Adult Language Learners’ Drop Out Problems
Research results obtained from the survey covering 26 language schools who provide Estonian language courses for new immigrants in Estonia (conducted by Mart Rannut and Ulle Rannut in 2009) revealed that the drop-out rate reaches up to 30 percent of the participants. Main drop-out reasons (42%) affecting attendance concerned changes in employment: losing or finding a job, change of workplace or of work shifts, extensive business travel, etc. 8 percent of drop-out cases were caused by moving to another place and 5% due to family reasons.
In the case of free language courses financial reasons for drop-out vanish, however, factors connected to low learning motivation become much more important (17% of drop-out cases), as participants regard the course requirements too high, the course too intensive and difficult. Ironically, language school managers were on the opinion that the drop-out might be even more extensive in this case, reaching a quarter from the total number of starters. Though the reasons (employment, family, etc.) for missing classes were allegedly the same for all courses, however, the motivation in catching up one’s co-learners among those attending free course was much lower than among those who had paid for it, resulting in drop-out.
Our experience from previous adaptation courses has revealed that new immigrants are in difficulty in finding suitable language courses that would correspond to their needs. Most of the surveyed participants had unsuccessfully participated in some language course already and the reasons listed for drop-out were that the vocabulary taught in these courses did not correspond their needs, the course was too intensive or that the language of instruction was (unexpectedly) Russian, the language that they did not know.
Although the adaptation program for new immigrants in Estonia has been developed by the author of the current article and has been implemented since 2009, it has not solved the problem here. The main reason is that adaptation courses in Estonia are project-based, thus the course provider is every time different, the number of participants is usually limited and restricted to certain areas and target groups, these courses are offered only once a year and the language of instruction is mainly Russian. These courses are also very intensive (ca 10 hours of classes a week) which leads to a high drop-out rate.
One of the English-speaking new immigrants shared his experience after participating in one of these Estonian language courses: “I found myself alone there with about fifteen Russian speakers, whom I doubt will ever learn Estonian, no matter how many courses they attend. At that time, all of the other English speakers from our integration program who were placed with me in the class had already fallen away. So, with only me left over, the medium of instruction immediately changed to Russian. The classroom situation for me is a waste of time having to listen to other people making mistakes. Also, as I work long hours and at different times on shifts, this makes attending classes impossible.”
This was the reason why ImmiSoft Ltd together with the Integration Research Institute decided to develop a special Estonian language e-course and several other e-learning materials that would better cater to the needs of adult English-speaking newcomers in Estonia, eliminating the common drop-out reasons.
E-courses enable to overcome constraints limiting newcomers’ adaptation and integration in Estonia, make adaptation and language learning programs permanent and financially accessible. As e-courses are available in Internet, participants can visit each lesson whenever it is suitable for them and as many times as they need, thus, they cannot miss the class any more. They bring learning activities and personal tutoring to all participants 24/7 wherever they are, which eliminates most of the drop out reasons. Learners can decide what topics to choose and when is the best time to learn for them which should increase motivation. The other beneficial aspect is the affordable price as it makes the whole language learning process much cheaper for learners.
Until now there is no sufficient data on the overall efficiency of the e-courses, however, several drop-out causes may be overcome through this approach.
About the Author
Ulle Rannut, Ph.D
Find out more about these e-courses by visiting this website!
http://www.integrationresearch.net/immisoft-e-courses.html