The social construction of age : adult foreign language learners
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The social construction of age : adult foreign language learners
(Second language acquisition / series editor, David Singleton)
Multilingual Matters, c2012
- : hbk
- : pbk
Available at 16 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Size of hbk.: 25 cm
Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-173) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
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.
Table of Contents
Introduction: A First Glimpse of Age
Part 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 Lens
Part 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 Adulthood
Final Reflections
by "Nielsen BookData"