Factors That Keep College Students from Continuing to Study Spanish as a Foreign Language After Completing a College Requirement of Two Semesters

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to find out why college students dropped-out of Spanish as a foreign language after a one year requirement. Three groups of students participated in the survey. The three groups were composed of students who passed 101 and 102 and decided to discontinue (drop outs), students who had passed 101 and are in the middle of 102 (intermediate students) and advanced Spanish students who were minoring or majoring in Spanish. The data showed that the three groups of students differed on three factors: their professional plans, their academic concerns, and their financial concerns. Therefore, students dropped out of Spanish because Spanish did not relate to their respective occupation or their major, which made educational costs an issue.