"Stereotype threat."
Useful term for something we all experience to some extent. Performance anxiety. Interesting, that it might affect linguistic ability by reduction in working memory. That's my anecdotal experience. I've been taking it to imply a lack of focus. Perhaps they're the same thing, reduced working memory and a lack of focus. Hmmm...
Sadly, ST is taken to be more important in many cases than it probably could be, and assumed to be non-existent by giving it a nifty new name that only applies to certain cohorts. A bit too much of the "oh, you poor baby" mentality for me.
At some point my vln and guitar teachers' dicta come into play.
"So you screw up? Do you die on the spot? No. You screw up, you move on, but if you carry that agony with you you're going to screw up more, so just stop carrying that grief."
"Most of the audience wants you to do well. Play for them. Those who don't simply aren't your concern."
"Why are you worried about screwing up in front of me? You're paying me to be here when you screw up so I can fix your problems."
And there was the school psychologist's take when training a bunch of teachers who had to interact with developmentally disabled kids age 4-20:
"Don't feel sorry for your kids. That teaches them to feel sorry for themselves, and who has time for that?"
"If you feel sorry for your kids and let them get by with crap, they'll learn they can always get by with it. Then when they find the script is flipped they feel resentful and bitter or just confused."
"Your kids' problems just are. Deal with them as routine problems with solutions, not as these horrible things that need a lot of attention. Push their problems to the back and get them to be as mainstreamed and well-adjusted as possible. That may mean learning to tie their shoes. It may mean learning to balance a checkbook."
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