Foreign language education to seniors through intergenerational programmes

Abstract

The intergenerational learning within various types of social environment and in relation to different target groups has long covered a wide range of uses. The professional literature mostly describes its benefits for children and young people, however, the intergenerational education also contributes to the development of personality and the saturation of the educational and psycho-social needs of both adults and seniors. The paper represents the authors' output of the VEGA research project No. 1/0176/15 and it is structured into three chapters. In the first chapter, the author deals with the opportunities of the foreign language education for (not only) disabled seniors. The second chapter focuses on the intergenerational programmes that can be used in the language education of (not only) disabled seniors who are clients of social residential facilities. In the third chapter, the author elaborates the psychological aspects of the foreign language education of seniors.Key words: (not only) disabled seniors; foreign language education; psychological aspects of foreign language education of seniors; intergenerational learning and programmes; social residential facilities. IntroductionThe theory and practice of foreign language education of children, young people and adults in the active age have experienced many qualitative and quantitative changes that are reflected in the content as well as in methodology of foreign language education. New technologies have been implemented into foreign language education and new methods have been modified for the new conditions. Their aim is to make the process of foreign language learning/education easier and more effective. The new methods that have been the issue of testing for years have now been introduced into practice. As we have already mentioned, most trends deal with the theory and methodology of education of young learners and people in the active age while retired people and seniors seemed to be left behind. In our strategic and conceptual studies, we pay attention to the foreign language