Barriers to Adult EFL Learning
Vladimir Yelakov
Kazakh American Free University
Teaching and learning English as a foreign language (EFL) occupies
an important place in the 21st century adult education. Because of
globalization processes, English has become the most spoken language in
the world and now it is the language of diplomacy, trade, technology, and
the internet. Given this fact, the majority of adults all over the world realize
the importance of knowing English for vocational purposes, which will
provide them with an opportunity to go global and be more competitive on
the labor market. All this resulted in an increasing number of English
speakers for whom English is not a native language.
Based on the aforementioned assumption, the purpose of this paper is
to identify barriers that adults face in terms of EFL learning. To identify
barriers that adult ESL learners may face in their learning process, it is
important to overview the characteristics of adults as learners. Based on
various studies, educators single out adults as a separate group of learners
who have their own peculiarities that are different from traditional students.
Although there is no exact definition of who an adult learner is, Merriam,
Caffarella, and Baumgartner (2007) provided a general description of the
adult learner. Thus, adult learners are twenty-five years old or older and,
compared to traditional college students, they have more social
responsibilities such as job, family, and community.
Smith (1982) emphasized that adult learners have rich experience that
enables them to self-direct their life in general, and their education and
learning in particular. Knowles (1984) also pointed out such a characteristic
of adults as being independent and self-directed in their learning. He
connected the concept of self-directedness with the process of an adult's
maturation: "It is a normal aspect of the process of maturation for a person
to move from dependency toward increasing self-directedness" (Knowles,
1980, p. 43). Thus, as a person matures and gets older, he / she tends to be
more independent and autonomous which is the most important
characteristic of adult learners.
Very close to self-directed learning is the concept of autonomous
learning. Tennant (1991) claimed that the two aspects of adult learning are
widely discussed in adult education literature. Being autonomous, adults
can take responsibility to determine their learning goals, sources from
which they obtain new knowledge and skills, develop their learning styles
and strategies which facilitate their learning process, and finally to assess
their progress. All this makes adult learners more independent in the choice
of learning methods compared to traditional students who mostly rely on
their teachers. As a result, adults tend to approach the learning process
from a more critical perspective (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner,
2007). Making critical considerations of their learning, adults are able to
determine challenges to the learning process as well as redirect it through
self-monitoring and the instructor's facilitation. All these processes are
influenced by and highly dependent on an adult's motivation.
Motivation is indispensable in the learning process and it plays an
important role in determining the success and effectiveness of learning. As
is known, adults as learners are more mature than traditional college
students, therefore they have stronger attitudes towards their learning
objectives. Wlodkowski (1985) pointed out that certain attitudes can be a
meaningful tool to determine an adult's particular learning behavior that
enhances the effectiveness of the learning process through transformation
into a particular goal that needs to be achieved. Generally, adults being
more goal-oriented can identify the reasons why they need to gain new
knowledge and skills and how they will foster their personal development
in the future. This viewpoint brings up the intrinsic aspect of motivation,
which occupies a leading position in adult learning. Merriam, Caffarella,
and Baumgartner (2007) also indicated that adults are mainly intrinsically
motivated that again can be tied to the ability to self-direct their learning.
Thus, intrinsic motivation demonstrates a strong connection with selfdirected learning and reflects its nature. Following this idea, Elias and
Merriam (2005) stated that "intrinsic motivation characterizes adult
learners" (p. 128).
Although self-directedness, intrinsic motivation, and rich life
experiences are characteristic features of adult learners, there are some
aspects of second language acquisition that can be applied only to those
adults who engage in second language learning. Learning a foreign
language is based on communication and oral skills practice. Moreover,
adults need help when they learn language content. Thus, EFL learners
usually hesitate to take all the responsibility for language learning as they
are afraid of making mistakes, which may be perpetuated in the future
language use without proper correction. In this case, the teacher should
assume the role of mentor and facilitator to guide and monitor the process
of second language acquisition. Accordingly, it is important for an EFL
teacher to filter general assumptions about the nature of adult learners
through cultural and linguistic backgrounds (Cunningham Florez & Burt,
2001).
From the educational perspective, a barrier is defined as "any
circumstance or condition which made a learning project difficult to
continue, something that the learner had to surmount in order to persist in
the learning initiative" (Guglielmino et al., 2005). As adult learning is
characterized by the episodic nature (Tough, 1979), adults are more likely
to encounter various barriers in the process of learning. In terms of adult
EFL learning, barriers to learning English may be the result of the complex
nature of second language acquisition. The specifics of EFL learning can
underlie some learning barriers as well. As a whole, based on the literature
analysis, barriers to EFL learning can be divided into three groups:
instructional, cultural / language, and biological.
The first group of barriers to EFL learning represents the instructional
aspect. The organization of academic system represents one of the main
barriers to adult EFL learning. According to adult learning theory, adults
are experience-oriented in their learning process (Behrens, 1983). Adult
learning does not begin with studying academic subjects. On the contrary,
adults begin their learning based on situations drawn from their life
experience. Thus, the controversy between adult learning and the academic
system is that adults still have to adjust their learning process to academic
requirements, which is commonly practiced in formal learning settings. The
academic nature of EFL learning can be seen in educational standards,
curricula, and learning resources that may not be totally based on learners'
needs.
The second group reflects cultural / language barriers that adult EFL
learners encounter in the learning process. One of the common learning
barriers from the cultural (or the first language) perspective is the adults'
feeling that it is impossible to completely master a foreign language
(Larsen-Freeman, 1991). Especially, this assumption is relevant for
developing speaking and pronunciation skills, although it may apply to
other language competencies as well. The effectiveness of second language
acquisition can be enhanced if there is more focus on the standard layer of
English. In this case, learners concentrate on standardized patterns of
language that are understood and spoken by all the native speakers.
However, it should be noted that the majority of adult EFL learners realize
that complete mastery of a foreign language is an ideal goal, which does
not fit in with their practical needs.
Another important factor is a learner's age. It represents a biological
barrier and affects the process of EFL learning at all its levels. Merriam,
Caffarella, and Baumgartner (2007) indicated that a person's age affects the
process of learning in general. It takes older adults more time to process
new information and memorize it. This is especially relevant for EFL
learning because it requires much time, energy, and good memory. TESOL
(2003) also supported this idea stating that having a variety of learners of
different ages in the classroom "create[s] additional instructional
challenges" (p. 9) as the difference in learners' ability to acquire new
language competencies becomes apparent in this case.
TESOL (2003) presented some other barriers encountered by adults in
EFL learning. As the process of second language acquisition is timeconsuming and requires much diligence, adult learners are unable to
combine EFL learning and social responsibilities imposed on them. For
example, adults have job responsibilities and in most cases, they have to
work long hours. Thus, it is difficult for them to change working hours
schedule and adjust them to their EFL classes. Also, adult learners have to
take family responsibilities, especially if they have children or take care of
elder members of their families. Adults face barriers concerning
transportation issues, for example, if EFL classes are not held in their
community or in the neighborhood. In such situations, adult learners have
to find available transportation to afford EFL learning.
To sum up, adult EFL learning occupies an important place in the
field of education. It is evident that the number of non-native speakers of
English is increasing due to globalization processes. In this vein, there are
more providers of EFL programs nowadays. Although adult learners are
different, their learning process can be characterized by self-directedness,
intrinsic motivation, and richer life experience. However, as for EFL
learning, it cannot be completely based on self-directedness because
communication in a second language plays a key role in EFL learning. EFL
learning emphasizes the importance of building new knowledge on the
learners' previous experience, providing feedback, and applying different
learning strategies. Also, it should be taken into account that the process of
second language acquisition is complex and dynamic, it is closely
connected with the concept of culture and is affected by the learner's first
language. Based on EFL learning principles, the barriers to EFL learning
can be divided into three groups: instructional, cultural (language), and
biological.
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