Examining individual differences of L1 English senior learners of Spanish: A multiple-case study

Abstract

[eng] Research studies support the idea that language learning is an activity that enhances cog-nition, social relationships, and subjective positive feelings among older populations. However, little research has investigated how older people learn languages, especially if and how their psychological individual differences can shape their process of acquisition. Moreover, most studies conducted so far deal with L2 English senior learners, but very few explore the study of other languages. In this regard, the present study aims at explor-ing L2 Spanish senior learners’ psychological individual differences, namely beliefs, mo-tivation, and strategies used. The participants were 9 L1 English senior learners who were learning Spanish as a foreign language. A mixed-methods approach was followed, con-sisting of a background questionnaire, a questionnaire that encompassed 36 statements on beliefs, motivation, and strategies to be rated on a Likert Scale, and a fifteen-minute semi-structured interview. Results show a variety of positive emotions linked to foreign language learning, an increasing desire to travel, which constitutes the primary motivation to learn Spanish, and the high use of metacognitive, cognitive, compensation and social strategies as a means to build their own learning process and self-motivation.