Lifelong Learning
 

Nowadays, education of seniors has become an important topic as the number of seniors in the population is continually growing all over Europe. In Slovakia, as well as in other European countries, Universities of the Third Age offer a variety of educational programs, out of which language courses have become most preferred. Seniors, as a specific group of language learners, have their own needs, wants and lacks which influence their motivation to step again into the role of a learner. The purpose of our study is to focus on those motivation factors that play an essential role in senior’s decision making to sign in the English language course and complete it. Based on the knowledge of motivation, we divide seniors’ motivational factors into two categories: primary factors (cognitive, social and personal) are present at the initial stage of signing in the course. Secondary factors (social relations within the group, teacher, teaching methods and success) have a significant impact on seniors in affecting them to continue or drop out the course. Analyzing four case studies, we attempt to find out how the intensity and combination of motivational factors change during the language course and what impact it has on learners.

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