Korean Language Studies: Motivation and Attrition

1. Korean Language Studies: Motivation and Attrition Julie Damron, BYU Justin Forsyth, UBC

2. Introduction • The attrition rate for Korean language classes at BYU from beginning (101) through intermediate (202) is high.

3. 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?

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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.

9. Student Attrition Rate from Class to Class from 2005-2010

10. 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?

11. Motivation for Taking 101 Biggest motivators 1st 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 motivators 1st 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)

12. Initial Motivators

13. Initial Desired Level of Proficiency

14. Reasons for Quitting Korean Classes Most influential reasons for quitting 1st 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 quitting 1st I no longer had a Korean friend/significant 2nd I lost interest in Korean 3rd It wasn’t challenging enough

15. Would-be Motivators

16. Perceived Skill in Learning Languages Number of Student Respondents 25 20 15 10 5 0 high mid low Skill Level

17. Stress Levels for Class Activities

18. Conclusion In 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.

19. 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

20. Conclusion (continued) If the primary goal is to reduce attrition, potential effective changes can be • Establishing a language learning lab • Offering a greater variety of class times • Giving less time-consuming assignments • Addressing anxiety associated with evaluation

21. Conclusion (continued)