Cognitive and contextual factors modulating grammar learning at older ages

Abstract

Second language learning has been shown more difficult for older than younger adults, however, the research trying to identify the sources of difficulty and possible modulating factors is scarce. Extrinsic (learning condition and complexity) and intrinsic factors (executive control) have been related to L2-grammar learning in younger adults. In the present study, we aim to assess whether extrinsic and intrinsic factors are also modulating grammar learning in older adults. We compared the learning performance of younger and older adults in a L2 learning task. 162 Spanish native-speakers (81 young) learnt Japañol (Japanese syntaxis and Spanish lexicon) in either an intentional (metalinguistic explanation) or an incidental (comprehension of sentences) context. The complexity of the sentences was also manipulated by introducing (or not) a subordinate clause. Individual differences in proactivity were measured with the AX-CPT task. After the learning phase, participants performed a Grammatical Judgment Task where they answered if the presented sentences were grammatically correct. No differences between older and younger adults were found. Overall, better results were found for the intentional-condition than for the incidental-condition. A significant interaction between learning context and the proactivity index in the AX-CPT task showed that more proactive participants were better when learning in the incidental-condition. These results suggest that both extrinsic and intrinsic factors are important during language learning and that they equally affect younger and older adults.

Lost in Translation: Experiences of the Japanese Senior Citizens in Learning the English Language

“…It also improves emotional well-being by increasing self-confidence and encouraging a positive attitude. Previous research similarly found out that learning English among the third-age learners brought socio-cognitive benefits to their lives (Pfenninger & Polz, 2018), promoted mental health (Brouwer et al, 2020;Nijmeijer et al, 2021;Grossmann et al, 2021), developed linguistic skills (Słowik-Krogulec, 2020), self-actualization (Lee, 2020;Klimova, 2020), general well-being and quality of life (Kramkowska et al, 2019;Pikhart & Klimova, 2020), and positive effects on the brain (Gabryś-Barker, 2020; Nilsson et al, 2021;Rivera et al, 2022).…”