MEXTESOL Regional Convention: Mexico City. February 2016.

1. Facing up to Frustration:
Taking Control of Learning
MEXTESOL Regional Conference 2016
Laura Sagert (laura.sagert@cide.edu) CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo credit: Matthias Ripp (2014) “Locked”. Flickr 15868178370_fceace541e_z. CC BY 2.0

2. ENGLISH = FRUSTRATION?
Why might learners (or users) of English
become frustrated?
Share your observations with the person next to
you.
•To what extent do you agree or disagree?

3. CLARIFYING TERMS
Phrasal verbs and affective states

4. Facing up
Image credits:
Adam Jones (2012). “Young Mayan Girl” Flickr 20128250897733_7888bb3d90_z. CC BY
Diacritica (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Dice (typical role paying dice)
Asangi (2012) "Supine and prone" Licensed under CC0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Supine_and_prone_2012-02-
20.jpg#/media/File:Supine_and_prone_2012-02-20.jpg

5. Up, down, off?
• face down
• “To attain mastery over or overcome by confronting in a resolute, determined
manner.”
• We face down an enemy or opponent.
• face off (Sports)
“To start play in ice hockey, lacrosse, and other games by releasing the puck or
ball between two opposing players.”
• lose face To lose our “value or standing in the eyes of others; prestige”
• Just as we would not like to lose face in front of our students, we should not make our
students lose face in front of their peers.
• face up
• “To confront an unpleasant situation with resolution and assurance.”
• Both teachers and students need to face up to the fact frustration is part of any complex
learning process.
Adapted from Webster’s College Dictionary (Random House) via The Free Dictionary (face)

6. CONFUSION
• not understanding
or not knowing
what to do
• mistaking one
thing or person for
another
• unclear, messy, or
disorganized
instructions or
information
Photo credit: TheHuxCapacitator (2012) “This had me confused for hours!” Flickr
7443943968_dd6ec18d38_z. CC BY 2.0.

7. BOREDOM
• lacking interest in
one’s current activity
or having nothing to
do
Bored students quickly
become disengaged.
Once students get bored,
they tend to stay bored.
We can become bored if
something is too easy –
or if it is too hard.
(Baker et al, 2010: D’Mello et al, 2012)
Photo credit: Claudine Antoinette Francisco (2010). “Bored during my management class”. Flickr
5023500204_af403782c7_z

8. FRUSTRATION
• feeling upset,
irritated, impatient
or annoyed
because we can’t
do (or get) what
we want
• blocked from
reaching, or
perhaps even
progressing
towards, a goal
Photo credit: OakelyOriginals (2009) “Late night mathematics”. Flickr 3393259139_c621008ec1_z.
CC BY 2.0.

9. ONE EMOTION:
TWO SIDES
• X He used to read in the
morning. “But, that’s right. It’s
what he normally does…Hmm,
he + s, used to, ah, usually. He
usually reads in the morning”.
(epistemic)
• X He made the dishes. “I always
get make and do wrong. I just
can’t get it right.” (achievement)
• I didn’t get the score I need on
the TOEFL. What’s wrong with
me. (achievement)
EPISTEMIC (COGNITIVE PROCESS)
• Surprise
• Curiosity
• Anxiety (marked
incongruity)
• Enjoyment (solving problem)
• Frustration (not able to
solve problem)
ACHIEVEMENT
Focus on personal failure, not
being able to solve problem
(Pekrun and Linnenbruck-Garcia, 2014)

10. THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE
LEARNING
WHERE DOES FRUSTRATION COME IN?

11. THE INHERENT FRUSTRATIONS OF LANGUAGE
LEARNING (?)
BRAINSTORM
•Work with a small group to prepare a list of
some of the frustrating aspects of learning
English (or another additional language).
Are these inherent to language learning?

12. KEY APECTS TO CONSIDER
•THE LANGUAGE ITSELF
•L1–L2 DIFFERENCES
•MISCONCEPTIONS
•about language
•about language learning

13. FRUSTRATIONS OF LEARNING ENGLISH?
Image credits: All three images on this page are CCO (Public Domain) images taken from Pixabay.
read, said, bed
busy, women, village
bear, hair, mayor
TO BE
Actually, that extra spending
money was given to Ann for her
having made dessert, done the
dishes, and assisted her mother
with various other chores.

14. THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE
LEARNING
HOW DO WE LEARN LANGUAGES ANYWAY?
NO SIMPLE ANSWER

15. THERE IS NOT
ONE CORRECT ANSWER.
HOW DO WE LEARN LANGUAGES ANYWAY?

16. COGNITIVE
Attention
Remembering
Categorizing
Generalizing
Thinking
Identifying
patterns:(Sounds,
words, syntax, genre,
context, functions, …)
(Ellis and Robinson, 2008)
THINKING. RECOGNIZING. UNDERSTANDING.
Image credit: John Hain/Public Domain CC0 via Pixabay

17. SOCIOCOGNITIVE
MIND-BODY-
WORLD:
integrated,
inseparable
Cognition affects
(extends into) the
world.
Learning=default
state (of humans)
Situated activity
system (classroom
only one type)
(Atkinson, 2011)
INTEGRATION: MIND-BODY-WORLD.
DEFAULT STATE: LEARNING.
Image credits: Public domain images via Pixabay. (Gerald, Mind: Barli1, Hand [with bird]: Ju_sajjad0, Hand [with wire])

18. SOCIO-
CULTURAL
Use of language to mediate
communication and mental
activity
Different learners need
different types of mediation—
even for the same language
point.
Shift from focus on accuracy
(teacher as audience?) to
fluency and relevance
(interest in topic).
Self-talk: mediation of mental
activity) in L2 is extremely
difficult for even advanced
users.
(Lantolf (in Atkinson (ed.), 2011)
MEDIATION. SELF-TALK.
DIFFERENT FOCUS, DIFFERENT OUTPUT.
DIFFERENT LEARNERS, DIFFERENT MEDIATION NEEDS.
Image credit: Public domain images via Pixabay (Skeeze Boxer; jsks Anime)

19. LANGUAGE
SOCIALIZATION
Language as much more than
a linguistic code
Language development +
other forms of knowledge
learned in or through
language
Culture + social knowledge
Use of language to mark
hierarchy and status
Routines = communication
repertoires
(Duff and Talmy n Atkinson, 2011)
SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE.
COMMUNICATION REPERTOIRES.
STRATIFICATION.
Image credits: Public domain CC0 images via Pixabay. (Darvinsantos: Boy girl + beach); Rodro: Street)

20. IDENTITY
APPROACH
Language as a complex social
practice involved in the
definition, and resistance, of
identities
Inequitable power relations
Social construction of
identity and affective factors
Learner investment, or not,
in the social language
practices of a specific
classroom/learning context
(Norton and McKinney in Atkinson (Ed.),
2011)
MULTIFACETED SENSE OF SELF.
IDENTITY: INEQUITIES OF POWER, NEGOTIATION,
RENEGOTIATION, RESISTANCE.
Image credit: CC0 public domain images via Pixabay (Snips and clips, Geralt, eommina)

21. COMPLEXITY
THEORY
Language as a complex adaptive
system
Context of use—emergence of
patterns of language use
New circumstances —change
Interaction—change in language
resources (adaptive imitation)
Heterochronic: different times
/intermittent
(Larsen-Freeman in Atkinson (Ed.), 2011)
CONSTANT CHANGE. ADAPTIVE IMITATION.
INTERACTION.
Image credit: Zachary Veach (2009). “Dynamic system”. CC-By 2.0 via Flickr
3510995344_0de002e2cf_z

22. What experiences,
or lack thereof, do
our students bring
to class?
See the full Mexicanos Primeros
(2015) report at
http://www.mexicanosprimero.org/index.php/educacion-
en-mexico/como-esta-la-educacion/estado-de-la-educacion-
en-mexico/sorry-2015)

23. Prior Learning? Current classes?
• Quality? Equity?
• Focus on accuracy at the expense of meaning?
• “It’s just an example teacher”?
• Today we are going to do pages 94‒97?
• Focus on grades, or exam scores, rather than linguistic
competence?
• Work on only some skills or weak L1 skills?
• Boredom / exasperation / frustration?

24. BLOCKAGE OR OBSTACLES
BUT, TO WHAT EXACTLY?
Image credit: Alberto G (2006) Exam. CC BY. 2.0 via Flickr : albertogp123/5843577306

25. TAKING CONTROL: WHO AND WHY?
Image credit: Public domain CC0 via Pixabay. (Geralt)

26. PERSEVERANCE
REALISTIC
EXPECTATIONS
Image credit: Geralt. Don’t Give Up and The Way Forward. Public domain images (CC0) via Pixabay.

27. SELF-REGULATION
AROUSAL STATES
inhibition
(zoned out)
asleep
drowsy
hypo alert
calmly focused
and alert
activation
(stressed
out)
hyperalert
flooded
(overwhelmed)
Self-awareness
Ability to respond to
stressors and maintain, or
return to , a state of
emotional equilibrium
Identify:
▪different arousal states.
▪sources of stress.
Modulate:
▪different states of arousal
Not = compliance, self-
control or self-discipline
(Shanker, 2012; Shanker, 2013)
“When children are calmly focused and alert, they are best able to modulate their
emotions; pay attention; ignore distractions; inhibit their impulses; assess the
consequences of an action; understand what others are thinking and feeling, and
the effects of their own behaviours; or feel empathy for others.” (Shanker, 2013)
STRESSORS
biological regulation of physical arousal
state
emotional monitoring and changing
emotional responses
cognitive maintaining and shifting
attention, sequencing
thoughts, dealing with
frustration and distractions
social rules of appropriate behavior
pro-social Empathy

28. SELF-EFFICACY
SOURCES OF SELF-EFFICACY
Success
Reaching a goal that required sustained effort and
perseverance.
Social models
Seeing others succeed, with sustained effort, at tasks
perceived to be similar.
Social persuasion
Being persuaded they are capable of doing something
can help people achieve this target.
(Caution. It is easier to undermine than foster
motivation. Unrealistic persuasion is
counterproductive and quickly belied by disappointing
outcomes. A more effective approach would be to
constructing situations in which learners will succeed.)
Controlling stress and negative emotions
Perception of one’s physical and emotional state or
reactions is a key differentiator.
(Bandura, 1994)
Our beliefs about our
capability to act in such a
way as to influence the
outcome of events in our
lives. Personal agency.
Success tends to increase
our sense of self-
efficacy.
Failure (real or
perceived) tends to
decrease this sense.
(Bandura, 1994)

29. EMPATHY
UNDERSTANDING
ANOTHER’S FEELINGS,
THOUGHTS, ATTITUDES,
SITUATION, POINT OF
VIEW.
Imagining what it is like
to “be in their shoes”
Image credits: Public domain CC0 images via Pixabay. (Argaplek, Boys talking; Stocksnap, Shoes)

30. THANK YOU
Laura Sagert (laura.sagert@cide.edu)

31. References
Atkinson, Dwight (Ed.) Alternative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition. London and New York: Routledge, 2011.
Baker, Ryan, Sidney K. D’Mello, Ma. Mercedes Rodrigo, Arthur C. Graesser (2010) “Better to be Frustrated than Bored:
The Incidence, Persistence, and Impact of Learner’s Cognitive-Affective States during Interactions with Three Different
Computer-based Learning Environments”. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 68, no. 4 (2010): 223-241.
Bandura, Albert. “Self-efficacy” In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior Vol. 4. New York:
Academic Press, 1994: 71-81
D’Mello, Sidney, Roger Taylor and Art Graesser “Monitoring Affective Trajectories During Complex Learning” in Norbert
M. Seel (Ed) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning . Springer US, 2012. pp. 2325-2328 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4419-
1428-6_849
Pekrun; Reinhart and Lisa Linnenbruck-Garcia (2014). “Introduction to Emotions in Education” in Reinhart Pekrun and
Lisa Linnenbrink-García, Eds) International Handbook of Emotions in Education. New York: Routledge, 2014: 1-10
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by
Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Via “Face” The Free Dictionary http://www.thefreedictionary.com/face
Robinson, Peter and Nick C. Ellis. Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. New York and
London: Routledge, 2008.
Shanker, Stuart. “Calm, Alert and Happy” Ontario Ministry of Education/ Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2013.
https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/Shanker.pdf
Shanker, Stuart. “The Self-Regulated Student” in learn, Summer+Fall, 2012 pp. 4-6. Accessed through The Canadian Self-
Regulation Initiative (http://www.self-regulation.ca/uploads/5/6/2/6/56264915/learn_magazine_-_the_self-
regulating_student.pdf)