Gli studenti adulti e senior e l'apprendimento delle lingue: studiare l'italiano in Italia

Only in recent years adult and senior learning has gained increasing attention, with greater interest from research. In this context, firstly, this study deals with the concepts of andragogy and geragogy and the comparison between Foreign Language Learning (LS) and Second Language Learning (L2), with particular focus on studying Italian in Italy. Secondly, it concentrates on the emotional sphere in the educational context and examines three important factors involved in the learning process: motivation, self-efficacy and affective filter. In the last two chapters the case study is presented. Its aim is to investigate the three factors mentioned above in adult and senior language learners who attend an Italian course in Italy. The research method adopted is a mixed-methods approach, as it integrates primary quantitative data from a questionnaire and primary qualitative data from classroom observations and interviews. The results shown and discussed in the last two chapters indicate that the initial research objective was achieved.