Exploring teacher–student communication in senior-education contexts in Taiwan: A communication accommodation approach
This study investigated the language-accommodation strategies used by Taiwanese teachers when communicating with older adults in senior-education contexts. First, the interview phase identified various communication strategies and their underlying rationales; second, the survey phase verified the de...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Linköping University Electronic Press
2019-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Ageing and Later Life |
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| Online Access: | https://journal.ep.liu.se/IJAL/article/view/1304 |
| _version_ | 1811285087169282048 |
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| author | Chin-Hui Chen |
| author_facet | Chin-Hui Chen |
| author_sort | Chin-Hui Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study investigated the language-accommodation strategies used by Taiwanese teachers when communicating with older adults in senior-education contexts. First, the interview phase identified various communication strategies and their underlying rationales; second, the survey phase verified the degree to which the identified communication strategies were used, as well as their associations with teachers’ age differences. The identified communication strategies were divided into four broad categories: secondary baby talk, mitigation of references to death or illness, politeness strategies and code selection (use of the dialect preferred by older students). The underlying considerations included older students’ perceived age-related physical or cognitive decrements, their social backgrounds and socio-psychological needs, as well as the teachers’ self-determined relational positioning or priority in the communication process. Young and middle-aged teachers were more likely to experience a deep-rooted conflict and power struggle arising from the fact that a teacher in Taiwan is traditionally endowed with greater power than his or her students, whereas younger people are expected to show respect to their elders. Hence, they frequently chose to address older students using forms that implied intergenerational relationships and to use code-switching to converge their own communication with their older students’ preferred dialects. Implications for older-adult education and possible directions for further research are discussed in the conclusion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T02:39:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-32e7c4103c5d467e9a5983ea536660ec |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1652-8670 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T02:39:16Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Linköping University Electronic Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Ageing and Later Life |
| spelling | doaj.art-32e7c4103c5d467e9a5983ea536660ec2022-12-22T03:06:15ZengLinköping University Electronic PressInternational Journal of Ageing and Later Life1652-86702019-01-0113110.3384/ijal.1652-8670.17369Exploring teacher–student communication in senior-education contexts in Taiwan: A communication accommodation approachChin-Hui Chen0 Department of Modern Languages, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu, Pingtung, Taiwan This study investigated the language-accommodation strategies used by Taiwanese teachers when communicating with older adults in senior-education contexts. First, the interview phase identified various communication strategies and their underlying rationales; second, the survey phase verified the degree to which the identified communication strategies were used, as well as their associations with teachers’ age differences. The identified communication strategies were divided into four broad categories: secondary baby talk, mitigation of references to death or illness, politeness strategies and code selection (use of the dialect preferred by older students). The underlying considerations included older students’ perceived age-related physical or cognitive decrements, their social backgrounds and socio-psychological needs, as well as the teachers’ self-determined relational positioning or priority in the communication process. Young and middle-aged teachers were more likely to experience a deep-rooted conflict and power struggle arising from the fact that a teacher in Taiwan is traditionally endowed with greater power than his or her students, whereas younger people are expected to show respect to their elders. Hence, they frequently chose to address older students using forms that implied intergenerational relationships and to use code-switching to converge their own communication with their older students’ preferred dialects. Implications for older-adult education and possible directions for further research are discussed in the conclusion.https://journal.ep.liu.se/IJAL/article/view/1304Communication accommodation theoryolder learnerssenior educationTaiwanteacher-student communication |
| spellingShingle | Chin-Hui Chen Exploring teacher–student communication in senior-education contexts in Taiwan: A communication accommodation approach International Journal of Ageing and Later Life Communication accommodation theory older learners senior education Taiwan teacher-student communication |
| title | Exploring teacher–student communication in senior-education contexts in Taiwan: A communication accommodation approach |
| title_full | Exploring teacher–student communication in senior-education contexts in Taiwan: A communication accommodation approach |
| title_fullStr | Exploring teacher–student communication in senior-education contexts in Taiwan: A communication accommodation approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring teacher–student communication in senior-education contexts in Taiwan: A communication accommodation approach |
| title_short | Exploring teacher–student communication in senior-education contexts in Taiwan: A communication accommodation approach |
| title_sort | exploring teacher student communication in senior education contexts in taiwan a communication accommodation approach |
| topic | Communication accommodation theory older learners senior education Taiwan teacher-student communication |
| url | https://journal.ep.liu.se/IJAL/article/view/1304 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chinhuichen exploringteacherstudentcommunicationinsenioreducationcontextsintaiwanacommunicationaccommodationapproach |