FL learners in late adulthood: A report of seniors’ willingness to communicate in English in the classroom context
PDF

Keywords

seniors
willingness to communicate
learning English

How to Cite

Borkowska, A. (2023). FL learners in late adulthood: A report of seniors’ willingness to communicate in English in the classroom context. Glottodidactica, 50(2), 7–27. https://doi.org/10.14746/gl.2023.50.2.1

Abstract

The article aims to examine older learners’ points of view concerning their in-class will- ingness to communicate (WTC) in English and to identify their expectations regarding an English teacher. The instrument was a questionnaire that comprised – among others – of questions referring to variables that could exert an impact on third-agers’ WTC in English in class. The factors which were used as options in the closed and open-ended questions in the study had been identified by the third agers as the ones that positively or negatively shaped their in-class WTC in an earlier piece of qualitative research (Borkowska 2021a). The data analysis revealed that the informants (63 older participants) reported an eagerness to communicate in English, and they perceived speaking with the teacher as the most motivating type of interaction. The most crucial components of language instruction that boosted older adults’ WTC was gentle error correction, a friendly atmosphere, and teacher support that seemed to have a positive effect on their lower self-esteem. Similarly, an empathetic and patient instructor could be of great help in diminishing seniors’ self-depreciating views. In contrast, negative teacher attributes (e.g., anxiety, criticism) could lead to inhibiting the older participants’ WTC and active involvement during English classes.

https://doi.org/10.14746/gl.2023.50.2.1
PDF

References

Antoniou, M., Gunasekera, G.M., Wong, P.C.M. (2013). Foreign language training as cognitive therapy for age-related cognitive decline: A hypothesis for future research. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37 (10), 2689–2698. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.09.004

Borkowska, A. (2021a). In-class willingness to communicate in English among third agers: Results of a questionnaire study. In: M. Pawlak (ed.), Investigating individual learner differences in second language learning (pp. 95–114). Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75726-7_5

Borkowska, A. (2021b). Senior learners’ in-class willingness to communicate in English [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Pedagogical University of Cracow. https://bip.up.krakow.pl/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2022/01/ropzrawa-doktorska.pdf.

Cao, Y. (2011). Investigating situational willingness to communicate within second languageclassrooms from an ecological perspective. System, 39 (4), 468–479. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.10.016

Carstensen, L.L., Fung, H.H., Charles, S.T. (2003). Socioemotional selectivity theory and the regulation of emotion in the second half of life. Motivation and Emotion, 27 (2), 103–123. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024569803230

Derenowski, M. (2021). Insights into senior foreign language education. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/DERENO2217

Dewaele, J.-M., Dewaele, L. (2020). Are foreign language learners’ enjoyment and anxiety specific to the teacher? An investigation into the dynamics of learners’ classroom emotions. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 10 (1), 45–65. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.1.3

Eddy-U, M. (2015). Motivation for participation or non-participation in group tasks: A dynamic systems model of task-situated willingness to communicate. System, 50, 43–55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.03.005

Formosa, M. (2014). Lifelong learning in later life. Policies and practices. In: B. Schmidt-Hertha /S.J. Krašovec / M. Formosa (eds.), Learning across generations in Europe: Contemporary issues in older adult education (pp. 11–21). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-902-9_2

Gabryś-Barker, D. (2020). Teaching foreign language to seniors: Some insights from pre-service EFL teachers. Revista de Estudos Linguísticos da Univerdade do Porto – Nº Especial, 157–170.

Gałajda, D. (2017). Communicative behaviour of a language learner. Exploring willingness to communicate. Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59333-3

Grotek, M. (2018). Student needs and expectations concerning foreign language teachers in universities of the third Age. In: D. Gabryś-Barker (ed.), Third age learners of foreign languages (pp. 127–144). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783099412-010

Jaroszewska, A. (2013). Nauczanie języków obcych seniorów w Polsce: Analiza potrzeb i możliwości w aspekcie międzykulturowym. Cracow: Impuls.

Kang, S.J. (2005). Dynamic emergence of situational willingness to communicate in a second language. System, 33, 277–292. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2004.10.004

Khajavy, G., MacIntyre, P., Barabadi, E. (2017). Role of the emotions and classroom environment in willingness to communicate: Applying doubly latent multilevel analysis in second language acquisition research. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40 (3), 1–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263117000304

Khajavy, G., MacIntyre, P., Taherian, T., Ross, J. (2021). Examining the Dynamic Relationships Between Willingness to Communicate, Anxiety and Enjoyment Using the Experience Sampling Method. In: N. Zarrinabadi, M. Pawlak (eds.), New perspectives on willingness to communicate in a second language. Second language learning and teaching (pp. 169–197). Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67634-6_9

Knowles, M.S., Holton III, E.F., Swanson, R.A., Robinson, P.A. (2020). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (9th ed.). London / New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429299612

Komorowska, H. (2016). Difficulty and coping strategies in language education: Is positive psychology misrepresented in SLA/FLT? In: D. Gabryś-Barker, D. Gałajda (eds.), Positive psychology perspectives on foreign language learning and teaching (pp. 39–58). Switzerland: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32954-3_3

Komorowska, H. (2021). The role of attention in teacher education: A Factor in the quality of European schooling. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition, 7 (1), 33–50. . DOI: https://doi.org/10.31261/TAPSLA.7928

Lawshe, C.H. (1975). A quantitative approach to content validity. Personnel Psychology, 28 (4), 563–575. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1975.tb01393.x

MacIntyre, P.D. (2012). Examining willingness to communicate on multiple timescales. Contact, 38 (2), 12–22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.12.013

MacIntyre, P.D. (2020). Expanding the theoretical base for dynamics of willingness to communicate. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 10 (1), 111–131. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.1.6

MacIntyre, P.D., Clément, R., Dörnyei, Z., Noels, K.A. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal, 82, 545–562. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb05543.x

MacIntyre, P.D., Mercer, S. (2014). Introducing positive psychology to SLA. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4 (2), 153–172. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.2

MacIntyre, P.D., Wang, L. (2021). Willingness to communicate in the L2 about meaningful photos: Application of the pyramid model of WTC. Language Teaching Research, 25 (6), 878–898.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688211004645

McCroskey, J.C., Richmond, V.P. (1987). Willingness to communicate. In: J.C. McCroskey, J.A. Daly (eds.), Personality and interpersonal communication (pp. 129–156). Newbury Park: Sage.

Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A. (2021). The link between different facets of willingness to communicate, engagement and communicative behaviour in task performance. In: K. Budzińska, O. Majchrzak (eds.), Positive psychology in second and foreign language education. Second language learning and leaching (pp. 95–113). Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64444-4_6

Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A., Pawlak, M. (2017). Willingness to communicate in instructed second language acquisition: Combining a macro- and micro-perspective. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783097173

Niżegorodcew, A. (2018). Teaching English to senior students in the eyes of teacher trainees. In: D. Gabryś-Barker (ed.), Third age learners of foreign languages (pp. 161–175). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783099412-012

Olszewski, H. (2018). Introduction to developmental psychology: Late adulthood. In: W. Tłokiński, S. Milewski, K. Kaczorowska-Bray (eds.), Gerontologopedia (pp. 78–107). Gdańsk: Harmonia Universalis.

Oxford, R. (2018). A developmental perspective on third-age learning. In: D. Gabryś-Barker (ed.), Third age learners of foreign languages (pp. 3–18). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783099412-003

Park, D., Reuter-Lorenz, P. (2009). The adaptive brain: Aging and neurocognitive scaffolding. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 17–196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093656

Pawlak, M., Derenowski, M., Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A. (2018). The use of indirect language learning strategies by third-age learners. In: D. Gabryś-Barker (ed.), Third age learners of foreign languages (pp. 76–90). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783099412-007

Pawlak, M., Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A. (2015). Investigating the dynamic nature of L2 willingness to communicate. System, 50, 1–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.02.001

Peng, J.E. (2014). Willingness to communicate in the Chinese EFL university classroom: An ecological perspective. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783091560

Peng, J.E., Woodrow, L. (2010). Willingness to communicate in English: A model in the Chinese EFL classroom context. Language Learning, 60 (4), 834–876. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00576.x

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. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22599/jesla.36

Piechurska-Kuciel, E. (2021). Positive predictive value of extraversion in diagnosing L2 WTC. In: N. Zarrinabadi / M. Pawlak (eds.), New perspectives on willingness to communicate in a second language. Second language learning and teaching (pp. 135–153). Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67634-6_7

Piechurska-Kuciel, E., Szyszka, M. (2018). Compensatory strategies in senior foreign language students. In: D. Gabryś-Barker (ed.), Third age learners of foreign languages (pp. 108–126). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783099412-009

Ramírez Gómez, D. (2016). Language teaching and the older adult: The significance of experience. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783096305

Singleton, D. (2018). Really late learners: Some research contexts and some practical hints. In: D. Gabryś-Barker (ed.), Third age learners of foreign languages (pp. 19–30). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783099412-004

Singleton, D.M., Ryan, L. (2004). Language acquisition: The age factor (2nd ed.). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853597596

Stuart-Hamilton, I. (2012). The psychology of ageing (5th ed.). London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingley Publishers.

Weaver, C. (2005). Using the Rasch model to develop a measure of second language learners’ willingness to communicate within a language classroom. Journal of Applied Measurement, 6, 396–415.

Werbińska, D. (2015). Is there any place for silence in the communication-oriented process of adult language learning? In: M. Pawlak, W. Waniek-Klimczak (eds.), Issues and teaching, learning, and testing speaking in a second language (pp. 169–188). Heidelberg: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38339-7_11

Zarrinabadi, N. (2014). Communicating in a second language: Investigating the effect of teacher on learners’ willingness to communicate. System, 42, 288–295. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.12.014

Zhang, J., Beckmann, N., Beckmann, J.F. (2018). To talk or not to talk: A review of situational antecedents of willingness to communicate in the second language classroom. System, 72, 226–239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.01.003