SOCIAL and

EMOTIONAL

DISTANCE

Group 3-Eulis Utami-Fuzianti Hoerunnisa-Reni Eka Sari-Ricki Rediansyah

Social Distance

“Social distance is an affective construct to give explanatory

power to the place of culture learning in second language

learning.” (Brown, 2000: 185)

It refers to the cognitive and affective proximity of two cultures

that come into contact within an individual.

For example, An Indonesian who studies in UK will deal with two

cultures (former culture and new culture), s/he will be easier to

learn English (target language) there, because English is

dominance language in UK.

The Parameters of Social Distance

According to John Schumann:1. Dominance2. Intergration3. Cohesiveness4. Congruence5. Permanence

Emotional Distance

Emotional distance is defined as a relationship in

which people separate themselves from others.

It refers to psychological distance, that can be caused by

culture shock, that is associated with some emotions,

such as sadness, anger, estrangement, unhappiness and

frustration, so s/he will be unmotivated to learn target

language. (Brown, 2000:183)

How to Handle Social and Emotional Distance in Learning Target Language

Teacher should....

Use role play; role play promotes process of cross-cultural dialog while providing opportunities for oral communication in ESL classroom. (Donahue & Parsons: 1982)

Numerous other materials and techniques: readings, films, simulation games, culture assimilators, are available to language teachers to assist them in the process of acculturation in the classroom. (Fantini: 1987)

Use drama as a “gate” to build understanding for students who learn English as Second Language. (Choi: 2003)

Ask the students to interview native speaker to develop positive behaviour towards target culture. (Bateman: 2002)

References

Brown, H. Douglas. 2000. 4th Edition. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. San Fransisco State University: Longman.

Brown, H. Douglas. 2008. Edisi Kelima. Prinsip Pembelajaran dan Pengajaran Bahasa. Jakarta.