Learning a New Language: An Online Study

This project is for adults between the ages of 60 and 80 years old who are dedicated to learning a new language and have a device with internet access to use for language learning.

1. You will fill out an online survey. We will not ask for your name or other identifying information. There is no wrong or right answers.

2. Our team will set up a Zoom meeting for some behavioral assessments. Zoom is a video-chat system that UNK uses and is secure. It does not require any setup on your side. We will send you a link and you can join us by clicking on the link. This test should take between 20-30 minutes.

3. You will get access to an online Language Learning of your choice (worth almost $200). Our team will monitor your activities online and they will contact you every week to make sure you are progressing with no problems. The program lasts for four months but participants can have access to the program for one year from the date they start.

4. There are optional monthly zoom sessions to meet other language learners and exchange experiences.

5. We will set up another zoom meeting after the completion of the language learning program, similar to the first zoom session.

6. All participants will fill out an Exit interview about their experience. The interview question is what did you like/dislike about the program? Do you have any suggestions for a more successful intervention?

7. You will receive $40 for compensation.

Our team will be happy to set a video-chat or phone session to take you through the questionnaires. Please let us know if you prefer this option.

It is possible. To participate in this study participants must meet all the inclusion and exclusion criteria. If even one criterion is not met, volunteers may not qualify to participate in this study.

At this phase we will include all motivated participants who are between 60-80, who do not have a neurological disorder and speak English as their mother tongue, and do NOT speak any other language.

Participants can choose one of the languages below, listed alphabetically:

Arabic,

Chinese (Mandarin),

Dari,

Filipino (Tagalog),

French

Greek,

Hebrew,

Hindi,

Indonesian,

Irish,

Italian,

Japanese,

Korean,

Latin,

Pashto,

Persian (Farsi),

Polish,

Portuguese (Brazil).

Russian,

Spanish (Latin American),

Spanish (Spain),

Swahili,

Turkish,

Urdu,

Vietnamese,

The behavioral assessment includes language and cognitive tests.

The behavioral tests will take about 30 minutes. However depending on how fast or slowly that participant does the tasks it might take up to one hour.

We would appreciate participants to commit to their agreement after signing the consent forms. Brain scanning is very expensive and our budget is limited. However, participants can withdraw from the study at any time they wish.

Upon withdrawal from the study, participants will lose access to the language training program.

All personal information collected will remain confidential. We will use the information as digitalized unidentified data. All the information collected will remain confidential to the extent provided for by law.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We will be happy to meet over zoom or speak on the phone or respond by email.

If you are interested to take part in this project, please email us at LClab@unk.edu to begin!