The Social Construction of Age: Adult Foreign Language Learners (63) (Second Language Acquisition (63))

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 acquisition 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. 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 acquisition 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. This book is divided into two parts: Part 1: Framing Age as Socially Constructed; and Part 2: The Social Construction of Age in Mexico 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 Content: Introduction: A First Glimpse of AgePart I Framing Age as Socially Constructed Chapter 1 The Age Factor and Second Language Acquisition Chapter 2 Present-Day Approaches to the Study of Age Chapter 3 Viewing Age through a Social Constructionist LensPart II The Social Construction of Age in Mexico Chapter 4 Constructing Age in Later Adulthood Chapter 5 Constructing Age in 'Middle' Adulthood Chapter 6 Constructing Age in Young AdulthoodFinal Reflections

This book broaches the question of the social impact of age on language learners from a social constructionist perspective, thus filling a gap currently existing in the literature on age and second language acquisition.

This work broaches the question of the social impact of age on language learners from a social constructionist perspective, thus filling a gap currently existing in the literature on age and second language acquisition