Adult learners’ perceptions of working with awareness in the EFL classroom

Language education for adults has traditionally proceeded from the assumption that the student is linguistically and communicatively aware, and furthermore, knows how to learn a language. Language teaching methodology and materials therefore concentrate upon the subject matter with no indication of the importance that awareness plays in either learning or communication. I first became conscious of this lack when I returned to the university to study a foreign language, and when I began to teach English as a foreign language in Mexico the issue became so pressing for me that I decided to undertake research to learn about other adult foreign language learners’ perceptions of whether explicitly working with awareness in the classroom might be beneficial to the language learning process. The research was conducted in eleven English as a foreign language classes at two universities in Mexico, with the ‘medium’ being an introductory course I wrote specifically for the learners I was working with. The course was designed with a general-to-specific (or top-down) methodology which began with awareness training and included suggestions throughout for learning-to-learn strategies. Results from the qualitative research as to the adult learners’ perceptions of these aspects of the course are discussed in this article, and clearly indicate that awareness training and such a teaching methodology help to fulfill genuine and pressing adult foreign language learner needs.