Abstract
If adults who enroll in foreign language classes are not likely to pursue language learning opportunities beyond the requirements of their program of study, and are thus unlikely to achieve communicative proficiency in a second language, what is the value of such language study? This is the central concern of this book detailing a semester-long case study of a beginning-level college Spanish class. The author, Stacey Margarita Johnson, Assistant Director for Educational Technology in the Center for Teaching and Senior Lecturer in Spanish at Vanderbilt University, turns to adult learning theories for deeper insights. Johnson proposes that an interdisciplinary approach to researching language classrooms from an adult learning perspective will enable us to better “understand the teaching methods that promote the deeper, more critical sort of language learning advocated by scholars and professional organizations, understand how adult students learn and transform through language study, and reinforce the immense value of beginning language courses” (p. 6).
Drawing on a range of prominent theories of adult learning encompassing experiential learning theory (Dewey, 1938), the self-directed learning theory of andragogy (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2005), and transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1997), Johnson makes the case that adult learning theory offers second language researchers a promising approach to promoting deeper and more critical learning in adult language classes. This is because adult learning theory starts with the learners, emphasizing the transformative nature of learning for adults with an established history of experiences, motivations, and identities, thus moving beyond a focus on developing linguistic competence and the processes of second language acquisition.
Through detailed description and analysis of classroom observations, student learning journals, and individual interviews with eight focal students, Johnson identifies evidence of perspective shifts that have taken place among students and instances in which students have become increasingly self-directed in their learning, even when linguistic development is not the primary focus of her analysis. Drawing the reader in to the research project itself, the author divides the chapters into theoretical frameworks, data collection, analysis, and implications, devoting entire chapters to describing the classroom, examining what students learned, how they learned, and how they were transformed through language study.
Chapter 1 situates this study of adult learning within the specific context of the study of Languages Other than English (LOTE) as requirements for college students. Importantly, this subset of adult learners is markedly distinct from other populations of adult language learners, for instance, the millions of adult immigrants who seek to learn English in the United States, a point that could have been made more obvious with a title change to “Adult Learning in the Foreign Language Classroom.” Chapters 2 and 3 detail adult learning theory and explicate its value for examining adult LOTE education. Chapter 4 introduces the classroom at the core of this case study, including descriptions of the instructor, the eight focal students, and acknowledgments of the researcher’s position within the class. Chapter 5 highlights six key pedagogical patterns that occurred during classroom observations, including the use of direct grammar instruction, first language (L1) use, small-group second language (L2) production, cultural sidebars, student learning journals, and tenets of critical pedagogy. In Chapter 6, the author uses Knowles’s model of andragogy to identify what students are learning in this class, finding that students are guided by a “life-centered orientation to learning,” in which they only considered content that was able to be reproduced in real-life interactions as learning. However, students were unaware of other learning that they were experiencing, including learning about cultural differences, making connections, and critically examining their own language use. Chapter 7 draws on findings from Chapter 6 to analyze student learning through the lens of Transformative Learning Theory and finds clear evidence that students were undergoing perspective transformations as a result of their language study in three key areas: “exploring new sources of knowledge, becoming more self-directed, and critically assessing their own language and culture” (p. 112). Chapter 8 concludes with recommendations for how language teachers can promote such transformation and development in their own language classrooms.
I found this book to be a well-organized and accessible contribution to the fields of both adult education and second language education. The effort to bring together these fields to better understand and promote adult second language learning is admirable and deserving of continued elaboration and expansion. Johnson’s approach to analyzing language study in a university setting from an adult learning perspective is particularly intriguing and relevant for those who are interested in researching adult learning and teaching as well as practitioners.