A hipótese do filtro afetivo e o constructo da motivação na aquisição de segunda língua: uma retomada crítica

Abstract

This article discusses the positions the hypothesis of the Affective Filter and the construct of motivation occupy within recent researches of Applied Linguistics, assessing the potential that both of them have to approach and explain phenomena of second language acquisition. This critical reflection about the two elements is carried out according to four basic functions of a theory: understanding, transformation, prediction and application; being the first three components proposed by McLaughlin (1988) and the last introduced by the authors of this article. In this sense, we use the methodology of critical review on theoretical references, considering the period that goes from the end of the 20th century to the beginning of this century. Our discussions allow us to indicate that the hypothesis of the Affective Filter contains problems of formulation, prediction, and correspondence to the empirical phenomena, in addition to other issues of internal coherence, not to mention its excessive inclusiveness and the conceptual, propositional and practical vagueness. This hypothesis also presents a reduced heuristic value, which might lead researchers to focus on other propositions that are potentially more productive. On the other hand, the construct of motivation, not being a systematic and explanatory proposal, emerges as a highly malleable conception, which seems to be conducive to multiple studies, and as a reorientation of researches within the area from the Macro to the Micro perspective.