{"id":78384,"date":"2025-09-25T00:17:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T04:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=78384"},"modified":"2025-09-25T00:17:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T04:17:19","slug":"your-age-shouldnt-put-you-off-learning-a-new-language-what-the-research-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/your-age-shouldnt-put-you-off-learning-a-new-language-what-the-research-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Your age shouldn\u2019t put you off learning a new language \u2013 what the research says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve always wanted to learn a new language, don\u2019t let age put you off. People aged over 60 can be independent and flexible in how they learn a language \u2013 and successful, too.<\/p>\n

There is ample evidence from decades of research that, as we age, some of our perceptual and cognitive abilities\u00a0gradually decline<\/a>. Our hearing and vision are not as sharp as they used to be, we process information less speedily, and our memory may not be as good as it was when we were younger. These are all known corollaries of healthy ageing which do not normally have a major adverse impact on daily life.<\/p>\n

What is noted less frequently is the possibility that these effects need not be\u00a0deficits<\/a>\u00a0in themselves, but may arise from a lifetime of accumulated knowledge and experience. The older we get, the more information we have to sort through, and this may slow us down. In this context, it is also important to highlight the fact that general and especially verbal knowledge can actually\u00a0grow<\/a>\u00a0with increasing age.<\/p>\n

In line with this, researchers have investigated language learning in late adulthood and shown that there is no age limit to our ability to learn a new\u00a0language<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 we can do it at any point in our lives. However, it is less clear which approach to language learning and teaching works best later in life.<\/p>\n

Research with\u00a0younger adults<\/a>\u00a0indicates that an explicit approach which includes explanations of the target language and spells out grammar rules, for instance, is most effective.<\/p>\n

At first glance, we may assume that this should apply to\u00a0older adults<\/a>\u00a0too, or indeed that it should be even more true for them, given that it reflects a traditional approach to language instruction. Older adults may well have experienced exactly such an approach during their schooling and may therefore favour it.<\/p>\n

To date, there is surprisingly little research that has put this assumption to the test. A recent study in the Netherlands found no\u00a0evidence<\/a>\u00a0that late-life language learners would do better with an explicit approach.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it did not matter whether instruction was explicit or implicit, that is, with or without any grammatical explanations. The senior volunteers did equally well, regardless of how they were taught.<\/p>\n

Comparing approaches<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In my\u00a0new study<\/a>\u00a0with colleague Renato Pavlekovic, we compared an explicit with an incidental approach to language learning. In a small set of online lessons, 80 English-speaking volunteers aged between 60 and 83 learned the beginnings of Croatian \u2013 a language they were completely unfamiliar with.<\/p>\n

In the explicit approach, a full explanation of the grammatical structure we targeted was given. In the incidental approach, there was no explanation, but additional practice exercises were available instead.<\/p>\n

We found that learners did equally well regardless of the instructional approach they experienced. They first learned a set of vocabulary items and subsequently the targeted grammatical structure to a high level of success, achieving average scores of around 80% accuracy. This suggests that the teaching approach did not matter to these late-life learners \u2013 they could find their own way independently of how the learning materials were presented.<\/p>\n

In this new study, we also explored the role of cognitive and perceptual factors as well as our volunteers\u2019 self-concepts: that is, how they felt about their own health, happiness and abilities. In addition, we asked questions about their (former) occupations and prior language learning experience. Interestingly, we found a connection between the ability to learn implicitly (that is, picking things up from context without being aware of it), occupational status (whether someone was retired or still working) and self-concepts.<\/p>\n

Specifically, people who reported a more positive self-concept showed better implicit learning abilities. Moreover, people who were still working at the time of the study showed better implicit learning abilities than individuals who were retired \u2013 something we had observed in a\u00a0previous study<\/a>\u00a0too. Importantly, this effect was independent of age.<\/p>\n

Superficially, a link between employment status, implicit learning ability and self-concept may not make much sense. There is arguably a common denominator, though: confidence could be at the centre of a self-reinforcing cycle. A person with strong implicit learning ability remains in the workforce for longer. This boosts their self-concept, which in turn makes them continue with their occupation for longer.<\/p>\n

While in work, they need to take the rough with the smooth; they cannot only engage in activities they enjoy. This means that they continue drawing on their implicit learning ability, and so forth.<\/p>\n

Taken together, the results of our study show that late-life language learners can be very successful. They seem to be sufficiently independent to choose the path that works best for them, so it does not matter so much which teaching approach is used. In addition, confidence is important; it appears to arise from a combination of ability and social status.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Karen Roehr-Brackin is a Reader, Department of Language and Linguistics at the University of Essex<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve always wanted to learn a new language, don\u2019t let age put you off. People aged over 60 can be independent and flexible in how they learn a language \u2013 and successful, too. There is ample evidence from decades of research that, as we age, some of our perceptual and cognitive abilities\u00a0gradually decline. Our […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5680],"tags":[12126],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-78384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-language","tag-languages"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYour age shouldn\u2019t put you off learning a new language \u2013 what the research says - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/your-age-shouldnt-put-you-off-learning-a-new-language-what-the-research-says\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your age shouldn\u2019t put you off learning a new language \u2013 what the research says - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve always wanted to learn a new language, don\u2019t let age put you off. People aged over 60 can be independent and flexible in how they learn a language \u2013 and successful, too. There is ample evidence from decades of research that, as we age, some of our perceptual and cognitive abilities\u00a0gradually decline. 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