Exploring subjective well-being of older adult foreign language learners: Results of a pilot study

Societies are ageing and there is a growing desire in people aged 60 and more to continue their education in late adulthood. Yet, there is still a scarcity of research related to Foreign Language Geragogy and to the relationship between well-being and foreign language (FL) learning in later years. The results of recent studies show that learning another language can be not only related to maintaining, slowing down, or, to some extent, even improving the decline of cognitive functions in older age, but it might also have a positive impact on the quality of life of healthy, normally ageing older adults (Klímová et al. 2021; Pikhart/Klímová 2020). The main aim of this research, conducted at the University of the Third Age in Wrocław, was thus to evaluate the level of subjective wellbeing in a group of 31 Polish beginner and pre-intermediate level learners of English and to suggest classroom implications that might enhance positive functioning. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach: the quantitative data was presented using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was analysed using nVivo software. A thematic analysis of the data set was done to identify patterns of meaning. The results indicate that FL courses can affect older adults’ quality of life and should, therefore, focus not only on the development of linguistic abilities, but that they also need to offer opportunities for socializing, and fostering emotional and social well-being. The teachers’ role is thus to improve third age learners’ FL skills alongside autonomy and agency, as well as to strengthen a sense of community and connectedness, and to promote positive ageing.