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I explored factors influencing learners to speak English in and out-of-class. Fourteen Korean students who enrolled from spring to fall of 199X in an Intensive English Program (IEP) participated. Qualitative research methods employed were (a) individual in-depth interviews (N=6), (b) focused group interviews (N=8), (c) interviews with teachers and administrators of the language institute, and (d) non-participant observation. To validate the findings of the study, multiple sources of data were utilized: (a) individual learners' personal network analysis, (b) achievement scores, (c) teacher evaluations of the learners, and (d) the analysis of audio and video taped classroom observations. The respondents perceived four major domains of factors contributing to their unwillingness to speak English in and out-of-class: 1. Sociocultural factors with five sub-factors, 1) peer pressure, 2) Korean values regarding speaking, 3) Korean educational backgrounds, 4) Korean communication habits, and 5) expectations; 2. Institutional factors with 19 sub-factors; 1) conflicting goals, 2) mood, 3) distance, 4) teacher talk, 5)feedback from the teacher, 6) teacher characteristics, 7) teacher experience, 8) setting, 9) unequal turn distribution, 10) topic, 11) the structure of the speaking class, 12) few opportunities to talk, 13) amount of learning, 14) class size, 15) speaking Korean in class, 16) pressure from the teacher, 17) Inadequacy of class contact time, 18) wait time, and 19) conversation partner's unwillingness to talk; 3. Psychological factors with two sub-factors; 1) lack of confidence about one's spoken English, and 2) fear of making mistakes, and 4. Linguistic factors with four sub-factors; 1) translating habits, 2) listening comprehension, 3) limited linguistic resources, and 4) pronunciation problems. As to inFEuencing factors of success in learning to speak English, the respondents nominated the following factors as critical: a) social network type of the goal-oriented group, b) clear goal orientation toward learning, c) positive attitude toward interacting in English, d) oldest Korean students' preference to speak in English, e) an accommodating conversation tutor, and f) active ways of problem solving. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations are provided for ESL teachers and administrators who deal with large numbers of Korean students as well as for Korean students planning to study in the United States.
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