Adults as learners of the english language

Adambaeva Feruza Rustambekovna TUIT Urgench branch, Urgench Since 2012 in Uzbekistan has been launched a large-scaled work on the improvement of learning of foreign languages. As a result, they are studied now from the first grade, t eaching hours meant for the subject were increased. Educational standards and programs have been improved, and now they meet the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Nowadays not only the children but also the adults are widely learning the English language. There is an obvious question: Why Adults Want to Learn? Adults are in many cases not really interested in language, but in what they do through it. That is to say, adult students view language as an instrument for doing other things. They learn foreign languages due to the following reasons: ı To gain knowledge or a skill they need ı To better manage changes in their lives ı To keep up with environment changes ı To increase or maintain a sense of self-esteem Teaching adult learners can be very rewarding, but very challenging as well. Adult students are completely different form children or adolescent students. Compared to younger group of students, adults do not need that much demonstration but ask for more explanation and formulation of principles. They are matured, their intelligence has already developed. They went through a whole educational system and they dispose of rich personal experience. They have also developed specific habits and have specific expectations. Characteristics of Learners ADULT LEARNERS YOUNG LEARNERS Problem-centered Results-oriented Self-directed Often skeptical about new information Seek relevancy Accepts responsibility for own learning Subject-oriented Future-oriented Often depend on adults for direction More accepting Often train for unclear future Often dependent on others Like all learners, adults have different learning styles. Some feel comfortable learning by watching and listening, whereas others feel they cannot learn unless they take down notes and analyse rules. They may also have preferences for learning through different sense modalities: touching, hearing, smelling, tasting, and seeing. The teacher will need to understand and cater to these differences by utilizing cycles of teaching that exploit different learning styles at different points in the lesson. Adult learners also bring many other personal characteristics, perhaps the most important of which is confidence or the lack thereof. Many students with little initial proficiency leap ahead of their classmates, in large part because they are confident that they can and will learn the language. These students go out and take the risks involved in using the new language to communicate with anyone and everyone they encounter. Others of comparable ability and background may languish at a low level of proficiency because they lack the confidence to use the language. It is therefore very important to provide a supportive classroom atmosphere where risk taking and other positive learning behaviours are fostered. Although many of the “rules” for teaching children can apply in some ways to teaching adults, the latter age group poses some different, special considerations for the classroom teacher.