Korean Language Studies: Motivation and Attrition

The purposes of this study were to determine attrition rates of students learning Korean in university courses, their motivations to study the target language, why many drop out, and what educators can do to address and decrease high rates of attrition. A survey was administered to 129 students enrolled in lower-level (101–202) Korean language classes during the years 2005–2010 at a large, private university in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Self-identifying heritage students comprised 45.7% of those who completed the survey. Surveys were administered to students via email and returned in the same manner; as such, they represent a response and convenience sample. Five of the 12 survey questions utilized a 5-point Likert scale. The overall attrition rate from class to class during this time period was 85%. Students identified that the most motivating factors in their decision to take Korean were “It’s an important language,” “Future career benefits,” and “I have Korean heritage.” More students desired to learn only basic words and phrases than any one other proficiency category. The most common reason for quitting Korean was that it didn’t fit students’ schedules. Likewise, students indicated that had a following course been offered at a different time or if a language lab offering tutoring were made available, they might have been influenced to continue taking Korean. Surveys also addressed language-learning anxiety. Based on the results gathered, this study makes suggestions for improving Korean language instruction in order to reduce student attrition