How do adults learn?

Principles of andragogy

Adults need the following to learn a language sucsessfully:

awareness of own needs, be it professional or personal

learner autonomy, with the teacher acting more as a facilitator (e.g. organising relevant learning experiences, pointing them to relevant sources, helping them deal with challenges) than a fountain of knowledge

practical, hands-on activities related to prior experience and aligned with future interactions with environment

a relaxing, safe, judgement-free learning environment - e.g. self-assessment over teacher assessment

appreciation for abstract language aspects (e.g. grammar structures, translation into L1, grammar terminology, e.g. глаголска именка, еднина/множина)

greater attention spans and motivation to pay attention and engage (they are there off their own accord)

less exposure to L2 than, say, children or kids

AI can be used as a conversational partner, if they like

some adults can monopolise lesson time for (over-)sharing

some adults interfere with lesson planning (e.g. I won’t be taught your lesson plan if it’s not relevant to me; Teacher: I’m not supposed to be teaching this, e.g. the articles, today!)

some want to know everything about everything, rationing important so they don’t get overwhelmed

constantly ask questions, incl. checking up on the teacher (e.g. You mentioned this before, why are you saying this other thing now?)

setting up collaboration easier than with other age groups (they know what they are supposed to do and get on right away)

adults need to rationalise things - they need to discriminate between what they let in, they are less open to input, they need to question it

goal-oriented, e.g. concerns about certificates, not easily sidetracked

can be tired in class, e.g. Mum attending online class from the park, accompanied by her daughter

forthcoming with opinion

cultural prejudice (e.g. resistance to American influences), useful to link local culture to English language learning

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