Older adults’ reported use of metalinguistic awareness in beginner-level L2 learning: comparing a monolingual and a multilingual instructional approach

• Donnerer, Helga ^[1] ; Roehr-Brackin, Karen ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Essex

     University of Essex

     Colchester District, Reino Unido

     
• Localización: Language awareness, ISSN 0965-8416, Vol. 34, Nº. 4, 2025 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Metalinguistic awareness across the lifespan), págs. 909-927
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1080/09658416.2025.2586590
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen
  • English

    Research comparing different teaching approaches with older adult participants is still in short supply. Moreover, there is no existing work on how older adults utilise their metalinguistic awareness in the context of different instructional conditions. We compared a monolingual and a multilingual approach to the teaching and learning of beginner-level Italian in speakers of German and English (N = 50) who participated in a tailor-made 10-week online course. Participants were pre- and post-tested for Italian knowledge and metalinguistic awareness, and demographic background information was gathered. Here we present results from a sub-sample of ten participants (ages 62–69) who provided think-aloud and stimulated recall protocols while resolving a set of second language (L2) tasks comprising grammar, reading comprehension, and translation exercises, and who reported their thoughts about their language learning experience during semi-structured interviews. Through triangulation of complementary evidence from participants’ actual performance and their reflections on that performance, our findings demonstrate that learners activated their meta- and crosslinguistic knowledge effectively by drawing on their multilingual reservoirs regardless of teaching approach. Metalinguistic awareness appears to partially determine strategy use and thereby facilitate subsequent learning of the L2.

  • Deutsch

    Bisher gibt es kaum Studien, die den Fremdsprachenerwerb von älteren Erwachsenen im Kontext von unterschiedlichen Unterrichtsmethoden vergleichen. Zudem hat sich noch keine Studie der Frage gewidmet, wie ältere Erwachsene ihr Sprachbewusstsein in unterschiedlich gestalteten Fremdsprachenunterrichtseinheiten einsetzen. In unserer Studie vergleichen wir einen einsprachigen mit einem mehrsprachigen Ansatz in einem zehnwöchigen Online-Italienischkurs für Anfänger mit 50 deutsch- und englischsprachigen Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmern. Italienischkenntnisse und Sprachbewusstsein wurden vor und nach dem Kurs getestet und demographische Daten wurden erhoben. In diesem Artikel präsentieren wir die Ergebnisse von zehn Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmern im Alter von 62 bis 69 Jahren, die ihre Lösungen zu Grammatikaufgaben in der Zielsprache, Leseverstehen und Übersetzungsaufgaben erklären und von ihren Erfahrungen während des Italienischkurses berichten. Wir analysieren die Erfahrungen und Gedankengänge der älteren Erwachsenen in Kombination mit ihren jeweiligen Testergebnissen. Unsere Studie zeigt, dass die Lernenden unabhängig vom Unterrichtsansatz ihr Sprachbewusstsein gezielt aktivieren, sprachliche Vergleiche durchführen und auf ihr mehrsprachiges Wissen zurückgreifen. Sprachbewusstsein führt zu strategisch effektivem Verhalten und kann dadurch das Erlernen einer weiteren Sprache fördern.

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