Some Psychological Aspects of Learning a Foreign Language as an Adult (Paperback)

Master's Thesis from the year 1978 in the subject Pedagogy - Common Didactics, Educational Objectives, Methods, grade: 2,0, University of Southern California (Erziehungswissenschaften), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: Chapter I presents the problem and its importance and defines the terms used. Chapter II is an overview of some psychological aspects of learning a foreign language as an adult dealt with in books, periodicals, and newspaper articles from seven countries. Subtitles include emotional problems when learning a foreign language, alleviating such problems, social attitudes, and language and personality. Chapter III informs about the structure of the Volkshochschule system in Germany, The questionnaire (in English and German) is introduced including reasons for the choice of questions. Chapter IV interprets and discusses the findings of the questionnaire. Chapter V is a summary of the entire study, conclusions, and recommendations for the Volkshochschule and foreign language teachers who work with adults. An appendix and a bibliography provide appropriate reference to the remainder of the study. The appendix contains the English and German versions of the questionnaire. The bibliography refers to books, periodicals, and newspaper articles read by the researcher in preparing this study. Inhaltsverzeichnis: Table of Contents: I.THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS1 The Problem1 Statement of the Problem1 Purpose of the Study2 Need for the Study2 Delimitations of the Study5 Theoretical Framework6 Statement of the Procedure6 Basic Assumptions6 Definition of Terms6 Organization of the Study8 II.REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE10 The Adult Learner11 Emotional Problems When Learning a Foreign Language12 Alleviating Such Problems15 Social Attitudes17 Language and Personality18 Summary21 III.DETAILS OF THE STUDY: DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE22 The Volkshochschule22 Presentation of the Questionnaire23 The Participants and their Reactions24 Reasons for