KOREAN LANGUAGE STUDIES: MOTIVATION AND ATTRITION

Julie Damron, BYUJustin Forsyth, UBC

INTRODUCTION The attrition rate for Korean language classes

at BYU from beginning (101) through intermediate (202) is high.

WHAT AND WHY? What is the attrition rate among Korean

classes at BYU?

What motivates students to take Korean at the university level?

Why do students drop out?

A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Why do students take a language?

Heritage Significant other Education requirements Interest Sake of learning Career opportunities Increase cultural understanding

LITERATURE REVIEW (CONTINUED) Why do students drop out?

Anxiety/stress Loss of interest Course too difficult or easy Dislike of classroom environment Unavailability of resources Lack of confidence Loss of native speaking friend

METHODOLOGY (PART ONE)Tracked 131 student enrollments from Korean 101 to 202 starting from 2005 to 2010.

Who enrolled in 101?-84 women, 47 men -33 freshman, 32 sophomores, 32 juniors, 29 seniors, 5 masters students

METHODOLOGY (PART TWO)Surveyed 129 students from Brigham Young University who took any Korean 101-202 class (92 responded) Students ranged from beginning to high-

intermediate learners Majors included: economics, management,

biology, business, and undeclared Surveys were sent and returned via email to

students who had taken a Korean language course between 2005 and 2010

METHODOLOGY (CONTINUED) The survey asked 12 questions, with 5 of the

questions utilizing a 5-point Likert scale 54.3% of students had no Korean parents, 28.3%

had one Korean parent, 17. 4% had two Korean parents. None were adopted from Korea.

Student Attrition Rate from Class to Class from 2005-2010

Attrition from 101 - 102

Attrition from 102 - 201

Attrition from 201 - 202

*Overall attrition from 101 – 202

16 Students starting in Fall 2005

57% 72% O% 88%

20 Ss, Fall 2006

50% 40% 17% 75%

20 Ss, Fall 2007

50% 40% 50% 85%

26 Ss, Fall 2008

31% 50% 67% 89%

21 Ss, Fall 2009

58% 45% 20% 81%

28 Ss, Fall 2010

43% 75% 75% 97%

RESULTS Overall attrition rate from first semester to

the beginning of the fourth semester Korean classes averaged 85%

(compared with Spanish, French and German at 12-24% at various institutions)

Why?

MOTIVATION FOR TAKING 101Biggest motivators1st It looked interesting (54 students listed as

high)2nd It’s an important language (40)3rd Future career benefits (39)4th I have Korean heritage (38) Smallest motivators1st I have Korean heritage (46 students listed as

low)2nd It fulfills an academic requirement (42) 3rd I have a Korean friend/significant other (42)

INITIAL MOTIVATORS

It loo

ked i

nteres

ting

It's an

impo

rtant

langu

age

Future

career

bene

fits

I hav

e Kore

an H

eritag

e

I hear

d it w

as int

erestin

g

It fulf

ills an

acad

emic

requir

emen

t

I like

Kore

an po

p cult

ure

I hav

e a K

orean

frien

d / sig

nifica

nt oth

er0

10

20

30

40

50

60

high mid low

Motivating Factor

Num

ber

of S

tude

nt R

espo

nses

INITIAL DESIRED LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY

# of Respondents

% of Total

a. Like a native 12 9.38b. Fluent 28 21.88c. somewhat conversational 34 26.56d. only basic words and phrases 50 39.06e. no expectations about proficiency 4 3.13

REASONS FOR QUITTING KOREAN CLASSESMost influential reasons for quitting1st It didn’t fit my schedule (45 students listed as

high)2nd It was too time consuming (21 students)3rd I wasn’t comfortable moving up (20 students)4th I fulfilled my requirement (19 students)Least influential reasons for quitting1st I no longer had a Korean friend/significant2nd I lost interest in Korean3rd It wasn’t challenging enough

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

high

mid

low

Factor

Num

ber

of S

tude

nt R

espo

nses

WOULD-BE MOTIVATORS

Skill Level

Num

ber

of S

tude

nt

Resp

onde

nts

25

15

20

10

5

0high mid low

PERCEIVED SKILL IN LEARNING LANGUAGES

STRESS LEVELS FOR CLASS ACTIVITIES

CONCLUSIONIn this study, students took Korean for these

reasons: because they heard it was interesting, for future career benefits, and/or because they had Korean heritage.

CONCLUSION (CONTINUED) Student expectations were reasonable Average attrition rate from 1st class to 4th

class of 85% Timing was the biggest issue Anxiety did not appear to be a major factor

CONCLUSION (CONTINUED)If the primary goal is to reduce attrition,

potential effective changes can beEstablishing a language learning labOffering a greater variety of class

timesGiving less time-consuming

assignmentsAddressing anxiety associated with

evaluation

CONCLUSION (CONTINUED)