A distinctive theory of teaching and learning for older learners: why and why not?

Tam, Maureen

doi:10.1080/02601370.2014.972998

Cited by 24 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…It seems to be taken for granted that particular needs apply to foreign language learning later in life [9][10][11]. Tam [12] maintains that older adults have, in comparison with their younger counterparts, unique needs, motivations, and interests. Consequently, it is advisable for teachers to adapt their teaching style as well as adjust the environment and course materials to the particular needs of seniors as well as age-related barriers like longer reaction times, age-related health problems, cognitive and motivational hindrances [3,13].…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Third-Age Learners and Approaches to Language Teaching

Kacetl

Klímová

2021

Education Sciences

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Foreign language learning in the third age is one of the popular activities among the elderly. The question remains as to how to teach a foreign language to older adults properly. The first objective of this review was to identify suitable pedagogical approaches, teaching methods, or strategies for teaching foreign languages to third-age learners. The second objective was to determine whether foreign language learning later in life is beneficial. The authors used a method of literature review to achieve these goals. The former objective was not fully achieved as there is no clear outcome, although some generalizations based on other review studies can be made. Namely, foreign language teaching among the older generation should be student-centred and a communicative method should be implemented with a special focus on talking about familiar topics and listening comprehension to facilitate a senior’s foreign language learning. In addition, the teaching methods ought to incorporate real life experiences and provide relevant content. Respect should also be paid to the fact that older adults have intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation to learn a foreign language. The latter objective was attained since older people can benefit from learning a foreign language at a later age in many ways, including areas like travelling, social inclusiveness, improvement of cognitive skills, and overall well-being.

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tam [12] attempts to determine whether a distinctive theory of teaching and learning for older learners is necessary. As she admits, older learners have unique needs, related to their physical, cognitive, sociocultural and motivational dispositions.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Third-Age Learners and Approaches to Language Teaching

Kacetl

Klímová

2021

Education Sciences

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“…Thus, we consider "facilitation" to be an essential component in each of the described aspects when helping older people to increase digital adoption [20]. We can hypothesise that encouraging elderly individuals to play digital games on touchscreen technologies combined with offering support through a facilitator can be an appropriate approach for them when adopting digital media [25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A telephone survey with 1000 people aged 65 and older in Switzerland revealed that individuals with "a high affinity of technology will presumably use the Internet to cope with everyday life" more than others [4]. Due to the fact that a considerable part of the older population is still not familiar with digital technologies, it becomes necessary to look for relevant aspects to help and encourage this particular user group to adopt digital practices and competencies [25].…”

Section: Digital Adoption By Elderly Peoplementioning

confidence: 99%

Game-playing as an effective learning resource for elderly people: encouraging experiential adoption of touchscreen technologies

Oppl

Stary

2018

Univ Access Inf Soc

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Elderly people often struggle to keep up with digital advancements, particularly given the fast pace of such developments and the increasing need to interact with novel devices in everyday life. To include elderly people in ongoing socio-technological developments, we aim to overcome the barriers to learning and adoption such older adults may face. In this contribution, we set the methodological stage for an interactive game-playing approach using touchscreen tablets. By using games in learning settings, we encourage elderly people in digital adoption and skill development. In a first study, a video analysis of game-playing sessions and active learning support were performed. Although approaches that combine game-playing with learning could encourage elderly people to become an integral part of a technologically advancing society, the facilitation of interaction processes in individual and collective gaming seems to be crucial. We report on the performed field study and provide methodological suggestions for investigating digital media adoption.

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“…Finally, there is the institutional barrier, which is linked to various actions carried out in this case by, for instance, colleges, universities, and language schools, which, although often unconsciously, exclude older adults from taking part in the process of learning. These, according to M. Tam (2014) include the issues with "insuf cient choice of courses, poor scheduling of classes, admission and other administration problems" (p. 3; see also Cross, 1981).…”

Section: Foreign Language Classroom Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing efficient foreign language classroom environment for older adult learners

Słowik-Krogulec

2019

JECS

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Aim: The aim of the research is to present which elements related to teaching English to older adult learners have the greatest influence on creating a propitious and friendly learning environment. In order to achieve this firstly, I wish to present older adults’ observations regarding problems encountered in the classroom environment related to the lack of teaching materials, mixed age and ability groups or being discriminated against by fellow students and teachers. Secondly, I would like to propose some solutions to improve the efficiency of both students and teachers in the classroom environment. Methods: The subjects of the study were 40 older adult learners of English who attended the classes at the University of the Third Age in Wrocław. In the study the participants were asked to choose the answers which, according to them, have the greatest influence on their learning the foreign language in later life. The participants also wrote additional comments that explained their choices. The analysis was qualitative in nature. Results: The analysis shows that teachers (n=35) and teaching materials (n=31) are considered to be the two most important factors in learning a language in later life. The third most vital factor in creating a good classroom environment is related to other students (n=17). The subjects’ comments, however, point to numerous problems encountered in the aforementioned areas that affect the process of foreign language learning in later life. Conclusions: Older adult learners’ needs, abilities and learning preferences should be taken into account while designing language courses as, according to the subjects of the study, at present it is not the case. Moreover, there should be more awareness on behalf of the teachers as to the age-related changes that make certain tasks difficult and the learning environment unnecessarily hostile.

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A distinctive theory of teaching and learning for older learners: why and why not?

Cited by 24 publications

References 26 publications

Third-Age Learners and Approaches to Language Teaching

Third-Age Learners and Approaches to Language Teaching

Game-playing as an effective learning resource for elderly people: encouraging experiential adoption of touchscreen technologies

Developing efficient foreign language classroom environment for older adult learners

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