Language Teaching and the Older Adult : : The Significance of Experience / / Danya Ramírez Gómez.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter MultiLingual Matters Complete eBook-Package 2016
• VerfasserIn: Ramírez Gómez, Danya,
• Place / Publishing House: Bristol ;, Blue Ridge Summit : : Multilingual Matters, , [2016]; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Second Language Acquisition
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

The aging of the population and the increasing number of older adults pursuing foreign language courses call for a greater understanding of the ways in which these individuals learn foreign languages. This book offers a pioneering contribution to the literature on foreign language education for older adults (aged 60 and over), termed foreign language geragogy. It details an empirical, multidisciplinary study on Japanese older learners of Spanish and focuses on the influence of learning experiences on vocabulary learning strategy use. It discusses the constraints that preconceptions impose on learners, researchers, instructors and administrators, and it offers a set of practical recommendations for foreign language activities for elderly individuals. It also introduces the notion of 'learner re-training', an instructional mechanism that contributes to older learners' self-acknowledgment and autonomy development in foreign language learning. The book is directed at teachers and trainee teachers of foreign languages to older adults, and also at education professionals and researchers in the field of foreign language learning in general.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- A Note to the Reader -- Glossary -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Characteristics of the Older Learner: Whom Are We Teaching? -- 3. Experience, Foreign Language Learning and the Third Age: The Case of Japanese Older Learners of Spanish -- Toward a Foreign Language Geragogy -- 4. Part 1: Lifelong Learning and Education for Older Adults -- 5. Part 2: Learner Re-training -- 6. Part 3: The Foreign Language Lesson -- 7. Recapitulation and Conclusions: The Criticality of a Foreign Language Geragogy -- Appendix -- References -- Index