Foreign Language Learning in Older Adults: Benefits, Challenges, and Suggestions for Teaching

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorNutthaporn Owatnupat
dc.contributor.correspondenceN. Owatnupat; Suan Dusit University, Bangkok, Thailand; email: nutthaporn@hotmail.com
dc.date.accessioned2025-03-10T07:35:28Z
dc.date.available2025-03-10T07:35:28Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractWhen it comes to foreign language learning, researchers tend to pay more attention to children and adolescents than older adults despite the fact that the proportion of older adults worldwide has increased significantly. Even though there is a growing number of studies reporting several benefits of foreign language learning particularly in improving cognitive abilities of older adults (Antoniou et al., Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 37:2689Ð2698;2013; Antoniou & Wright. Frontiers in Psychology 8:2217;2017, Bak. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 6:205Ð226;2016; Wong et al., Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 62:2411Ð2424;2019), older adults have still been neglected as a cohort by researchers in this field. This may be because very few older adults who are over 60Êyears of age take part in foreign language learning whether in the contexts of formal, informal, or non-formal education. In addition, teaching older adults a foreign language can be very challenging because instructors have to dispel some misconceptions about older adultsÕ learning abilities and deal with self-defeating attitudes commonly adopted by older learners (Ram’rez G—mez. Educational Gerontology 42:136Ð143;2016). In this chapter, I discuss the benefits and challenges of learning a foreign language in late adulthood and provide some suggestions for instructors to create an educative and collaborative learning environment appropriate for foreign language learning in older adults. In addition, I have included some suggestions on how to integrate technology into foreign language teaching as they could provide a safe learning environment for the elderly amid the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
dc.identifier.citationEducation in the Asia-Pacific Region
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/978-981-16-3326-3_13
dc.identifier.issn15735397
dc.identifier.scopus2-s2.0-85116495435
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.dusit.ac.th//handle/123456789/4681
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.rights.holderScopus
dc.subjectBenefits
dc.subjectChallenges
dc.subjectForeign language learning
dc.subjectOlder adults
dc.titleForeign Language Learning in Older Adults: Benefits, Challenges, and Suggestions for Teaching
dc.typeBook chapter
mods.location.urlhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85116495435&doi=10.1007%2f978-981-16-3326-3_13&partnerID=40&md5=4fed745e4c2a60c60ce8238269977594
oaire.citation.endPage234
oaire.citation.startPage221
oaire.citation.volume59
Files
Collections
SCOPUS 2021