UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1216

Overall Research Project Description Recently, the increasing attention to non-WERID (western, educated, rich, industrialized, and democratic) learners (Godfroid & Andringa, 2023) have been reflected in the uprising trend of studies dedicated to these groups, promoting equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization (EDID) in the field (Li et al., 2023). Despite the effort, some existing studies unintentionally perpetuate the stereotypes of these underrepresented learners. For example, among studies about the elderly learners, most of them identified the elderly based on their chronological age only while studies in other fields indicated ones’ subjective age (i.e., age identity) might be a more sensitive indicator than chronological age (Bowling et al., 2005) of their health, psychological, and social characteristics.
With a mixed-method design, this study therefore will investigate how age identity influenced older adults’ L2 motivation (i.e, L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and anti-ought-to self) and (perceived) working memory. A questionnaire, adapted from established frameworks (Dörnyei, 2009; Thompson, 2021; Vallat-Azouvi et al, 2012), will be distributed among 120 elderly L2 learners from China and the US, respectively. Complementary qualitative data will be also obtained through semi-structured interviews. Noticeably, due to the different perspectives of aging in various cultures (Hess & Emery, 2011), this study also will involve a culture perspective, which will be emphasized in the later semi-structured interview as well. The quantitative data will then analyzed using regression analysis. The findings of this study will emphasize the necessity of critical reflection on engaging non-WERID populations, advocating for nuanced approaches that avoid reinforcing stereotypes and effectively contribute to EDID in SLA research.