K OREAN L ANGUAGE S TUDIES : M OTIVATION AND A TTRITION Julie Damron, BYU Justin Forsyth, UBC

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

W HAT AND W HY ? 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 R EVIEW OF THE L ITERATURE Why do students take a language? Heritage Significant other Education requirements Interest Sake of learning Career opportunities Increase cultural understanding

L ITERATURE R EVIEW ( 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

M ETHODOLOGY (P ART O NE )  Tracked 131 student enrollments from Korean 101 to 202 starting from 2005 to Who enrolled in 101? - 84 women, 47 men -33 freshman, 32 sophomores, 32 juniors, 29 seniors, 5 masters students

M ETHODOLOGY (P ART T WO ) Surveyed 129 students from Brigham Young University who took any Korean 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 to students who had taken a Korean language course between 2005 and 2010

M ETHODOLOGY ( 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 Attrition from Attrition from Attrition from *Overall attrition from 101 – Students starting in Fall %72%O%88% 20 Ss, Fall %40%17%75% 20 Ss, Fall %40%50%85% 26 Ss, Fall %50%67%89% 21 Ss, Fall %45%20%81% 28 Ss, Fall %75% 97%

R ESULTS 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?

M OTIVATION FOR T AKING 101 Biggest motivators 1 st It looked interesting (54 students listed as high) 2 nd It’s an important language (40) 3 rd Future career benefits (39) 4 th I have Korean heritage (38) Smallest motivators 1 st I have Korean heritage (46 students listed as low) 2 nd It fulfills an academic requirement (42) 3 rd I have a Korean friend/significant other (42)

I NITIAL M OTIVATORS

I NITIAL D ESIRED L EVEL OF P ROFICIENCY # of Respondents % of Total a. Like a native b. Fluent c. somewhat conversational d. only basic words and phrases e. no expectations about proficiency43.13

R EASONS FOR Q UITTING K OREAN C LASSES Most influential reasons for quitting 1 st It didn’t fit my schedule (45 students listed as high) 2 nd It was too time consuming (21 students) 3 rd I wasn’t comfortable moving up (20 students) 4 th I fulfilled my requirement (19 students) Least influential reasons for quitting 1 st I no longer had a Korean friend/significant 2 nd I lost interest in Korean 3 rd It wasn’t challenging enough

W OULD - BE M OTIVATORS

Skill Level Number of Student Respondents highmidlow P ERCEIVED S KILL IN L EARNING L ANGUAGES

S TRESS L EVELS FOR C LASS A CTIVITIES

C ONCLUSION 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.

C ONCLUSION ( CONTINUED ) Student expectations were reasonable Average attrition rate from 1 st class to 4 th class of 85% Timing was the biggest issue Anxiety did not appear to be a major factor

C ONCLUSION ( 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

C ONCLUSION ( CONTINUED )