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Final Refl ections

Introduction

The aim of this book has been to explore the ways in which age as 

socially constructed is experienced by adult EFL learners in Mexico. As an 

exploratory study, the purpose was not so much to arrive at definitive con-

clusions about the construction of age in adult language learners as to deter-

mine what the issues were, to question basic assumptions, to ponder the 

significance of what emerged and to point to further directions that might 

be taken in the search for answers.

I began with a review of the literature on the CPH in order to find out 

what has been learned about age in SLA to date that could be useful to me 

in my study of adult students. I discovered that CPH and other research 

on the age factor does not take into consideration distinctions among 

adults of different ages nor does it address the social or experiential side of 

language learning as contemplated in a sociocultural approach to SLA, 

both of which were precisely the points I wanted to learn about. I then 

turned  to  the  identity  work  of  discourse-oriented  sociolinguists,  as 

informed by social constructionism, to guide me in the study of the enact-

ment of age in social interaction.

Because of its focus on the collaborative construction of reality, social 

constructionism proved to be an excellent framework for understanding 

more clearly how people give meaning to age and make sense of their experi-

ence through discourse and in their relationships with others. It also made it 

possible to move away from essentialist notions of age and to view it as 

constructed through discursive interaction in a specific cultural context and 

a particular historical moment. This is consonant with work carried out by 

contemporary discourse-oriented sociolinguists which has brought greater 

depth to our understanding of other social dimensions, such as ethnicity and 

gender. In a similar way, a socially constructed view of age can enhance our 

comprehension and appreciation of its many complexities.

People construct age in discursive interaction, drawing on the cultural 

discourses available to them to position themselves and to position others. In 

the case of urban Mexico, the prevalent age discourse is that of decline, as it