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Sources of information and education used by Korean adult residents in Vancouver

University of British Columbia

The purpose of the study was to determine the use made of certain sources of information and education by Korean immigrants in the city of Vancouver. The analytical survey method which applies a structured interview schedule was used, and a sample consisting of eighty-two adult Koreans was interviewed. Male and female adult Koreans were compared, and factors such as socio-economic characteristics and social interaction patterns were analyzed in relation to participation and non-participation in adult education to determine whether or not any significant differences existed between participants and non-participants. The Korean residents had a median of two to three years of length of residence, a median age of 30, and an average of 16 years of school completed. The Koreans were newer residents, in the younger age category, and highly educated. The respondents had a median annual family income of $7,500. There were only two significant differences between the male and female respondents and these were age and English fluency. The males tended to be older and more fluent in English than the females. One-quarter of the respondents had attended schools or university in Canada, and the majority of those adults were graduate students. One-tenth of the sample had completed vocational training courses in Vancouver. Koreans' participation in adult education was mainly concentrated in English language classes. Some forty-six per cent of the respondents had taken adult education courses. Most of those respondents had completed a one-month course of basic adult English language training. There were no significant differences between the adult education participants and non-participants with respect to eight socio-economic status including age, sex, marital status, number of children at home, length of residence in Vancouver, employment, income, and education. There was only one statistically significant difference between the adult education participants and non-participants, and that characteristic was English fluency at the time of arrival in Canada. Approximately seventy-one per cent of the sample subscribed to newspapers, 59.8 per cent read magazines in English, 91.5 per cent regularly watched television, and 78.1 per cent reported regular monitoring of radio broadcasts. Of the social interaction characteristics studied, social participation did not differentiate between the adult education participants and non-participants. A lower degree of fluency in English was significantly related to higher participation in adult education.

Text

2011-04-14

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/33642

Administrative, Adult and Higher Education

University of British Columbia

Graduate