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Korean elementary school students’ English learning demotivation: a comparative survey study

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Abstract

This study explores Korean elementary school students’ decreased motivation for English learning by analyzing the questionnaire data obtained from 6,301 students in a large city in South Korea. The students’ school grades and their prior experience in private institutes were considered as the major factors behind the decrease in their motivation. There was a statistically significant and consistent decrease in the students’ satisfaction with their English learning experience; expectation of ultimate success in English; and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation and integrative/instrumental motivation. Prior experience in attending private institutes had a substantial impact on the students’ motivation. Those who attended private institutes (hakwons) exhibited higher levels of instrumental and intrinsic motivation. However, in terms of other motivational constructs of integrative and extrinsic (parental, academic) motivation, private instruction had a negligible or negative impact. By comparing the results with those of Lamb (2007), the present study proposes that Korean students should be made to internalize the beneficial role played by English so that their English learning motivation can be maintained.

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Notes

  1. One of the reviewers commented that the term demotivation is not typically used in English. However, this paper, following Dörnyei (2001, 2005), defines demotivation as a gradual decrease in motivation and uses the term consistently.

  2. In this paper, EFL refers to English as a foreign language, and ESL means English as a second language. In addition, L2 is used as a general term indicating both second and foreign languages.

  3. Korea National Statistical Office [KNSO] (2008) reported that 88.8% of elementary school students in Korea received private instruction through sources such as private institute instruction, private tutoring, and self-study materials combined with regular visits from a private tutor and that English was the most preferred subject among all the subjects covered in private instruction.

  4. Korea Education Development Institute [KEDI] (2002) reported that 98.6% of elementary schools in Korea were either national or public and that the remainder (only 1.4%) were private.

  5. In Table 3, Cohen’s d for effect size is provided. Although most numbers of Cohen’s d present fairly small effect sizes, given the large number of participants in the study, the power to reject Type II errors is viewed sufficient enough (Howell 2007).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Chung-Ang University Research Grant in 2011. I thank Ms. Hyo-Sun Seo for assisting my data collection. I am also grateful for the thoughtful comments from the anonymous reviewers. However, any remaining shortcomings are entirely mine.

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  1. Department of English Education, College of Education, Chung-Ang University, 221 Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, 156-756, South Korea

    Tae-Young Kim

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Correspondence to Tae-Young Kim.

Appendix: Survey of elementary school students’ EFL learning motivation

Appendix: Survey of elementary school students’ EFL learning motivation

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Kim, TY. Korean elementary school students’ English learning demotivation: a comparative survey study. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 12, 1–11 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-010-9113-1

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