Factors and Related Strategies
Factor 1: Adults often have specific
needs for learning the language (unlike eg many YLs who are studying it as
one of many compulsory academic subjects in their curriculum). They may eg be
studying to use it in their work – which may be business, law, medicine or any
other specialist field. Or they may use English for personal reasons – eg for
holiday travel or to speak to foreign friends and possibly relatives – I had a
121 general purpose learner whose daughter had married an American and was
living there. She needed English in order to be able to talk to her
grandchildren.
Strategy 1: These specific needs
should be identified through a needs analysis at the beginning of the
course and the course designed to take them into account. This may mean a 100%
purpose designed course (possible in 121 or homogenous group situations), the
selection of the most relevant coursebook available, and/or (in less homogenous
groups) the inclusion of activities which present or practise the language
being taught in contexts relevant to at least one of the learners (obviously a
different one each time).
Factor 2: Adults generally have previous experience of language learning, often from schooldays when other methods were used. They may never have experienced the methodology the T wishes to use (be that the Communicative Approach, Dogme or whatever) and be disoriented by what happens in the C/R.
Strategy 2: Negotiation of methodology: The T. needs to point out that knowledge of how language is learnt
has moved on in the same way as eg knowledge of how to cure medical complaints
has moved on. S/he also needs to make sure the Ls understand the rationale
behind the techniques adopted, find out which ones they have enjoyed, and, possibly, combine them with others that
do meet their expectations. Eg although the use of the L1, reading aloud,
drilling and many other techniques went “out of fashion” for a long period, the
literature now shows that there may in fact be advantages to all these
techniques. The T. can therefore exploit them for learning purposes,
incorporating them with other techniques that s/he favours.
Factor 3: Whilst study for YLs may be compulsory (eg in a state school setting), the language course is unlikely to be the number one priority in the lives of adult learners – they will have work commitments, family commitments etc which may take precedence. This may lead to their missing lessons and, potentially, coming to the next without knowing what the rest of the class has covered.
Strategy 3: A “flipped” design for the
course
can be useful when this is a recurrent problem. The presentation of new
language is provided for learners to work on at home, so that when they do
return to the course, they have missed the practice activities done in class
but do at least have a receptive knowledge of the language which has been
covered
Factor 4: Adult Ls are (with some exceptions) generally attending the course because they have chosen to and want to learn. This potentially leads to fewer discipline problems than with YLs. However, while “rules” can be set and enforced in YL classes, this is less possible with adults, and may affect issues such as punctuality, failure to turn off mobile phones, or failure to complete homework.
Strategy 4: The impact on the course
and the other learners of each of
these problems needs to be discussed with the learners if and as they
arise. Learners can then be encouraged to develop and agree on their own
“rules” with the T suggesting compromise solutions – eg phones turned off
unless the L is expecting a really
important call (eg if a family member is in hospital), in which case they take
the seat nearest the door and leave the room before answering.
Factor 5: Although there may be some exceptions – eg migrant learners with a low level of basic education - adult learners have usually already developed higher order thinking skills.
Strategy 5: Many modern methodological
techniques are based on the use of cognitive skills – eg Guided
Discovery activities, inference of the meaning of unknown words etc – and these
can exploit adults’ ability to use these HOTS.
Factor 6: Affective variables: Adult learners often have a background of previous success in their studies and career and are used to being “in charge” – whether at work, in family life, or simply in their own lives. The language classroom, where the T. is “in charge”, where they may find themselves constantly making mistakes etc can change their perception of their status, creating negative affect. Many Humanistic psychologists and educationalists (eg Maslow, Rogers, Stevick) have pointed out that negative affect can block learning while positive affect will enable it.
Strategy 6: Again, discussion with
the Ls is useful, whether to the extent of negotiating the
syllabus/methodology to give them the sensation of being more “in control”, (eg
how much correction to they want, and when – immediate or delayed?), or to
ensure they have realistic ideas about the speed and problems of language
acquisition. I like to emphasise the inevitability of mistakes by telling my
(Italian) learners funny stories about things I have said in Italian ( like the
time I was describing a storm to some friends that The sky was full of tuna fish and raspberries – intending thunder and lightning). When they see
that even the T. is not immune to the problems of language learning, and
understands their problems, they tend to accept them more readily and positive
affect is increased.
Factor 7: In many BE/ESP/EAP courses, adult learners may actually know far more about the subject than the T. This can be utilised by the T, to fill in their own gaps, but also to emphasise the equivalence of expertise between the T and L – again contributing to positive affect.
Strategy 7: Eg. I run a 121 course for a lawyer
specialising in international family law – something which at the beginning of
the course I knew nothing about. We therefore based the course on her cases –
which she would explain to me, giving me the chance to focus on emergent
language – and on documents like emails to British colleagues which she
received and had to reply to as part of the cases.
Factor 8: Older adult learners may have physical disabilities that need to be taken into consideration. While this could be true in any class, one class of ten retired learners who I taught included two with hearing impediments, one with a visual impediment, and several who, though not obviously physically impaired, said that they disliked standing up to change partners or take part in mingle activities
Strategy 8: These problems affect both materials design (eg larger font than
normal was used on handouts, and board writing was larger and printed for
clarity) the activities used (Mingle activities were excluded), and classroom
management : for partner changes I made sure it was those who said they “didn’t
mind” who stood up and moved, joining the others who stayed where they were
originally.
Further Reading
See here, here, and here for more ideas.
