Towards the Development of a Prognostic Approach to Student Retention in Foreign Language Classes

Abstract

Language student attrition rightly continues to raise concern, associated as it is with heavy emotional and financial consequences. Existing models of student retention and attrition approach the issue of student dropout once the students had withdrawn from their studies. Even though these models have been successful in determining some of the factors that contributed to student withdrawal, there are three distinct gaps in the literature. First, the lack of studies dealing with in-course retention, second, the lack of retention and attrition models that tackled the issue from a prognostic approach rather than diagnostic, and third, the lack of research into second and foreign language learning student attrition. This article explains a new approach to language student in-course retention, developed and evaluated in a first-year tertiary Spanish class, as well as the instruments that support its implementation.