Psychosocial Rehabilitation Through Intervention by Second Language Acquisition in Older Adults

AbstractThe paper deals with a possibility of foreign language learning (FLL) intervention in older adults as a psychosocial rehabilitation method to improve the quality of life (QoL) in this age segment, i.e. the people who are over 55 years. FLL has been researched as a successful tool to maintain or even enhance cognitive functions in older age along with other intentional activities, such as engagement in any physical activity. FLL cannot dramatically improve memory and cognitive deterioration of older adults, however, it can improve QoL by increasing subjective happiness that is connected to improved wellbeing. The research was conducted in two groups of seniors who are engaged in FLL, specifically in the Czech Republic and Poland. The major premise of the research was based on the positive psychology concept, i.e., the subjective happiness leads to improved levels of QoL. Both groups consisted of about a hundred respondents whose opinions were researched by an online questionnaire. The major focus of this questionnaire was to evaluate the level of subjective happiness and then compare the results obtained from the respondents from these two geographically different regions. The findings clearly showed that those who had engaged in FLL had reached high levels of subjective happiness, therefore, their subjective wellbeing could be improved. These results might be important for psychosocial rehabilitation practices because they can create a framework for further non-pharmacological intervention to maintain healthy aging. FLL can thus be a very efficient tool for any psychosocial rehabilitation in older healthy adults who do not suffer from any cognitive pathological development but who are just experiencing negative side effects of natural aging process. The research into this topic is very scarce, and therefore, this paper could be an inspiration for further and larger-scale research.

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A Comparative Psycholinguistic Study on the Subjective Feelings of Well-Being Outcomes of Foreign Language Learning in Older Adults From the Czech Republic and Poland

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.606083 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Blanka Klimova ◽

Marcel Pikhart ◽

Anna Cierniak-Emerych ◽

Szymon Dziuba ◽

Krzysztof Firlej

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Czech Republic ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Computer Games ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Well Being ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Experimental Group

Positive psychology has recently seen unprecedented rise and has reached vast achievements in the area of quality of life (QoL) improvement. The purpose of this study is to show that there are different aspects of well-being that make healthy older people motivated to learn a foreign language at a later age. The research was conducted in the Czech Republic and Poland in two groups of learners aged 55 years and more. The experimental group consisted of 105 Czech respondents who were targeted with an online questionnaire with the aim to determine the level of FLL outcomes connected to QoL in healthy older adults in their L2 acquisition. The second experimental group (n = 100) was established of Polish seniors who attended similar language courses. The findings of the research clearly show that FLL has an irreplaceable role as one of several non-pharmacological strategies utilized to improve the aging process and reduce drawbacks of aging. The results indicate that seniors' overall satisfaction and subjective feelings of well-being are enormously high when attending foreign language classes at older age. FLL, therefore, creates an environment that can enhance QoL of older adults that can be supplemented by other means such as well-balanced diet, other social activities, sport and physical activity, music, or computer games. All these intervention methods can significantly improve QoL of older adults and the parties engaged and/or responsible for taking care of older generation should take it into serious consideration.

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What we have to explain in foreign language learning

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x00043570 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 718-718 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Robert Bley-Vroman

Keyword(s):

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Language Development ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Learning Theory ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Fundamental Difference ◽

Human Cognition ◽

Development Theory

AbstractWhile child language development theory must explain invariant “success,” foreign language learning theory must explain variation and lack of success. The fundamental difference hypothesis (FDH) outlines such a theory. Epstein et al. ignore the explanatory burden, mischaracterize the FDH, and underestimate the resources of human cognition. The field of second language acquisition is not divided into camps by views on “access” to UG.

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Christopher Brumfit Award 2014

Language Teaching ◽

10.1017/s0261444815000300 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 433-433

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Language Teaching ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Quality Of Presentation

The Editor and Board of Language Teaching are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2014 Christopher Brumfit thesis award is Dr Hilde van Zeeland. The thesis was selected by an external panel of judges based on its significance to the field of second language acquisition, second or foreign language learning and teaching, originality and creativity and quality of presentation.

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Forging new pathways for research on language learning motivation

Journal of Language and Cultural Education ◽

10.1515/jolace-2015-0001 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Françoise Raby

Keyword(s):

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Applied Linguistics ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Learning Motivation ◽

Learning Activities ◽

Cognitive Ergonomics ◽

Language Learning Motivation ◽

Methodological Difficulties

Abstract Research on motivation in the field of applied linguistics seeks to better understand how and why learners become involved in learning activities and maintain their efforts in this regard. Dörnyei provided a seminal model drawing essentially from cognitive and social psychology (Dörnyei, 2001). In the wake of his reflection, and after investigating motivation in a range of academic contexts, we are now able to present our own model, which is dynamic, weighted, and polytomic (Raby, 2007). After presenting cognitive ergonomics as a new pathway for research in second language acquisition, we shall present the results of our investigations in foreign language learning motivation in technologically enhanced contexts, outlining major methodological difficulties pertaining to this sort of this grounded research.

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Adult And Child Learning Second Language Differences

The American Journal of Applied Sciences ◽

10.37547/tajas/volume03issue01-08 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 03 (01) ◽

pp. 38-44

Author(s):

Dilrabo Babakulova ◽

◽

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Language Differences ◽

Short Period ◽

Child Learning

Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is one of the debatable topics regarding to speed and effectiveness in adults or children foreign language learning. There have been several researches to solve the issue; however, the results are different and contradicting. In this research two volunteers participated in three staged survey which showed children’s priority in acquiring foreign language in a short period of time.

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Applied cognitive linguistics and foreign language learning. Introduction to the special issue

IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching ◽

10.1515/iral-2018-2004 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 1-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alberto Hijazo-Gascón ◽

Reyes Llopis-García

Keyword(s):

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Cognitive Linguistics ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Target Language ◽

Human Cognition ◽

Cognitive Grammar ◽

Special Issue ◽

Second Languages

Abstract This introduction provides an overview of the intersection between Applied Cognitive Linguistics and Second/Foreign Language Learning. First, the relevance of Cognitive Linguistics (CL) for Applied Linguistics in general is discussed. The second section explains the main principles of CL and how each relates to the acquisition of second languages: (i) language and human cognition, (ii) language as symbolic, (iii) language as motivated; and (iv) language as usage-based. Section three offers a review of previous literature on CL and L2s that are different from English, as it is one the main aims of this Special Issue to provide state-of-the-art research and scholarship to enhance the bigger picture of the field of Second Language Acquisition beyond English as the target language. Spanish as L2/FL in Applied Cognitive Linguistics is the focus of the next section, which leads to a brief overview of the papers included in the Issue, featuring Spanish as the L2 with L1s such as English, French, German and Italian. Polysemy, Motion Events Typology, Cognitive Grammar and Construction Grammar are the Cognitive Linguistics areas addressed in the contributions here presented.

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Christopher Brumfit Ph.D./Ed.D. Thesis Award 2011

Language Teaching ◽

10.1017/s0261444812000328 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 45 (4) ◽

pp. 407-408

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Language Teaching ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Quality Of Presentation

The Editor and Board of Language Teaching are pleased to announce that there were two tied winners of the 2011 Christopher Brumfit thesis award: Dr Cecilia Guanfang Zhao and Dr Catherine van Beuningen. Both theses were selected by an external panel of judges on the basis of their significance to the field of second language acquisition, second or foreign language learning and teaching, as well as their originality, creativity and quality of presentation.

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To postpone or not to postpone? Examining access policy on early foreign language learning from second language acquisition and language planning and policy perspectives

Applied Linguistics Review ◽

10.1515/applirev-2016-1044 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 419-439 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mochamad Subhan Zein

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Collaborative Work ◽

Language Planning ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Language Planning And Policy ◽

Policy Interpretation

AbstractThis paper examines the suggestion to postpone instruction on early foreign language learning, from both second language acquisition (SLA) and language planning and policy (LPP) perspectives. Contrary to the widely held belief that SLA research on age effects can inform policymakers as to when to start instruction, this paper demonstrates that such research may not offer much to language policymaking. The paper argues that the use of a more pragmatic approach in the transdisciplinarity of SLA and LPP emphasizing research into the benefits of instruction for children should be the underpinning SLA-based rationale for early foreign language learning policies. The paper contends that collaborative work between policymakers and researchers working in LPP and/or SLA domains in an SLA-LPP consortium could help address the problems occurring in the micro-context of policy interpretation and enactment with a primary focus on input enhancement rather than postponement.

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Book Review: Positive Psychology Perspectives on Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. Edited Collection by Danuta Gabryś-Barker and Dagmara Galajda.

Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning ◽

10.52598/jpll/1/1/8 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 142-147

Author(s):

Sonja Babic

Keyword(s):

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Positive Psychology ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Human Functioning ◽

Positive Character

Traditionally, within psychology, the focus has been on the negative aspects of human functioning and how to improve and treat problems. Positive Psychology (PP) emerged to balance the field by ensuring a consideration of both positive and negative dimensions; to examine what goes well in life as well as instances of disorder and dysfunction. As a result, PP concentrates on “positive emotion, positive character traits, and institutions that enable individuals to flourish” (MacIntyre, 2016, p. 3). PP has recently started gaining researchers’ attention in language learning and teaching (MacIntyre, Gregersen, & Mercer, 2016), although it is still in its infancy within Second Language Acquisition (SLA). This volume is one of the first few edited collections to address this nascent field. It comprises theoretical, practical and empirical studies of foreign language learning and teaching through the lens of PP. It encompasses four main sections, namely, introducing PP in SLA; focus on learners: positive interventions; focus on teachers: personal and professional wellbeing; and, focus on assessment: achievement and success.

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Foreign Language Students’ Perceptions of Their Identity

Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.31261/tapsla.2019.05.06 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 93-112

Author(s):

Liliana Piasecka

Keyword(s):

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Social Relations ◽

Social Practice ◽

Sense Of Self ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Foreign Language Learning ◽

Language Identity ◽

Foreign Language Study

Foreign language learning innvolves cognitive, affective and social functioning of the persons involved in this experience. As a social practice, it is also related to the learners’ perceptions of their identity, specifically to their language identity which refers to the relationship between one’s sense of self and the language used to communicate. This implies that using a system of communication, the speaker develops a new sense of self that remains in a dynamic relation with other senses of self, based on (an)other language(s) the person knows.Language learners’ identity is no longer defined as fixed and stable but as “complex, contradictory and multifaceted” (Norton 1997, p. 419). It is dynamic because learners enter into various discourses and negotiate their position within different communities of practice. Language both shapes and is shaped by identity of its users.This article discusses how students of English as a foreign language perceive the role of this language in their construction of selves/identity. First, postmodern conceptualisations of identity and identity categories are presented along with their relevance to the field of Second Language Acquisition. Second, selected empirical studies pertaining to adult immigrant contexts, foreign language contexts and study abroad contexts are briefly reported. Then the results of an empirical study on the students’ of English (n=83) perceptions of their identity in the context of foreign language study are introduced. The study revealed that most of the participants realise complex relations between language learning and their identity and are aware of the effects that studying English (as well as other foreign languages) has on them. English gave them new possibilities in life, allowed them to communicate with people worldwide and make friends with them. They have new and interesting prospects for the future. It affected their personality by making them more open-minded and tolerant of otherness. The knowledge of English gives the students power, prestige, and opportunities to live and work in a changing world of complex social relations.

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