The view that old age is inevitably characterized by cognitive decline has been criticized both for its potential negative effects on public opinion and its uncertain empirical basis [3]. Recently, this negative view has been challenged by studies that have examined the general-cognitive and the specifically linguistic abilities of seniors [4].
Despite the growing number of seniors who enjoy their third age in relatively good physical and mental health [1], very little is known about the potentials and limitations of foreign language learning in seniors. To the best of our knowledge, no research exists on the speech learning ability of seniors, even though the ability to modify existing (over-)learned sound categories or even establish new sound categories is of great practical and theoretical interest. The practical interest in speech sound learning at any age relates, among many other things, to the ability to communicate effectively in a nonnative language. The theoretical interest is motivated by competing views on the role of biological age in nonnative speech learning. Current models of speech learning maintain that the same mechanisms which enable speech sound learning early in life are intact and accessible across the whole life span [2], but evidence supporting this claim comes almost exclusively from studies of young adult learners.
We present a research project which focuses on the speech learning abilities of seniors (age 60 plus) to address the glaring lacuna in research on perceptual flexibility in old age. Our project consists of a series of studies which examine the effect of perceptual training on the perception and production of foreign language speech sounds. Specifically, we examine Danish seniors' ability to perceive and to produce nonnative contrasts that are difficult for native Danish speakers: The English /s/-/z/ contrast, the English vowel contrast as in hot-hut, the English labiodental-dental contrast as in fin-thin, and the four lexical tones of Mandarin Chinese. Both before and after perceptual training, the performance of the trained groups will be compared to the performance of control groups which don't receive training, and the seniors will be compared to young adult (experimental and control) groups. Our experiments will examine whether perceptual training transfers to speech production (without training), and they will examine the robustness of training through delayed post-tests. Results from our studies will provide the first detailed information on perceptual flexibility in old age.
References:
[1] Christensen, K. et al. (2013). Physical and cognitive functioning of people older than 90 years: a comparison of two Danish cohorts born 10 years apart. The Lancet, 382 (9903), 1507-1513.
[2] Flege, J. E., & Bohn, O.-S. (2021). The revised speech learning model (SLM-r). Second language speech learning: Theoretical and empirical progress, 3-83.
[3] Lloyd-Shelock, P., et al. (2012). Population ageing and health. The Lancet, 379 (9823), 1295-1296.
[4] Ramscar, M. ewt al. (2014). The myth of cognitive decline: Non‐linear dynamics of lifelong learning. Topics in Cognitive Science, 6(1), 5-42.
