THE INFLUENCE OF EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION AND IMPLICIT APPROACHES TO INSTRUCTION ON OLDER ADULT AND YOUNG ADULT LEARNERS

Abstract

The discussion of advantages of explicit approaches to instruction is ongoing in the field of language teaching and learning, due to the fact that modern education is shifting towards teachers being facilitators of the process of deriving knowledge rather than the sole source of knowledge. Thus, the effect of implicit instruction on students` learning is currently a prominent topic of discussion among researchers. Moreover, its role in adult education is of great interest in research, as adult education is a sphere that has not been tackled enough. Furthermore, with the current asylum seekers situation, world population migration, and the presented need for immigrants’ social assimilation, this sector of education is becoming more relevant as the need for proper qualifications in the job market among new comers arises (Madrigal-Hopes, Villavicencio, Foote, & Green, 2014; Dryden-Peterson, 2016). Moreover, the most pervasive issue that the hosting countries encounter is the language barrier of newly arrived dwellers (Dryden-Peterson, 2016). For this reason, the paper focuses mostly on explicit and implicit approaches predominantly used in language acquisition. As people entering host countries vary in age and, therefore, possibly in their rate of language acquisition, the research also compares two groups of younger and older adult learners and the influence of learning approaches presented to them. Thus, this paper can potentially assist in finding better approaches that would meet the requirements for improved language acquisition among younger and older adult learners. Concomitantly, the findings could intermediately contribute to learners’ quicker and more successful social assimilation...