Older adults’ perceptions about methodologies used to learn English as a foreign language

Older adults' increased longevity and improved health are becoming a great achievement in this century. In lifelong learning, active learners in the community benefit from a variety of courses offered by different institutions, with foreign language learning showing particular positive effects...

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Main Authors: Cecilia Cisterna Zenteno, Marcela Cabrera Abarza, Ignacio Roa Herrera
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad ORT Uruguay 2025-06-01
Series:Cuadernos de Investigación Educativa
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.ort.edu.uy/cuadernos-de-investigacion-educativa/article/view/4022
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author Cecilia Cisterna Zenteno
Marcela Cabrera Abarza
Ignacio Roa Herrera
author_facet Cecilia Cisterna Zenteno
Marcela Cabrera Abarza
Ignacio Roa Herrera
author_sort Cecilia Cisterna Zenteno
collection DOAJ
description Older adults' increased longevity and improved health are becoming a great achievement in this century. In lifelong learning, active learners in the community benefit from a variety of courses offered by different institutions, with foreign language learning showing particular positive effects on emotional and mental health. Teaching a foreign language to older adults requires teachers to use specific approaches and effective strategies. The main aim of the following study was to analyze older adults' perceptions of the teaching methodologies for learning English in terms of activity types, resources, approaches, and motivations to learn the language. A convenience sample of 24 participants who attended English classes at a Chilean university was selected. This descriptive-quantitative study collected data using a Likert scale survey, highlighting key trends and patterns derived from participants' experiences in a shared educational setting. Data analysis included measures of central tendency and word cloud analysis. The results showed that older adult learners appreciate socially interactive English lessons that involve sharing experiences; they enjoy using audiovisual resources but find listening and reading skills challenging due to limited vocabulary and age-related hearing impairments.
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institution Kabale University
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language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Universidad ORT Uruguay
record_format Article
series Cuadernos de Investigación Educativa
spelling doaj-art-9eea02a8a37d4fc0bd3dca7c87240d7e2025-08-20T03:32:36ZengUniversidad ORT UruguayCuadernos de Investigación Educativa1510-24321688-93042025-06-01162Older adults’ perceptions about methodologies used to learn English as a foreign languageCecilia Cisterna Zenteno0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9707-154XMarcela Cabrera Abarza1https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0511-2908Ignacio Roa Herrera2https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1873-0640Universidad de ConcepciónUniversidad de ConcepciónUniversidad de Concepción Older adults' increased longevity and improved health are becoming a great achievement in this century. In lifelong learning, active learners in the community benefit from a variety of courses offered by different institutions, with foreign language learning showing particular positive effects on emotional and mental health. Teaching a foreign language to older adults requires teachers to use specific approaches and effective strategies. The main aim of the following study was to analyze older adults' perceptions of the teaching methodologies for learning English in terms of activity types, resources, approaches, and motivations to learn the language. A convenience sample of 24 participants who attended English classes at a Chilean university was selected. This descriptive-quantitative study collected data using a Likert scale survey, highlighting key trends and patterns derived from participants' experiences in a shared educational setting. Data analysis included measures of central tendency and word cloud analysis. The results showed that older adult learners appreciate socially interactive English lessons that involve sharing experiences; they enjoy using audiovisual resources but find listening and reading skills challenging due to limited vocabulary and age-related hearing impairments. https://revistas.ort.edu.uy/cuadernos-de-investigacion-educativa/article/view/4022older adultsEnglish language learningforeign languageteaching methodologieslanguage skills
spellingShingle Cecilia Cisterna Zenteno
Marcela Cabrera Abarza
Ignacio Roa Herrera
Older adults’ perceptions about methodologies used to learn English as a foreign language
Cuadernos de Investigación Educativa
older adults
English language learning
foreign language
teaching methodologies
language skills
title Older adults’ perceptions about methodologies used to learn English as a foreign language
title_full Older adults’ perceptions about methodologies used to learn English as a foreign language
title_fullStr Older adults’ perceptions about methodologies used to learn English as a foreign language
title_full_unstemmed Older adults’ perceptions about methodologies used to learn English as a foreign language
title_short Older adults’ perceptions about methodologies used to learn English as a foreign language
title_sort older adults perceptions about methodologies used to learn english as a foreign language
topic older adults
English language learning
foreign language
teaching methodologies
language skills
url https://revistas.ort.edu.uy/cuadernos-de-investigacion-educativa/article/view/4022
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AT ignacioroaherrera olderadultsperceptionsaboutmethodologiesusedtolearnenglishasaforeignlanguage