Maintaining and Supporting Seniors’ Wellbeing through Foreign Language Learning: Psycholinguistics of Second Language Acquisition in Older Age

Abstract

This study concerns aspects of positive psychology connected to foreign language learning (FLL) in an older healthy generation. The positive psychology perspective stresses the positive aspects of improved wellbeing in participants who engage in various activities, particularly mental and brain-training practices. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore older people’s subjective feelings connected to their FLL as one of the crucial ways to improve their quality of life (QoL). The objective of the research was to determine the subjective satisfaction level of the participants of a second language (L2) acquisition course. The research sample (experimental group) consisted of 105 respondents who were Czech citizens and 55+ years old. Two control groups were set up. The first (young control) consisted of 102 young adults (university students), also Czech citizens, aged between 19 and 23 years. The second control group (elderly control) consisted of 102 subjects older than 55 years, similar in age to the experimental group. A standardized online questionnaire survey was the principal research method, identical both for the experimental and control groups. The findings clearly showed that language training significantly improved the subjective positive feelings and wellbeing of the older participants, regardless of their objective progress in FLL itself. These results stood in opposition to the young control group and were different from the elderly control group. The results revealed that FLL is an effective tool for enhancing the overall wellbeing of older people, which was shown in their expression of their feelings of happiness, satisfaction, and positive motivation to learn an L2. In addition, FLL objectively affected their mental health in a positive way and expanded their social networks. Moreover, FLL was a meaningful activity for them, despite the weak objective learning outcomes due to the decline of cognitive functions, helping them find their general purpose of life, as well as life motivation as expressed in the survey. These findings are crucial, as it has already been proven that wellbeing is directly connected with good health and longevity. Therefore, national governments and all stakeholders dealing with the present issue of the aging population should pay undivided attention to the enhancement of older people’s wellbeing by all possible intervention approaches, including FLL. There is limited research into the issue and the findings of this investigation could be an impetus for further research into the topic from the perspectives of cognitive science, psychology, and psycholinguistics.

Psychosocial Rehabilitation Through Intervention by Second Language Acquisition in Older Adults

“…The findings of this study reveal that the questionnaire statements on the basis of their meaning can be divided into four thematic groups: Intellect, Travelling and future, Positive emotions, and Purpose and motivation. The most consistent variable in both groups (Czech and Polish) were Positive emotions, which confirms our assumption that elderly people study a foreign language because it brings them happiness and personal satisfaction, which, consequently, positively affects their overall wellbeing (Pikhart & Klimova, 2020). In addition, the findings show that the Polish respondents assessed the positive effects of FLL in all four thematic categories significantly higher than the Czech respondents.…”

“…The research into various aspects of foreign language learning (FLL) is ample, however, there is a significant impact of FLL on maintaining or even enhancing cognitive parameters in older adults as well (Klimova, 2018 ; Klimova et al, 2016 ; Phenniger et al, 2018 ; Pikhart & Klimova, 2020 ; Valis et al, 2019 ). The natural aging process is connected to many psychological and mental aspects and one of them is the process of cognitive decline, well documented by numerous research (Murman, 2015 ; Salthouse, 2010 ).…”

“…Learning psychology maintains that schooling and education can lead to the systematic oppression of creativity and in some cases, even to depression (Zhang et al, 2020 ). However, recent research into FLL and psycholinguistics has shown (Pikhart & Klimova, 2020 ) that in older generation FLL can have a very different impact on the personality through improved subjective feelings of satisfaction. In younger adults, the research results indicate that despite their relatively good study results and learning outcomes in FLL or second language (L2) acquisition, they do not reach very high levels in their subjective satisfaction and feelings of wellbeing connected to their FLL.…”

Third-Age Learners and Approaches to Language Teaching

“…In addition, as many recent studies reveal, e.g., [8,[28][29][30][31][32][33], learning a foreign language seems to be an efficient tool for enhancing the overall well-being of older people, despite the fact that their learning outcomes are poor. The reason is that learning a foreign language brings them subjective feelings of happiness, satisfaction and positive motivation and thus positively affects their mental health and expands their social networks.…”

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

“…Furthermore, the research showed that it was partly through the stimulation of social well-being that the cognitive effects of FLL might be observed. In summary, FLL can be potentially used as a useful and efficient tool to maintain or improve subjective feelings of happiness and thus improve the quality of life in the participants of these courses (Pikhart and Klimova, 2020 ). From the perspective of psycholinguistics, FLL stimulates particular brain areas that are connected to cognitive function and this stimulation has proved beneficial.…”