7. Self-confidence Another way of phrasing this one is the "I can do it!" principle, or the self-esteem principle. At the heart of all learning is the condition that a person believes in his or her own ability to accomplish the task. While self-confidence can be linked to the language ego principle above, it goes a step further in emphasizing the importance of the learner's self-assessment, regardless of the degree of language ego involvement. Simply put, we are talking about: The eventual success that learners attain in a task is at least partially a factor of their belief that they indeed are fully capable of accomplishing the task. Some immediate classroom applications of this principle emerge:
(1) Give ample verbal and non-verbal assurances to students. It helps a student to hear a teacher affirm a belief in the
student's ability. Energy that the learner would otherwise direct at avoidance or at erecting emotional walls of defense is thereby released to tackle the matter at hand.
(2) Sequence techniques from easier to more difficult. As a teacher you e called on to sustain self-confidence where it already exists and to build it where it doesn't. Your activities in the classroom would therefore logically start with simpler techniques and simpler concepts. Students then can establish a sense of accomplishment that catapults them to the next, more difficult, step.
8. Risk-taking A third affective principle interrelated with the last two principles is the importance of getting learners to take calculated risks in attempting to use language—both productively and receptively. The previous two principles, if satisfied, lay the groundwork for risk-taking. If learners recognize their own ego fragility and develop the firm belief that, yes, they can indeed do it, then they are ready to take those necessary risks. They are ready to try out their newly acquired language, to use it for meaningful purposes, to ask questions, and to assert themselves. Successful language learners, in their realistic appraisal of themselves as vulnerable beings yet capable of accomplishing tasks, must be willing to become "gamblers" in the game of language, to attempt to produce and to interpret language that is a bit beyond their absolute certainty.