36.2082, Reviews: Adult Minority Language Learning: Colin J. Flynn (2024)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-36-2082. Mon Jul 07 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.2082, Reviews: Adult Minority Language Learning: Colin J. Flynn (2024)

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Date: 07-Jul-2025
From: Teresa Wai See Ong [ongtesa at gmail.com]
Subject: Colin J. Flynn (2024)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/36-159

Title: Adult Minority Language Learning
Subtitle: Motivation, Identity and Target Variety
Series Title: Second Language Acquisition
Publication Year: 2024

Publisher: Multilingual Matters
           http://www.multilingual-matters.com/
Book URL:
http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781788926546

Author(s): Colin J. Flynn

Reviewer: Teresa Wai See Ong

Summary
Written by Colin J. Flynn, Adult Minority Language Learning:
Motivation, Identity and Target Variety contains an introduction
chapter, eight chapters of research content, references, appendices,
and author and subject indexes. Employing a mixed-method research,
Flynn presents a case study of Irish language adult learners acquiring
various traditional (Gaeltacht) and non-traditional (second language)
varieties of the language. Specifically, the author explores the
relationship between motivation, attitudes of learners towards target
language varieties and self-concept (identity) due to the lack of
research that focuses on these themes in the Irish and minority
language acquisition field.
In the first chapter, Flynn introduces the historical, social and
educational issues related to the Irish language and situates his
study in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). The Irish
language has been spoken in Ireland since the early centuries of the
Christian era (Ó Riagáin, 2007). It can be divided into four periods:
Old Irish (500-900), Middle Irish (900-1200), Early Modern Irish
(1200-1600) and Modern Irish (1600-present) (Flynn, 2020). The
majority of native speakers (L1) for the language live in Gaeltachtaí
(west of Ireland) while smaller numbers live elsewhere in the country.
By the 17th century, the Irish language began to lose ground to
English as the main medium of communication, thus creating three
distinct dialect groups of Munster (south), Connacht (west) and Ulster
(north). After independence in 1922, the Irish government began the
task of standardising the spelling and grammar of the Irish language.
Although the Standard version has been used in most official
communications, the three main regional varieties are still seen in
learning materials. Due to the reduced number of L1 speakers, language
revitalisation programmes took place starting from the Revival Period
(1880-1922) and continuing till present day.
In the second chapter, the author addresses issues related to the
definition of native speaker, and the similarities and differences
between native speakers and second language speakers. Some researchers
prefer terms such as first language, primary language and mother
tongue, which all refer to the language a person learns from birth and
continues to use as their primary medium of communication.
Nevertheless, some researchers argue that concepts such as competence
and performance should be considered when referring to those
definitions. The author continues to discuss theories of first
language acquisition, followed by SLA, where he also talks about the
critical period hypothesis in both types of language acquisition.
In the third chapter, Flynn moves on to discuss the three variables
that were investigated in this study – attitude, motivation and
identity. According to Sarnoff (1970, p. 279), attitude is defined as
“a disposition to react favourably or unfavourably to a class of
objects”. In keeping up with research on attitudes that mostly focused
on first language acquisition, SLA specialists began looking at the
role of attitudes in the process of SLA. However, there is still a
lack of clear conclusion. On the other hand, language motivation has
long been a popular topic in SLA research. Gardner (1985) proposes the
socio-educational model, which became a popular framework for studying
language motivation, even though some researchers criticised it and
incorporated cognitive and educational psychology (Crookes & Schmidt,
1991; Oxford & Shearin, 1994; Ushioda, 1994).  It has been re-modelled
several times (Gardner, 1985, 2001, 2010),  Nevertheless, in recent
years, the L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009), which
comprises three components, emerged and has been applied in many
learning environments. Likewise, the issue of identity is a core
element in sociolinguistics. Early work on the role of identity in SLA
was heavily influenced by psychoanalytic methods (Block, 2009;
Singleton & Ryan, 2004). Subsequently, researchers examined it from
social psychological perspectives. Contemporary research has adopted a
broader theoretical perspective but for the Irish language, there is
limited work conducted in issues related to identity negotiation.
In Chapter 4, Flynn describes the methodology used for the study in
which he employed multiple methods for data collection and analysis.
For Stage 1, Flynn designed the Irish Language Questionnaire for Adult
Learners, containing 69 items, and distributed to adult learners from
six adult course providers. A stamped, addressed return envelope was
presented with each questionnaire. In Stage 2, Flynn employed the
Speaker Evaluation Exercise, commonly known as the verbal guise
technique (Garrett, 2000, 2010). Thirty-one participants from the
first stage of the study participated, and each participant met in a
pre-arranged location to complete the exercise in approximately 30
minutes. In Stage 3, Flynn conducted semi-structured interviews with
the same 31 participants to obtain a clearer and deeper understanding
of the issues faced by the participants. The author ends the chapter
by stating the limitations of the study.
Chapters 5-7 report the findings based on each stage of data
collection. In Chapter 5, which relates to Stage 1 data collection,
the responses to the Irish Language Questionnaire for Adult Learners
first provided basic background information on the 157 participants.
Subsequently, the responses revealed that at least half of the
participants were multilingual speakers and many were integratively
oriented toward learning the Irish language due to self-identity
issues. The participants also reported wanting to have more
opportunities to speak the language and be like L1s. However, their
attitudes towards learning dialects of the Irish language did not show
positive signs because they lean towards a particular variety only.
The last section of the questionnaire demonstrated that more
proficient speakers had a more positive attitude towards achieving
native-like proficiency.
In Chapter 6, which refers to Stage 2 data collection using the
Speaker Evaluation Exercise, the first part of the findings revealed
that the participants rated highly for the L1 recordings compared to
the non-native speakers. The second and third parts of the findings
showed that the participants were not able to consistently identify
the speakers’ place of origin and their Irish proficiency level. The
final part demonstrated that the participants’ self-comparison to the
various speakers was correlated with their level of proficiency. In
general, these findings indicated that the participants were more
favourable towards the Irish L1 varieties.
In Chapter 7, which deals with Stage 3 data collection (participants’
interviews), the findings provided a more in-depth understanding of
the participants’ choices from Stages 1 and 2. In general, the
participants had positive experiences with their learning at their
respective adult course providers and many had great memories with
their experienced teachers who played a role in inserting passion into
Irish language acquisition. Only a few older participants did not have
positive experiences, as they blamed the poor teaching methods. The
interviews have also shown preference for the Gaeltacht-based courses.
The participants provided various reasons for picking up the Irish
language, including cultural reasons, wanting to finish what they did
during their childhood days and passing the exams after attending the
course. At the end of the day, many hoped to achieve a reasonable
level of fluency in the Irish language.
The final chapter sums up the discussion of the findings and concludes
the study. Based on the findings, Flynn states that in general, the
Irish language adult learners are aware of the traditional (Gaeltacht)
and non-traditional (non-Gaeltacht) varieties of the language and show
mild to strong attitudes towards them. Nevertheless, they have a clear
preference for the L1 spoken varieties. They are considered motivated
towards learning the course because they self-elected it.
Additionally, the findings reveal the struggles between wanting to
speak like the natives and being realistic in working towards the
achievement. Flynn concludes that more work, such as potential
strategies for compromising, need to be done as there is still
inadequate research on adult Irish language learning.
Evaluation
SLA is not a new field of study in linguistics. Rather, it is an
established field of study because children/teenagers and young/old
adults are always interested in picking up a new language. They may be
influenced by wanting to understand their culture as they grow up or
the latest social media trends, such as pop music. For older adults,
learning a second language may be beneficial as it is claimed to
reduce the risk of getting dementia because learners are making use of
their cognitive abilities.
Flynn sets out an interesting study to examine SLA of adult learners,
examining a range of factors that are influencing the participants in
achieving their targeted aims. Specifically, Flynn employs a mixed
method methodology, consisting of an Irish Language Questionnaire for
Adult Learners, a Speaker Evaluation Exercise and a semi-structured
interview, to investigate the relationship between the attitude,
motivation and identity of adult learners, and its influence on which
variety they prefer as their target speech models. He uses the Irish
language as a case study; the language is unique because it does not
have a standard spoken variety. The general findings from the study
are as follows:
(i) Most participants grew up in Ireland and had previous learning
experience of the Irish language. Although they are mostly
multilingual speakers, being able to speak the Irish language meant a
lot for their self-identity. They would like to have the proficiency
of a L1 but accepted the fact that it is not easy to achieve.
(ii) 31 participants from the first stage of study clearly preferred
the  recorded speech of L1s but did not consistently identify their
place of origin and proficiency level. Nevertheless, their responses
validated their favourable attitude towards L1 varieties of the Irish
language.
(iii) Most of the participants reported they enjoyed their Irish
language learning experience and had fond memories with their
teachers. Although they preferred the traditional variety of the
language and ideally wanted to become fluent like a L1, they knew
about the challenges and difficulties. However, being able to speak
the language made them feel good and gave them a sense of pride and
belonging.
It is worthwhile to recognise that Flynn’s study was conducted to
provide a comprehensive understanding of how adult learners felt in
their language learning journey. Through this understanding, we know
that additional support needs to be given to adult learners to
motivate and help them to complete their journey. Additionally, having
more learners pick up a second language is indirectly helping to
revitalise minority languages or maintain languages that are less
spoken by the global communities so that they do not disappear in the
future. It is also important for learners to know that by learning a
second language, they are getting connected to the respective
language’s culture. Hence, Flynn’s study plays a significant role in
informing us how attitudes and motivations are crucial elements in
realising an adult learner’s linguistic goals. The appendices attached
are a useful source of reference for future studies.
References
Block, D. (2009). Second language identities. Continuum.
Crookes, G., & Schmidt, R. W. (1991). Motivation: Reopening the
research agenda. Language Learning, 41(4), 469-512.
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual
differences in second language acquisition. Lawrence Erlbaum.
Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self system. In Z. Dörnyei &
E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp.
9-42). Multilingual Matters.
Flynn, C. J. (2020). Adult minority language learning: Motivation,
identity and target variety. Multilingual Matters.
Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning:
The role of attitudes and motivation. Edward Arnold Publishers.
Gardner, R. C. (2001). Integrative motivation and second language
motivation. In Z. Dörnyei & R. Schmidt (Eds.), Motivation and second
language acquisition (pp. 1-20). University of Hawaii Press.
Gardner, R. C. (2010). Motivation and second language acquisition: The
socio-educational model. Peter Lang.
Garrett, P. (2000). Language attitudes: Methods and interpretation in
sociolinguistic research (Unpublished PhD thesis). Cardiff University,
UK.
Garrett, P. (2010). Attitudes to language. Cambridge University Press.
Ó, Riagáin, P. (2007). Irish. In D. Britain (Ed.), Language in the
British Isles (pp. 218-236). Cambridge University Press.
Oxford, R., & Shearin, J. (1994). Language learning motivation:
Expanding the theoretical framework. The Modern Language Journal,
78(1), 12-28.
Sarnoff, I. (1970). Social attitudes and the resolution of
motivational conflict. In M. Jahoda & N. Warren (Eds.), Attitudes:
Selected readings (pp. 279-284). Harmondsworth.
Singleton, D., & Ryan, L. (2004). Language acquisition: The age factor
(2nd edn.). Multilingual Matters.
Ushioda, E. (1994). L2 motivation as a qualitative construct. Teanga:
The Irish Yearbook of Applied Linguistics, 14, 76-84.
About the reviewer
Teresa W. S. Ong is a learning support specialist at Singapore
University of Social Sciences, Singapore. She has widely published in
areas related to language maintenance and language shift, linguistic
landscapes and early childhood education. Currently, she
co-investigates a project related to tertiary education student
learning needs and behaviours.



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