Bérénice Darnault is a Lecturer and Associate Professor of TESOL at the University of Southern Brittany, France, where she teaches business communication and international studies in English. Her research interests lie in the psychology of language learning and include motivation, third age language learning and narrative inquiry.

• Tables and FiguresAcronyms and AbbreviationsAcknowledgementsPreface            Introduction – The Motivational Discourse in Third Age: A Longitudinal Perspective    Part 1: Ecological Insights into Third-Age Additional Language Learning Experience      Chapter 1. Existing Research on Older Adult Language LearnersChapter 2. Lifelong Motivational Persistence: An Ecological PerspectivePart 2: Lifelong Additional Language Learning Motivation: Challenges of a Complexity FrameworkChapter 3. Holistic Views on Lifelong Motivation in Language LearningChapter 4. Directed Motivational Currents in Lifelong Language LearnersPart 3: The Power of Storytelling in Third-Age L2 ResearchChapter 5. Narrative Inquiry in Third-Age Additional Language Learning MotivationChapter 6. The Narrative Paradigm: Insights into a Blended Methods ApproachPart 4: Tales of ResilienceChapter 7. Georges  Chapter 8. JosetteChapter 9. PatriciaPart 5: A Collective (Hi)Story of Lifelong Motivation Chapter 10. Historical Motivational Mapping: Tracing Lifelong DynamicsChapter 11. Conditions for Sustained Motivation: Components of the Self-Directed Motivational ReservoirConclusionsEpilogueAppendicesReferencesIndex

We live in a rapidly aging society but, surprisingly, research has paid very little heed to third age language learners. This book is therefore a very timely contribution written in mesmerizing prose. Highly recommended for researchers interested in the evolution of self-constructs across the life span, and even for the general readership willing to learn how to remain motivated in later years while getting to know the individual factors that may influence the process of motivation.