Bettina Boss (Sydney) p.23-36
2020 Issue 2
Abstract
This article reviews the scholarly literature about older adults learning foreign languages, and then reports on a small-scale study of Australian seniors (average age 74) learning German at Sydney U3A (University of the Third Age). A thematic analysis of data derived from a questionnaire and individual interviews shows that the reasons given by the participants for wanting to learn German fall into four broad categories: an interest in the German language, or in languages generally; the wish for mental stimulation or an intellectual challenge; a personal connection, past or present, to a native speaker or speakers, and finally, the intention to travel to a German-speaking country, either as a ‘maybe’ or definitely. These findings are interpreted as evidence of the participants’ integrative orientation towards language learning in terms of Gardner’s 2010 SocioEducational Model. A comparison with the only other empirical study of older adults learning German as a foreign language (GFL), Berndt (2003), shows that both groups were motivated by similar factors despite differences in their attitude to the L2 community. The article concludes with some recommendations for teachers of foreign languages to older adults.