Miriam Neigert - New Perspectives on Older Language Learners

Miriam Neigert

New Perspectives on Older Language Learners

A Mixed Methods Study on the Temporal Self of Young-Old EFL-Learners in Germany

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag Tübingen

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ISBN 978-3-8233-8311-6 (Print)

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I certify that the research described in this dissertation has not already been submitted for any other degree. I certify that to the best of my knowledge all sources used and any help received in the preparation of this dissertation have been acknowledged. For this research project, ethics approval has been obtained by the Hessischer Volkshochschulverband (hvv), Frankfurt a.M., Germany, and Justus-Liebig University, Gießen, Germany. It has been approved by the Faculty of Arts Human Research Ethics Committee, at Macquarie University, Sydney.

Ich erkläre: Ich habe die vorgelegte Dissertation selbständig und nur mit den Hilfen angefertigt, die ich in der Dissertation angegeben habe. Alle Textstellen, die wörtlich oder sinngemäß aus veröffentlichten oder nicht veröffentlichten Schriften entnommen sind, und alle Angaben, die auf mündlichen Auskünften beruhen, sind als solche kenntlich gemacht.

Sydney, 3 rdJune 2017

Miriam Neigert

Despite major demographic changes in recent years and in the future, a uniform view of adult language learners has prevailed in foreign language research for a long time. Young-old learners – the participants of my study – are an age group, which spans from approximately 60 to 80 years of age and is in a transitional phase from work-life to retirement (and beyond that time) and still shows a high interest in life-long learning. My thesis investigates how young-old learners perceive themselves as foreign language learners, by taking a closer look at their L2 self-concept and its temporal facets, i.e. their past, actual, future/ideal L2 selves. To do so, my research brings together concepts from gerontology, psychology, adult education, and foreign/second language research.

I have utilized a mixed method approach for my research to gain a better understanding of the complexities of language learner self. Thus, my study combines and analyses a quantitative data strand (a survey study with 195 respondents learning English at German adult education centres; German: Volkshochschule ) and a qualitative data strand (21 in-depth interviews with young-old English learners at a local adult education centre). The findings of the study indicate that young-old language learners’ priorities with regard to foreign language learning undergo a shift with old age and retirement. It is a shift towards an increased value of the social sphere in a language class, as well as the intention of defying the effects of ageing by learning a foreign language (and with it practicing the long-advocated ‘lifelong learning’). Moreover, the study illustrates the importance of critical incidents abroad in the past as well as a connection to an L2-community when it comes to shaping young-old language learners’ degree of resilience and quality of an L2-vision (Dörnyei 2014). With this, my thesis offers a new, more differentiated perspective on older language learners. Its distinct contribution lies in uncovering the importance of researching the temporal facets of their language learner self.

This thesis is a product of several years of study and research. In those years, many people have supported and inspired me. In a way, they also made this thesis what it is. At this point, I would like to express my gratitude to them:

First and foremost, without the excellent academic support of my supervisors Prof. Dr. Michael Legutke and Prof. Dr. Martina Möllering this thesis would not have come to fruition. Despite having written hundreds of pages for this thesis already, it is hard for me to find the right words to can express my gratitude to them. I consider myself very lucky that I have been under their guidance while undertaking this PhD-project. With their openness to my research project, endless patience, and incredibly valuable feedback, they pushed me to new levels and, in this way, helped me grow as a person and researcher. I wish to thank Martina and Mitch for giving me the chance to experience both German and Australian academic worlds through their joint supervision – I am especially grateful for the funding and research support through the International Macquarie Research Excellence Scholarship (IMQRES) scheme. Moreover, I also would like to express my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kurtz, who was willing to act as my associate examiner at Justus-Liebig University, and who has been very supportive especially in the early stages of my candidature in Gießen.

I thank the study participants and my former course participants for their time, their trust, and cooperation. All of them contributed significantly to this research project by sharing their experiences with me. I have learnt so much from them during my time as a teacher and later as a researcher. I also greatly appreciate the support I received from other teachers at participating vhs centres in the state of Hesse and the coordinating heads of departments at local vhs centres and the central Hessian adult education association hvv. In particular, I would like to thank Werner Leipold and Barbara von der Meden for their support.

Many thanks also go out to the fellow researchers and professors in the GCSC Research Colloquium at Justus-Liebig University, because I learned so much through the insightful discussions in our meetings and from their input. I also benefited greatly from my HDR writing group which was initiated by Dr. Michelle Jamieson at Macquarie University. I would like to thank my fellow-writers in this group – Yujie Zhang, Lina Qian, Suzanne Eiszele-Evans, Marisa Della Gatta, and Anthony Andrist – for their valuable feedback on my writing, as well as for giving me an opportunity to learn from their writing processes, as well. Moreover, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Naren Chitty for giving me the opportunity to present my research progress at the International Graduate Conference at Tsinghua University, Beijing, in 2015 and at Macquarie University, in 2016, as it helped me to further refine my research design.

Furthermore, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to some of my closest friends who I have known for so long and who greatly supported me all the way through highs and lows: Hanna Reinshagen, Annika Schäfer, Leila Schmidt, Sabrine Tryba, and Rose Fitz-Patrick. I wish to thank them for keeping me grounded, making me laugh, sharing a cup of coffee or glass of wine when needed, and always giving me a new perspective when things seemed difficult! Furthermore, I was lucky to have fellow researchers, colleagues, friends, and family in Germany and Australia, who inspired and encouraged me in so many ways throughout my PhD-candidature: Susanne Bauer, Reinhard Bentrup, Dr. Susanne Binder, Franziska Burghardt, Dr. Bruce Doar, Constanze Dreßler, Dr. Ulrike Garde, Dr. Ursula Ibaraki, Esther Li, Nicole Mutlow, Susana Catalina Prat, Birgit Sauer, Eva Schmidt, Inke Schmidt, Tamara Seher, Dr. Ian Stephen, Dr. Brangwen Stone, Sebastian Stuhlmann, Juliane Witzenberger, and Dr. Marja Zibelius. Thank you!