83% of students prefer studying with multiple teachers, and other new insights on language courses

Globibo Research has conducted a new survey of especially young Language Course students (average age of respondents 23.2 years). The main focus of the survey was course and instructor preferences.

Attending a Language Courses may have very different objectives. While some students have a particular predetermined (e.g. professional or social) need in acquiring the language, other students are more attracted from the cultural or social image of the originating country. For example students attending a French Language Course in many cases are not attracted by the French language as such, but more by the associated image and perceived atmosphere of France. Based on this some language courses put more emphasize on blending the language learning process with a significant focus on cultural and social interventions. Based on the survey 68% of all participants highlighted this experience based focus to be more important than the language learning as such.

The instructor of the student is one of the most important determinants in the learning acquisition process. While many organizations attempt to guarantee that the instructor is available and assigned to all lessons of a Language course, Globibo research has previously suggested that an intentional change of the instructor supports the learning process. The new study has provided additional data that suggests that also students prefer a change of instructor over the period of a course. In a matter of fact 82.7% of all participants preferred a change of instructor than working just with a single teacher. 44.8% of participants highlighted they would prefer an instructor with an opposite gender than themselves, 72.4% preferred a person of older age than themselves.