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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.
Language Teaching and the Older Adult is a watershed moment in the field of adult education. Ramírez Gómez successfully interweaves that theoretical interface between the study of foreign languages and geragogy, whilst also engaging a practitioner’s lens that culminates in practical recommendations for programme facilitators. This book is a necessary read for facilitators and academics working in adult education.
Danya Ramírez Gómez has a PhD in Linguistics and Language Sciences and has over 10 years of experience working with older adults. She is a member of the Kobe Project on Language Science and L2 Acquisition at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, and her areas of research include foreign language geragogy and the introduction of notions of theoretical linguistics in the foreign language classroom.
A Note to the Reader
Acronyms
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Characteristics of the Older Learner: Whom are we Teaching?
Chapter 3. Experience, Foreign Language Learning and the Third Age: The Case of Japanese Older Learners of Spanish
Chapter 4. Toward a Foreign Language Geragogy: Part I: Lifelong Learning and Education for Older Adults
Chapter 5. Toward a Foreign Language Geragogy: Part II: Learner Re-Training
Chapter 6. Toward A Foreign Language Geragogy: Part III: The Foreign Language Lesson
Chapter 7. Recapitulation and Conclusions
Bibliography
Appendix