Constructing Age in Young Adulthood 149
period of preparation which will be surmounted when adult life begins. It is
a particular moment in the life course having a value in its own right.
Conclusion
In this section, I take another look at David s tale, as an instance of the
enactment of young adulthood, and link it where applicable to the stories of
the  middle and older adult participants in an endeavor to formulate a single,
comprehensive account of how the age identity of language learners is con-
structed and what bearing it has on their life experience both in the class-
room and beyond it. In this way, the findings of the three data chapters are
drawn together, bringing this part of the book to a close.
The impact of age on the language-learning experience varies according to where
each person positions herself/himself in the lifespan.
David positions himself and is positioned by others as a young adult. While
he believes that knowing English may be of potential help to him at some point
in the future, taking language classes at this moment of his life is basically a
part of the way he enacts his identity as a university student. It is what students
do. Therefore, his main motivation for studying English is that of acquiring
cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1977), as is true in a broad sense for every participant
in the study. They all showed themselves to be fully cognizant of the prestige
that comes with knowing English in Mexico. Yet, as has been seen, this wide-
ranging designation plays out differently for each of the age groups.
The beliefs and attitudes EFL learners have about age and SLA have an effect on
their language-learning experience.
Not surprisingly, David agreed with all the other participants that child-
hood is the best time to learn a language. With respect to differences among
adult learners, he also shared their opinion that the older one becomes, the
more difficult it is to acquire a new language. Nevertheless, like the other
participants, David recognized that other factors come into play, such as
motivation, discipline and dedication, which may cancel out what are per-
ceived to be the detrimental effects of aging.
The coconstruction of age in the classroom context is rooted in the prevailing
cultural discourses of age.
David positioned himself and was positioned by his teachers and fellow
classmates as a  young adult , just as the women participants positioned
themselves and were positioned by others as  adults , and the two other men
as  older adults . These three constructed age categories, with their variations,
emerged unequivocally during the course of the study out of the cultural
discourses surrounding age that are currently prevalent in Mexico. The basic
and most widespread age discourse is that of decline. David, like the other