Imagine trying to solve a puzzle that gets more challenging as you get older. That’s how learning a second language feels for older adults! Researchers wanted to understand why it’s harder for older adults to learn a new language and if certain factors can make it easier. They looked at two types of factors: external factors, like the way the language was taught, and internal factors, like how well the participants could control their thoughts and actions. The study included both younger and older adults who learned a new language called ‘Japañol.’ Some participants were given explicit explanations about the grammar, while others learned through comprehension exercises. The researchers also made the sentences more or less complicated by adding extra information. Interestingly, there were no differences in learning between younger and older adults. However, everyone did better when they received explicit explanations about the grammar rules. The study also found that people who were good at focusing their attention performed better when they learned through comprehension exercises. These findings show us that learning a new language is not just about age but also about how the information is presented and how well you can pay attention. If you’re curious about this fascinating research, check out the full article!

Second language learning has been shown more difficult for older than younger adults, however, the research trying to identify the sources of difficulty and possible modulating factors is scarce. Extrinsic (learning condition and complexity) and intrinsic factors (executive control) have been related to L2-grammar learning in younger adults. In the present study, we aim to assess whether extrinsic and intrinsic factors are also modulating grammar learning in older adults. We compared the learning performance of younger and older adults in a L2 learning task. 162 Spanish native-speakers (81 young) learnt Japañol (Japanese syntaxis and Spanish lexicon) in either an intentional (metalinguistic explanation) or an incidental (comprehension of sentences) context. The complexity of the sentences was also manipulated by introducing (or not) a subordinate clause. Individual differences in proactivity were measured with the AX-CPT task. After the learning phase, participants performed a Grammatical Judgment Task where they answered if the presented sentences were grammatically correct. No differences between older and younger adults were found. Overall, better results were found for the intentional-condition than for the incidental-condition. A significant interaction between learning context and the proactivity index in the AX-CPT task showed that more proactive participants were better when learning in the incidental-condition. These results suggest that both extrinsic and intrinsic factors are important during language learning and that they equally affect younger and older adults.

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