language. Psycholinguistics has provided numerous
theories that explain the three points above. The theories have been very useful in the
field of language teaching. Some experts use them as the basic theories in developing
language teaching methods. It is known as psycholinguistics approach. Psycholinguistic
approach views that language and thought as related but completely independent
phenomena. Learning is viewed as a cognitive individual process happening within the
individual and then moves to the social dimension. As an approach, there are some
methods which were developed based on psycholinguistics theories and the methods have
been used widely in the field of language teaching over the countries. Some kinds of the
method will be explained in this paper. To avoid misconception, some terms related to
psycholinguistics and language learning and teaching will also explain in this paper.

B. Definition of Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguistics composed of 2 branches of science; psychology and linguistics.
Psychology is the study of mind and behavior; linguistics is the study of language. So
psycholinguistics can be defined as the study of mind and language. It is concerned with
the relationship between the human mind and the language as it examines the processes
that occur in brain while producing and perceiving language It is primarily concerned
with the ways in which language is represented and processed in the brain.
Discussion in psycholinguistics includes 3 points: language production, language
perception and language acquisition. Language production refers to the processes
involved in creating and expressing meaning through language. Language perception
refers to processes involved in interpreting and understanding both written and spoken
language. Language acquisition refers to processes of acquiring a native or a second
language.
Psycholinguistics also encompasses the psychology of language as well
as linguistic psychology, that is the study of how people understand and produce
language. Speech is understood as both biological and psychological in nature. It also
explores the mechanisms of language processing, learning to read, and writing systems.
Psycholinguistics as a study of the psychology of language is realized in language
teaching. It helps to study the psychological factors that are possibly involved in
languages learning. Psycholinguistics focuses on the application of the actual language
and communication. It is necessary to make a decision in applying various methods that
allow students to easily understand a language.
C. Psychological Factors Affecting Language Learning
Some students learn a new language more quickly and easily than others. This
fact related to the crucial factors influencing success that are largely beyond the control
of the learner. According to Lightbown and Spada (2006:58-74) mention some factors
affecting language learning.
a. Intelligence
The term 'intelligence' has traditionally been used to refer to performance
on certain kinds of tests. These tests are often associated with success in
school, and a link between intelligence and second language learning has
sometimes been reported.
b. Aptitude
Specific abilities thought to predict success in language learning have been
studied under the title of language learning 'aptitude'. Research has
characterized aptitude in terms of the ability to learn quickly. Thus, we may
hypothesize that a learner with high aptitude may learn with greater ease and
speed but those other learners may also be successful if they persevere.

c. Learning Style
The term 'learning style' has been used to describe an individual’s natural,
habitual, and preferred way of absorbing, processing, and retaining new
information and skills. Some people say that they cannot learn something until
they have seen it. Such learners would fall into the group called 'visual'
learners. Other people, who may be called 'aural' learners, seem to learn best
'by ear'. For others, referred to as 'kinesthetic' learners, a physical action such
as miming or role-play seems to help the learning process. These are referred
to as perceptually-based learning styles.

d. Personality
A number of personality characteristics have been proposed as likely to
affect second language learning. It is often argued that an extroverted person
is well suited to language learning. Another aspect of personality that has been
studied is inhibition. It has been suggested that inhibition discourages risk-
taking, which is necessary for progress in language learning. Furthermore,
learner anxiety-feelings of worry, nervousness, and stress that many students
experience when learning a second language- has been extensively
investigated. Recent research investigating learner anxiety in second language
classrooms acknowledges that anxiety is more likely to be dynamic and
dependent on particular situations and circumstances. Several other
personality characteristics such as self-esteem, empathy, dominance,
talkativeness, and responsiveness have also been studied. However, it has
 been not easy to empirically demonstrate the effect of personality in language
learning.
e. Motivation (Intrinsic)
Motivation has been defined in terms of two factors: learners'
communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language. If
learners need to speak the second language in a wide range of social situations
or to fulfill professional ambitions, they will perceive the communicative
value of the second language and will therefore be motivated to acquire
proficiency in it. Likewise, if learners have good attitudes towards the
speakers of the language, they will desire more to learn it.

f. Motivation (Extrinsic)
Teachers also influence on students’ behavior and motivation in language
learning. Teacher is one of students' reasons for studying the second language
or having good attitudes toward the language learning. Teachers can give a
positive contribution to students' motivation to learn if classrooms are places
that students enjoy coming to because the content is interesting and relevant to
their age and level of ability, the learning goals are challenging yet
manageable and clear, and the atmosphere is supportive.

g. Culture and Status

There is some evidence that students in situations where their own culture
has a lower status than that of the culture in which they are learning the
language make slower progress. Social factors at a more general level can
affect motivation, attitudes, and language learning success. One such factor is
the social dynamic or power relationship between the languages.

h. Age
Second language learning is influenced by the age of the learner. Children,
who already have solid literacy skills in their own language, seem to be in the
best position to acquire a new language efficiently. Motivated, older learners
can be very successful too, but usually struggle to achieve native-speaker-
equivalent pronunciation and intonation. Research found that age
distinguishes children and adults in learning second language in certain
aspects such as phonology, morphology, and syntax.

D. Psycholinguistic Approach
 Psycholinguistic approaches support the idea that language acquisition is
determined by default and it is reassembled from birth since acquisition and increase in
language is a biological process. Language requires perceptual skills, cognitive abilities,
and other mechanisms related to language.
The psycholinguistic approach to language learning understands language
learning as cognitive and the individual processes by which knowledge is constructed as
the learner is (1) exposed can be understood input, (2) being given a chance to both
negotiate, and (3) accepting negative feedback. Psycholinguistics language learning
approaches tend to agree that a learner needs to be given input (Carlos, 2008). One of the
most studied input theories is Krashen's (1985) input hypothesis. This theory predicts a
learner's likelihood of acquiring language when he or she is exposed to comprehensible
input.

Psycholinguistics Approach and Four Language Skills

1. Psycholinguistics Approach and Listening Skill

Psycholinguistics researchers have indicated that in teaching listening, the
intrinsic and extrinsic difficulties should be overcome in order to reach to a highly
qualified listening activity. Intrinsic difficulty refers to the speed of the speech,
number of unknown words, and prior knowledge about topic. Extrinsic difficulty
refers to students’ interest, motivation, purpose of listening activity, and noise in the
environment.
2. Psycholinguistics Approach and Reading Skill
Psycholinguistics approach resorts to text-based approach as a case of bottom-up
processing so as to emphasize the comprehension activity and top-dawn processing to
stress the fact that comprehension rests primarily on students’ knowledge base.

3. Psycholinguistics Approach and Writing Skill

Psycholinguistics helps in understanding the students’ mistakes in writing. It has a
clear contribution on spelling mistakes since in English words are not spelled as they
sound. There is a hardship on this case because storing of the spelling of words and
retrieve them on demand is very difficult.
4. Psycholinguistics Approach and Speaking Skill
Psycholinguistic approach has a workable control over the field of teaching
speaking as a skill. It has specified several difficulties on speaking such as students’
oriented difficulty. Psycholinguistics also explains that personality, like introvert and
extrovert students, affects students’ performance in language learning. Speaking
defects like voice disorders, stuttering, and disarticulation are also psychological in
origin caused by personality factor.

E. Language Teaching Methods of Psycholinguistics Approach

 Psycholinguistic approach views learning as a cognitive individual process
happening within the individual and then moves to the social dimension. As an approach,
there are some methods which were developed based on psycholinguistics theories such
as natural method, total physical response method, and suggestopedia method. These
methods apply psycholinguistic principles that how a person acquires his/her mother
tongue or first language (First Language Acquisition), learns his/her second or third
language (Second Language Learning), perceives a language (Language Perception), and
produces language (Language Production).

1. Natural Method
This method is developed by Tracy D. Terrel. This method believes that language
learning is a reproduction of the way humans naturally acquire their native language.
This method rejects earlier methods such as the audiolingual method.
Psycholinguistic principles in language learning according this method are as
following.
a. Language mastery relies on learning language skills in natural context and less
on conscious learning of grammatical rules.
b. Learning a language is an effort to develop communicative competence, the
ability to understand the speech of native speakers and native speakers
understand the learners’ speech without any error which can interfere with
meaning.
c. Comprehension is primary than production.
d. The model that underlies this method is five monitors theory: (1)
acquisitionlearning hypothesis, (2) natural order hypothesis, (3) monitor
hypothesis, (4) feedback hypothesis, (5) affective filter hypothesis.

The consistency of this method is shown by natural technique developed by

teacher. Teacher stimulates the learners to competence activity such as problem
solving, game, and humanistic affective. Problem solving is designed to train learners
to find out a right situational answer or solution. Games are considered as an interlude
activity, but it is designed to improve students’ language competence. Humanistic
affective is designed to implicate opinions, feelings, ideas, and reaction to language
learning activity.

2. Total Physical Response Method

This method is developed by psychologist from San Jose State College, United
States, James J. Asher (1966). Psycholinguistic principles in language learning
according this method are as following.
a. Language competence will improve significantly by involving kinesthetic
sensory system in language learning. This related to the fact that children are
given utterances that require them to move physically.
 b. Comprehension is primary rather than speech production. Students are
directed to achieve comprehension competences before they try to speak or
write.
Related to kinesthetic theory, it is believed that there is a positive correlation
between physical movements and students’ language achievement. It becomes the
focus in designing and applying appropriate language teaching technique in a certain
topic.
A spacious classroom is required in applying this method. The class ideally
consists of 20-25 students. This method can be applied to teach children or adults.
Grammatical rules are presented in imperative sentences because basically all
materials are presented in imperative sentences. In this method, dictionary is
unneeded because the meaning of words will be expressed by physical activities.
Students usually do not get homework because language learning is performed
together in the classroom.

3. Suggestopedia
This method is developed by Georgy Lazanov, a psychiatrist in Bulgaria in 1975.
Psycholinguistic principles in language learning according this method are as
following.
a. Humans can be directed to do something by giving them a relaxed atmosphere
and opened and peaceful mind. These will stimulate nerves to easily respond
and store the information for longer.
b. Before the lesson started, students are persuaded to relax their body and mind
in order to gather hypermnestic ability, it is an incredible supermemory.
c. The classroom is set up with dim light, comfortable seats, relaxed atmosphere
and classical music.
d. Laboratorial program and strict grammar exercise are rejected in the class.
e. Generally, material is presented in a long dialogue. The characteristics of the
dialogue are: (a) emphasizes vocabularies and content, (b) related to the real
life, (c) practical utility, (d) relevant emotionally, and (e) some words are
underlined and given the phonetic transcription.
Each meeting in this method is divided into three time allocations. The first is
reviewing the previous topic through discussion, games, sketch, or role playing. If
students do some mistakes, teacher corrects it carefully to keep a positive atmosphere.
The second is distributing the dialogue traditionally. The third is relaxing students.
This is divided into two: active activity and passive activity.

Conclusion
 Psycholinguistics is an integration of two disciplines; psychology and linguistics.
Psychology is the study of mind and behavior; linguistics is the study of language. So, in general,
psycholinguistics can be defined as the study of mind and language. It is concerned with the
relationship between the human mind and the language as it examines the processes that occur in
brain while producing and perceiving language.

Psycholinguistics covers three main points; language production, language perception

and language acquisition. Language production refers to the processes involved in creating and
expressing meaning through language. Language perception refers to processes involved in
interpreting and understanding both written and spoken language. Language acquisition refers to
processes of acquiring a native or a second language.

Psycholinguistics has provided numerous theories that explain the three points above.
The theories have been very useful in the field of language teaching. Some experts use them as
the basic theories in developing language teaching methods. It is known as psycholinguistics
approach. Psycholinguistic approach views that language and thought as related but completely
independent phenomena. Learning is viewed as a cognitive individual process happening within
the individual and then moves to the social dimension.

Psycholinguistics as a study of the psychology of language is realized in language

teaching. It helps to study the psychological factors that are possibly involved in languages
learning. Psycholinguistics focuses on the application of the actual language and communication.
It is necessary to make a decision in applying various methods that allow students to easily
understand a language.

REFERENCES
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Claros, M.S.C. (2008). Psycho-linguistic and socio-cultural approaches to language learning: A

never ending debate. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 10(1), 142-154.

Demirezen, M. (2004). Relation between Psycholinguistic Approach and Foreign Language

Learning and Teaching. Ondokuz Mayis Universitesi Fakultesi Dergisi, 17, 26-36.

Harras, K. A., & Bachari, A. D. (2009). Dasar-dasar Psikolinguistik. Bandung: Universitas

Pendidikan Bandung Press.

Ramadhan, M. A. (2013). Applied Psycholinguistic: Review of EFL Teaching Methods in

Building Up the Learners’ Motivation. Makassar: Universitas Negeri Makassar.

Chaer, A. (2015). Psikolinguistik: Kajian Teori. Jakarta: PT Rineka Cipta