Title Page

Contents

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 15

ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH 16

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 18

Background of the Study 22

Statement of the Problem 24

Purpose of the Study 25

Significance of the Study 25

Research Questions 26

Research Hypotheses 26

Basic Assumptions 27

Delimitations of the Study 27

Limitations of the Study 28

Operational Definition of Terms 28

CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 31

Why Adults Participate in Learning 31

Characteristics of Adult Learners 34

Adult Learning Theory 35

Theory of Adult Language Learning 41

Motivation of Adult Learners 49

Motivation in Language Learning 50

Prior Research on Motivation in Adult Language Learning 64

Customer Satisfaction 66

Definition of Customer Satisfaction 67

Advantages of Customer Satisfaction 68

What Causes Customer Dissatisfaction? 78

Adult Students as Customers 82

Student Satisfaction and Retention 83

Conceptual Framework of the Study 98

CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 101

Research Design 101

Population and Sample 102

Determination of Sample Size 103

Sampling Procedure 104

Instrumentation 105

Student Satisfaction With the SDA Language Institutes Questionnaire (SSLI) 105

The Motivation in Language Learning Inventory (MILL) 108

Data Collection Procedures 110

Ethical Principles 110

Administration and Collection of the Instruments 111

Statistical Treatment of Data 115

CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DATA ANALYSIS 117

Descriptive Analyses 118

Profile of the Students 118

Student Retention 125

Performance in Spoken English 130

Student Satisfaction 132

Student Satisfaction Subscales 135

Student Motivation 150

Student Motivation Subscales 152

Path Analysis 165

Factors That Affect Student Retention 168

Factors That Affect Student Satisfaction 171

The Effect of Student Motivation on Performance in Spoken English 172

Student Retention Model 173

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH 175

Conclusions 175

Recommendations 181

Recommendations for Future Research 184

REFERENCES 188

APPENDIXES 204

APPENDIX A. Correspondence 205

APPENDIX B. Questionnaires and Subscale Data 206

APPENDIX C. ANALYSES NORMALITY TESTS 217

Table 1. Adult Learner Needs and Characteristics 37

Table 2. Assumptions of Pedagogical Andragogical Models 40

Table 3. Some Findings Concerning the Role of Motivation in Second Language Acquisition 52

Table 4. Dornyei's Components of Foreign Language Learning Motivation 61

Table 5. SDA Language Institute Data 102

Table 6. Reliability of SSLI Subscales 108

Table 7. Reliability of MILL Subscales 109

Table 8. Gender of the Adult English Learner Sample 118

Table 9. Age of Adult English Learners 119

Table 10. Purpose of Studying English 120

Table 11. Purpose of Studying English for Different Age Groups 123

Table 12. Highest Educational Level Achieved by Adult English Learners 124

Table 13. Current English Level of the Language Students 125

Table 14. Degrees of Student Retention 126

Table 15. Enrollment Analysis 127

Table 16. Intention to Enroll vs. Actual Enrollment 128

Table 17. Degree of Student Retention for Respondent's English Level 129

Table 18. Performance in Spoken English 130

Table 19. Mean Score of Performance in Spoken English by Levels 131

Table 20. Mean Scores of Overall Student Satisfaction for Different English Levels 133

Table 21. The Mean Scores of Overall Student Satisfaction for Different Age Groups 134

Table 22. Overall Student Satisfaction 135

Table 23. Teacher Effectiveness 136

Table 24. Items for Teaching Effectiveness 138

Table 25. Institute Support of Learning 140

Table 26. Items for Institute Support of Learning 141

Table 27. Mean Scores of Institute Support of Learning 142

Table 28. Social Learning Climate 143

Table 29. Items for Social Learning Climate 143

Table 30. Mean Scores of Social Learning Climate 145

Table 31. Curriculum 146

Table 32. Items for Curriculum 146

Table 33. Positive Status of the Institute 147

Table 34. Items for Positive Status of the Institute 147

Table 35. Institute Factors 148

Table 36. Items for Institute Factors 149

Table 37. Overall Student Motivation 150

Table 38. Mean Scores of Overall Motivation for Highest Educational Levels 151

Table 39. Mean Scores of Overall Motivation for Different Age Groups 152

Table 40. Mastery 153

Table 41. Mastery Items 154

Table 42. Mean Scores of Mastery Motivation for Different Age Groups 154

Table 43. Ego-Social 156

Table 44. Ego-Social Items 156

Table 45. Utilitarian 157

Table 46. Utilitarian Items 157

Table 47. Mean Scores of Utilitarian Motivation for Different Age Groups 159

Table 48. Mean Scores of Utilitarian Motivation for Highest Educational Levels 159

Table 49. Self-Efficacy 160

Table 50. Self-Efficacy Items 160

Table 51. Commitment to the Learning Task 162

Table 52. Commitment to the Learning Task Items 162

Table 53. Control of Learning Beliefs 163

Table 54. Control of Learning Beliefs Items 164

Table 55. Motivational Intensity 164

Table 56. Motivational Intensity Items 165

Table 57. Unstandardized Regression Weights for Initial Model 168

Table 58. Unstandardized Regression Weights for Degree of Student Retention 169

Table 59. Standardized Regression Weights for the Final Model 170

Table 60. Unstandardized Regression Weights for Student Satisfaction 172

Table 61. Unstandardized Regression Weights for Performance in Spoken English 172

 As the social and professional need for English competence increases, private education has become a massive industry in Korea. Maintaining existing students is less costly than attracting new ones. Using descriptive and path analysis, this study sought to describe and investigate the causal relationships among student satisfaction, motivation, performance in spoken English, and student retention.

Modified random sampling methods were utilized, with a total of 664 respondents who completed 2 questionnaires: the Motivation in Language Learning Inventory (MILL), consisting of 7 subscales (Kim-Yoon, 2000), and the researcher-developed Student Satisfaction with the SDA Language Institutes Questionnaire (SSLI), with 6 subscales. MILL findings showed that students were mainly instrumentally motivated, but that integratively motivated students had higher performance in spoken English than the instrumentally motivated. SSLI findings showed that the majority of the students in the SDA Language Institutes were satisfied with the institute, but over 20% were either dissatisfied or had mixed experiences. Only half the respondents (54.6%) intended to enroll and actually enrolled for the next term.

Males were more satisfied and had higher self-confidence than females, who showed stronger commitment to the learning task. No significant difference in performance by gender was identified. Students age 29 to 39 tended to be less satisfied than younger or older students. Students in the middle English levels were less motivated and less satisfied, especially with the social learning climate. Students were more satisfied with single teachers than married ones; and with Whites or Asians than Blacks. Beginning students preferred Korean teachers over foreigners.

The degree of student retention was directly affected by student satisfaction and performance in spoken English, and indirectly by student motivation. Satisfaction was affected by motivation. Ten percent of the variance in student satisfaction was due to student motivation. Performance in spoken English was a better predictor of retention than student satisfaction. The predictive model for student retention accounted for only 4% of the variance. It is clearly not easy to predict the retention of adult learners due to the nature of the complexity of their lives. For this reason, institutes need to be alert to students' needs and expectations based on their English level, age, and gender in order to increase student satisfaction and retention.

영어능력에 대한 사회적 전문적 필요가 증가됨에 따라 한국 사교육이 거대한 산업으로 자리잡고 있다. 새로운 학생들을 끌어 모으는 것보다 기존의 학생들을 유지하는 것이 훨씬 적은 비용이 든다. 기술통계 분석과 경로분석을 사용하여 본 연구는 학습자의 만족도, 학습동기, 회화 성취도와 재등록 사이의 인과관계 기술하고 조사하였다.

수정무작위표본추출법을 사용한 총 664명의 참가자가 두 개의 설문에 응했으며, 언어 학습동기 설문지 (Motivation in Language Learning Inventory, MILL)와 본 연구자가 개발한 삼육(SDA)외국어 학원 만족도 설문지(Student Satisfaction with the SDA Language Institutes Questionnaire, SSLI)가 사용되었고 각각의 설문지는 7개와 6개의 하위척도로 되어있다. MILL 설문 조사 결과에서 학생들은 주로 외적인 학습동기를 보였으나, 내적 학습동기를 가진 학생들이 외적 학습동기를 가진 학생들보다 더 높은 회화 성취도를 나타내었다. SSLI 설문조사결과, 학생들 대부분은 삼육 외국어 학원에 만족하고 있는 것으로 나타났으나, 20%이상의 학생들은 불만족스럽거나 혼합적인 반응을 보였다. 응답자의 절반(54.6%)만이 재수강 의사를 밝혔고 실제로 그 다음 학기에 등록하였다.

남성 응답자들이 여성 응답자들보다 더 높은 만족도와 자신감을 가지고 있었는데 학습과제에 더 전념하는 것으로 나타났다. 그러나 성별에 따른 성취도에 있어는 통계적으로 유의미한 결과를 보이지는 않았다. 29~39세 연령 범주에 속한 학생들은 나이가 더 어리거나 더 많은 학생들에 비해 좀더 낮은 만족도를 보이는 경향이 있었다. 중급단계의 학생들의 경우 더 낮은 학습동기를 가지고 있었으며, 특히 사회적 학습분위기에 대한 만족도는 더 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 학생들은 기혼 영어교사보다 미혼 영어교사에게 좀더 높은 만족도를 보였으며, 흑인 영어교사보다는 백인이나 동양인 영어교사에 대한 만족도가 더 높았다. 초급단계 학생들의 경우 외국인 영어교사 보다는 한국인 영어교사를 더 선호하는 것으로 나타났다.