Article published in:
Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 9:1/2 (2020) ► pp. 97–108

Methodological concerns and their solutions in third-age language learning studies

| University of Groningen
| University of Groningen
| University of Groningen
With the average life expectancy in especially developed countries steadily increasing, healthy ageing is prioritised on the research agenda. Various studies have looked into bilingualism as a possible anti-ageing tool to delay the onset of symptoms of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, with as perhaps the most promising recent line of work intervention studies that introduce bilingual experiences to seniors in the form of foreign language courses meant to induce a protective effect on cognitive decline. Unfortunately, the scant studies available have not found convincing results, most likely due to several pitfalls in their designs, one of the most important being that method of instruction is rarely specified or controlled for. In this paper, we identify methodological concerns that need to be addressed when conducting experimental work related to third-age language learning, resulting in a research agenda for third-age language learning studies.
Keywords: healthy ageing, critical foreign language gerontology, seniors, third-age language learning, English as a foreign language (EFL), implicit/explicit language teaching, cognition
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Life-long learning
  • 3.Problems in third-age language learning studies
  • 4.Improving further research
  • 5.Future directions
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 16 October 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/dujal.19036.van
References
Alladi, S., Bak, T. H., Duggirala, V., Surampudi, B., Shailaja, M., Shukla, A. K., Chaudhuri, J. R., & Kaul, S.
(2013) Bilingualism delays age at onset of dementia, independent of education and immigration status. Neurology, 81(22), 1938–1944. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Andringa, S., & Rebuschat, P.
(2015) New directions in the study of implicit and explicit learning: An introduction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 37(2), 185–196. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Antoniou, M.
(2019) The advantages of bilingualism debate. Annual Review of Linguistics, 51, 395–415. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Antoniou, M., Gunasekera, G. M., & Wong, P. C.
(2013) Foreign language training as cognitive therapy for age-related cognitive decline: A hypothesis for future research. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(10), 2689–2698. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bak, T. H., Long, M. R., Vega-Mendoza, M., & Sorace, A.
(2016) Novelty, challenge, and practice: The impact of intensive language learning on attentional functions. PloS One, 11(4), e0153485. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E.
(2016) Aging and bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 6(1), 1–8. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bialystok, E., & Martin, M. M.
(2004) Attention and inhibition in bilingual children: Evidence from the dimensional change card sort task. Developmental Science, 7(3), 325–339. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Boulton-Lewis, G. M.
(2010) Education and learning for the elderly: Why, how, what. Educational gerontology, 36(3), 213–228. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Boulton-Lewis, G. M., & Buys, L.
(2015) Learning choices, older Australians and active ageing. Educational Gerontology, 41(11), 757–766. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Boulton-Lewis, G. M., & Tam, M.
(2018) Issues in teaching and learning for older adults in Hong Kong and Australia. Educational Gerontology, 44(10), 639–647. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Burke, D. M., & MacKay, D. G.
(1997) Memory, language, and ageing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 352(1363), 1845–1856. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Calhoun, R. O., & Gounard, B. R.
(1979) Meaningfulness, presentation rate, list length, and age in elderly adults’ paired-associate learning. Educational Gerontology: An International Quarterly, 4(1), 49–56. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Charness, N.
(1992) Age and expertise: Responding to Talland’s challenge. In I. W. Poon, D. C. Rubin, & B. A. Wilson (Eds.), Everyday cognition in adulthood and late life (pp. 437). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
De Graaff, R.
(1997) The eXperanto experiment. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19(02), 249–276. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Del Maschio, N., Fedeli, D., & Abutalebi, J.
(2018) Bilingualism and aging: Why research should continue. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 81, 2–19.Google Scholar
Delahaye, B. L., & Ehrich, L. C.
(2008) Complex learning preferences and strategies of older adults. Educational Gerontology, 34(8), 649–662. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N.
(1994) Introduction: Implicit and explicit language learning – An overview. In N. Ellis (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages (pp. 79–114). London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Gabryś-Barker, D.
(2018) Introduction: The background. In D. Gabryś-Barker (Ed.), Third age learners of foreign languages (pp. xiii–xxvii). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Glass Jr, J. C.
(1996) Factors affecting learning in older adults. Educational Gerontology: An International Quarterly, 22(4), 359–372. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
He, W., Goodkind, D., & Kowal, P.
(2016) An aging world: 2015. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Publishing Office.Google Scholar
Hill, P. L., & Turiano, N. A.
(2014) Purpose in life as a predictor of mortality across adulthood. Psychological Science, 25(7), 1482–1486. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Howard Jr., J. H., & Howard, D. V.
(2013) Aging mind and brain: Is implicit learning spared in healthy aging? Frontiers in Psychology, 41, 817. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hsiao, S.
(2018) Aging and ESL learning among older adult Chinese-speaking immigrants. Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 18(3), 1–10.Google Scholar
Lenet, A. E., Sanz, C., Lado, B., Howard Jr., J. H., & Howard, D. V.
(2011) Aging, pedagogical conditions, and differential success in SLA: An empirical study. In C. Sanz, & R. P. Leow (Eds.), Implicit and explicit language learning: Conditions, processes, and knowledge in SLA and bilingualism (pp. 73–84). Georgetown: University Press.Google Scholar
Long, M. H.
(1991) Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. In K. de Bot, R. Ginsberg, & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective (pp. 39–52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Luk, G., Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., & Grady, C. L.
(2011) Lifelong bilingualism maintains white matter integrity in older adults. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(46), 16808–16813. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Midford, R., & Kirsner, K.
(2005) Implicit and explicit learning in aged and young adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 12(4), 359–387. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mukadam, N., Sommerlad, A., & Livingston, G.
(2017) The relationship of bilingualism compared to monolingualism to the risk of cognitive decline or dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 58(1), 45–54. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L.
(2000) Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning, 50(3), 417–528. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Perani, D., & Abutalebi, J.
(2015) Bilingualism, dementia, cognitive and neural reserve. Current Opinion in Neurology, 28(6), 618–625. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, D. A., & Eden, D. Z.
(1981) Cognitive style and the older learner. Educational Gerontology: An International Quarterly, 7(1), 57–66. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pfenninger, S. E., & Polz, S.
(2018) Foreign language learning in the third age: A pilot feasibility study on cognitive, socio-affective and linguistic drivers and benefits in relation to previous bilingualism of the learner. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 2(1), 1–13. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pot, A., Keijzer, M., & De Bot, K.
(2018) Do low L2 abilities impede healthy aging for migrant older adults in the Netherlands? Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1), 109–120. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pot, A., Porkert, J., & Keijzer, M.
(2019) The bidirectional in bilingual: Cognitive, social and linguistic effects of and on third-age language learning. Behavioral Sciences, 9(9), 98. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ramírez-Gómez, D.
(2016) Language teaching and the older adult: The significance of experience. Bristol; Buffalo: Multilingual Matters. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ramos, S., García, Y. F., Antón, E., Casaponsa, A., & Dunabeitia, J. A.
(2017) Does learning a language in the elderly enhance switching ability? Journal of Neurolinguistics, 431, 39–48. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Rousse-Malpat, A., & Verspoor, M. H.
(2012) Measuring effectiveness in focus on form versus focus on meaning. Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 263–276. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Schleppegrell, M.
(1987) The older language learner. Washington: ERIC Publications.Google Scholar
Singleton, D., & Pfenninger, S. E.
(2019) Exploring a poorly understood variable: An agenda for classroom research on the age factor. Language Teaching, 52(1), 111–127. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ware, C., Damnee, S., Djabelkhir, L., Cristancho, V., Wu, Y., Benovici, J., Pino, M., & Rigaud, A.
(2017) Maintaining cognitive functioning in healthy seniors with a technology-based foreign language program: A pilot feasibility study. Frontiers in aging Neuroscience, 9, 42.Google Scholar
United Nations
(2017) World population prospects: The 2017 revision, key findings and advance tables. New York: Working Paper No. ESA/P/WP/248.Google Scholar

Full-text

Methodological concerns and their solutions in third-age language learning studies
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Brouwer, Jelle, Floor van den Berg, Remco Knooihuizen, Hanneke Loerts & Merel Keijzer
2020. Exploring Language Learning as a Potential Tool against Cognitive Impairment in Late-Life Depression: Two Meta-Analyses and Suggestions for Future Research. Behavioral Sciences 10:9 ► pp. 132 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 april 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.