Adults learning additional languages in their later years
The pain, the profit, and the pleasure
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jmtp.15361Keywords:
third-age, language learning, challenges, benefits, enjoyment, savouringAbstract
This article will explore the experience—challenges, benefits, and satisfactions— that awaits older adults who embark on the adventure of learning additional languages, either as ‘true’ or ‘false’ beginners, or in some cases as resilient lifelong (foreign language) learners (to be distinguished from polyglots). Drawing on the increasing number of studies focusing on third-age language learning, the article will address the self-doubt afflicting many third-age language learners and the difficulties claimed to be imposed on them by the effects of an age-related decline in language-learning capacity. It will go on to discuss the benefits that are said to accrue for older learners of languages other than their first. Finally, it will address and exemplify from our own data the intense enjoyment which many older adults derive from language learning.
References
Andrew, P. (2012) The Social Construction of Age: Adult Foreign Language Learners. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Bak, T. H., Nissan, J. J., Allerhand, M. M., and Deary, I. J. (2014) Does bilingualism influence cognitive aging? Annals of Neurology 75.6: 956–63. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.24158
Ballesteros, S., Kraft, E., Santana, S., and Tziraki, C. (2015) Maintaining older brain functionality: A targeted review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 55: 453–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.06.008
Bennett D. A., Wilson, R. S., Schneider, J. A., Evans, D. A., Mendes de Leon, C. F., Arnold, S. E., Barnes, L. L., and Bienias, J. L. (2003) Education modifies the relation of AD pathology to level of cognitive function in older persons. Neurology 60.12: 1909–15.
Bialystok, E. and Craik, F. I. M. (2010) Cognitive and linguistic processing in the bilingual mind. Psychological Science 19.1: 19–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721409358571
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., and Luk, G. (2012) Bilingualism: Consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Science 16.4: 240–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Klein, R., and Viswanathan, M. (2004) Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: Evidence from the Simon Task. Psychology and Aging 19.2: 290–303. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.19.2.290
Brändle, M. (1986) Language teaching for the ‘young-old.’ Babel 21.1: 17–21.
Bryant, F. B. and Veroff, J. (2007) Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Edlinger, A. (2016) LanguAGEING: Fremdsprachen Lernen im Alter. Hamburg: disserta.
Erber, J. T., Szuchman, L. T., and Rothberg, S. T. (1990) Everyday memory failure: Age differences in appraisal and attribution. Psychology & Aging 5.2: 236–41. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.5.2.236
Gabrys-Barker, D. (ed.) (2018) Third Age Learners of Foreign Languages. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
García-Pentón, L., García, Y. F., Costello, B., Duñabeitia, J. A., and Carreiras, M. (2016) ‘Hazy’ or ‘jumbled’? Putting together the pieces of the bilingual puzzle. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 31.3: 353–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2015.1135247
Hakuta, K. (1987) The second language learner in the context of the study of language acquisition. In P. Homel, M. Palij, and D. Aaronson (eds) Childhood Bilingualism: Aspects of Cognitive, Social and Emotional Development 31–55. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Hasaltine, W. A. (2018) Aging populations will challenge healthcare systems all over the word. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2018/04/02/aging-populations-will-challenge-healthcare-systems-all-over-the-world/#36dda9af2cc3
Hertzog, C. and Dunlosky, J. (1996) The aging of practical memory: An overview. In D. J. Herrmann, C. McEvoy, C. Hertzog, P. Hertel, and M. K. Johnson (eds) Basic and Applied Memory Research: Vol. 1: Theory in Context 337–58. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Hillage, J., Uden, T., Aldridge, F., and Eccles, J. (2000) Adult Learning in England: A Review. Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies.
Knowles, M. S. (1980) The Modern Practice of Adult Education: Andragogy versus Pedagogy. Rev. and updated ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Cambridge Adult.
Kubota, R. (2011) Learning a foreign language as leisure and consumption: Enjoyment, desire, and the business of eikaiwa. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 14.4: 473–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2011.573069
Lapkin, S., Swain, M., and Shapson, S. (1990) French immersion research agenda for the 90s. Canadian Modern Language Review 46.4: 638–67. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.46.4.638
Life expectancy for Japanese men and women at new record high. Available at: https://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00250/life-expectancy-for-japanese-men-and-women-at-new-record-high.html?cx_recs_click=true.
Lövdén, M., Wenger, E., Mårtensson, J., Lindenberger, U. and Bäckman, L. (2013) Structural brain plasticity in adult learning and development. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 37.9: 2296–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.02.014
Marshall, C. and Rossman, G. B. (2016) Designing Qualitative Research. 6th ed. Los Angeles: Sage.
Matsumoto, D. (2019) Exploring third-age foreign language learning from the well-being perspective: Work in progress. Studies in Self-Access Learning 10.1: 111–16. https://doi.org/10.37237/100107
Pfenninger, S. E. and Singleton, D. (2019) A critical review of research relating to the learning, use and effects of additional and multiple languages in later life. Language Teaching 52.4: 419–49. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444819000235
Pitts, M. J. (2018) The language and social psychology of savoring: Advancing the communication savoring model. Journal of Language and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X18821404
Ramírez Gómez, D. (2015) Critical geragogy and foreign language learning: An exploratory application. Educational Gerontology 42.2: 136–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2015.1083388
Ramírez Gómez, D. (2016) Language Teaching and the Older Adult: The Significance of Experience. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Ramscar, M., Hendrix, P., Shaoul, C., Milin, P., and Baayen, H. (2014) The myth of cognitive decline: Non-linear dynamics of lifelong learning. Topics in Cognitive Science 6: 5–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12078
Ramscar, M., Sun, C. C., Hendri, P., and Baayen, H. (2017) The mismeasurement of mind: Life-span changes in paired-associate-learning scores reflect the ‘cost’ of learning, not cognitive decline. Psychological Science 28.8: 1171–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617706393
Rattan, S. (2018) Living in old age – 4 – thrive global. [Blog post]. Available at: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/living-in-old-age-4/
Ratté, E. R. (1968) Foreign language and the elementary school language arts program. The French Review 42.1: 80–85.
Roumani, J. (1978) Foreign Language Learning for Older Learners: Problems and Approaches. Washington, DC: The ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics.
Ryan, S. and Dörnyei, Z. (2013) The long-term evolution of language motivation and the L2 self. In A. Berndt (ed.) Fremdsprachen in der Perspektive lebenslangen Lernens 89–100. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Salthouse, T. and Babcock, T. (1991) Decomposing adult age differences in working memory. Developmental Psychology 27.5: 763–76. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.27.5.763
Schleppegrell, M. (1987) The Older Language Learner. Washington, DC: The ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics.
Singleton, D. (2017) Language aptitude: Desirable trait or acquirable attribute? Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 7.1: 89–103. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2017.7.1.5
Singleton, D. and Ryan, L. (2004) Language Acquisition: The Age Factor. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Stern, Y., Gurland, B., Tatemichi, T. K., Tang, M. X., Wilder, D., and Mayeux, R. (1994) Influence of education and occupation on the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. JAMA 271.13: 1004–10. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1994.03510370056032
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2015) World Population Ageing 2015. New York: United Nations. (ST/ESA/SER.A/390).
Wingfield, A., Stine, E., Lahar, C., and Aberdeen, J. (1988) Does the capacity of working memory change with age? Experimental Aging Research 14: 103–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610738808259731
Wright, C. (2015) Working memory and L2 development across the lifespan: A commentary. In Z. Wen, M. Borges, and A. McNeill (eds) Working Memory in Second Language Acquisition and Processing 285–98. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
