The social construction of age : adult foreign language learners / Patricia Andrew.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Andrew, Patricia.

Series:

Second language acquisition (Clevedon, England) ; 63.

Second language acquisition ; [63]

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Second language acquisition.

Language and languages--Age differences.

Language and languages.

Sociolinguistics.

Language and culture.

Physical Description:

xvi, 180 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Bristol ; Buffalo : Multilingual Matters, [2012]

Summary:

This book explores the social construction of age in the context of EFL in Mexico. It is the first book to address the age factor in SLA from a social perspective. Based on research carried out at a public university in Mexico, it investigates how adults of different ages experience learning a new language and how they enact their age identities as language learners. By approaching the topic from a social constructionist perspective and in light of recent work in sociolinguistics and cultural studies, it broadens the current second language acquisitions focus on age as a fixed biological or chronological variable to encompass its social dimensions. What emerges is a more complex and nuanced understanding of age as it intersects with language learning in a way that links it fundamentally to other social phenomena, such as gender, ethnicity and social class. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 Framing Age as Socially Constructed 1

1 The Age Factor and Second Language Acquisition 3

Introduction 3

The Critical Period Hypothesis for Second Language Acquisition: A Critique 3

Sociocultural Approaches to Second Language Acquisition 19

Conclusion 25

2 Present-Day Approaches to the Study of Age 27

Introduction 27

Social Constructionism 27

Recent Perspectives in Sociolinguistics on the Study of Social Dimensions 32

Conclusion 42

3 Viewing Age through a Social Constructionist Lens 44

Introduction 44

Contemporary Age Discourses and Their Manifestations 44

Language and the Discursive Construction of Age Identity 59

Narrating Age 62

Conclusion 65

Part 2 The Social Construction of Age in Mexico 67

4 Constructing Age in Later Adulthood 71

Introduction 71

Hector's Story: A Tale of Progress 71

Felix's Story: A Tale of Discontent 89

Conclusion 107

5 Constructing Age in Middle' Adulthood 110

Introduction 110

The Women Tell Their Stories 110

Conclusion 130

6 Constructing Age in Young Adulthood 134

Introduction 134

David's Story 134

Conclusion 149

Final Reflections 152

Introduction 152

Age and Second Language Acquisition: What We Have Learned 153

Implications of the Findings 156

Concluding Remarks 159.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781847696144

1847696147

9781847696137

1847696139

9781847696151

1847696155

OCLC:

756282570