{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.022295081967213116, 'fraction_numerical': 0.015081967213114755, 'mean_word_length': 5.8408071748878925, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Book Review: Adult Learning in the Language Classroom by Johnson, S. M.

If adults who enroll in foreign language classes are not likely to pursue language learning opportunities beyond the requirements of their program of study, and are thus unlikely to achieve communicative proficiency in a second language, what is the value of such language study? This is the central concern of this book detailing a semester-long case study of a beginninglevel college Spanish class. The author, Stacey Margarita Johnson, Assistant Director for Educational Technology in the Center for Teaching and Senior Lecturer in Spanish at Vanderbilt University, turns to adult learning theories for deeper insights. Johnson proposes that an interdisciplinary approach to researching language classrooms from an adult learning perspective will enable us to better “understand the teaching methods that promote the deeper, more critical sort of language learning advocated by scholars and professional organizations, understand how adult students learn and transform through language study, and reinforce the immense value of beginning language courses” (p. 6). Drawing on a range of prominent theories of adult learning encompassing experiential learning theory (Dewey, 1938), the self-directed learning theory of andragogy (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2005), and transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1997), Johnson makes the case that adult learning theory offers second language researchers a promising approach to promoting deeper and more critical learning in adult language classes. This is because adult learning theory starts with the learners, emphasizing the transformative nature of learning for adults with an established history of experiences, motivations, and identities, thus moving beyond a focus on developing linguistic competence and the processes of second language acquisition. Through detailed description and analysis of classroom observations, student learning journals, and individual interviews with eight focal students, Johnson identifies evidence of perspective shifts that have taken place among students and instances in which students have become increasingly self-directed in their learning, even when linguistic development is not the primary focus of her analysis. Drawing the reader in to the research project itself, the author divides the chapters into theoretical frameworks, data collection, analysis, and implications, devoting entire chapters to describing the classroom, examining what students learned, how they learned, and how they were transformed through language study. Chapter 1 situates this study of adult learning within the specific context of the study of Languages Other than English (LOTE) as requirements for college students. Importantly, this subset of adult learners is markedly distinct from other populations of adult language learners, for instance, the millions of adult immigrants who seek to learn English in the United 812079ALXXXX10.1177/1045159518812079Adult LearningAdult Learning book-review2018