Native Language Self-Concept and Reading Self-Concept: Same or Different?

In assessing verbal academic self-concept with preadolescents, researchers have used scales for students’ self-concepts in reading and in their native language interchangeably. The authors conducted 3 studies with German students to test whether reading and German (i.e., native language) self-concepts can be treated as the same or different constructs. Compared with other facets of academic self-concept, reading self-concept was more highly related to reading test scores (Study 1) and German self-concept to German grades (Study 2). In Study 3, reading and general school self-concepts demonstrated similar relations to German grades. The findings of the 3 studies, albeit indirect, supported the specificity matching principle and caution researchers against applying reading and native language self-concept scales uncritically to infer verbal self-concept.     

Kompetent und beliebt?

Peer popularity is a relevant aspect of well-being and academic success. Amongst other impact factors self-concept and academic achievement are predictive for peer popularity. The present study focuses on the correlation of students’ grades, competencies and self-concepts in mathematics and reading to perceived peer popularity. Against the background of gender stereotypes with respect to the domains mathematics and reading, we hypothesized differential relationships with boys’ and girls’ perceived popularity. In a sample from the National Educational Panel Study of grade five students (N = 4427) from lower (Hauptschule), middle (Realschule) and highest (Gymnasium) track schools, we conducted a multiple group comparison. The results showed similar relationships for both girls and boys in all three school forms. There was a correlation of students’ grades in mathematics and of their verbal self-evaluation with their perceived peer popularity. However, grades in language arts (i.?e. German), domain-specific competencies and mathematical self-concept were not related to perceived popularity. Results suggest that high verbal self-concept is positively associated with high self-assurance in social situations and in communication situations and that mathematics is regarded as more difficult and cognitively challenging compared to language arts.     

Simultaneous testing of four decades of academic self-concept models

In separate studies on academic self-concept, previous research has shown: (1) the distinctiveness of a cognitive and an affective component, (2) the domain specificity of self-concepts, (3) the reciprocal effects of self-concept and achievement, (4) the internal/external frame of reference in self-concept development, (5) the reciprocal effects of the internal/external frame of reference, (6) the big-fish-little-pond effect, and (7) the interrelatedness of self-concepts in similar domains. The present study demonstrates that all of these seven findings are replicable and may be synthesized in a single study with a sample of students in Singapore. Secondary 1 students (7th graders; N = 275) were surveyed with 24 items about their academic self-concepts in physics, English, and math in two components (cognitive and affective), and their respective achievement scores were recorded over two time points. Confirmatory factor analysis found that the cognitive and affective components of academic self-concept were separable. The students’ self-concepts in different curriculum domains were distinct, supporting the domain specificity of self-concepts. The frame of reference and reciprocal effects were both supported, but only for the cognitive component of self-concept. Positive and statistically significant correlations between physics and math suggest that these curriculum domains were interrelated. Results of self-concept studies in schools can encourage and guide the design of interventions that could enhance students’ self-concept for positive sustainable effects on desirable educational outcomes. Attempts to improve learning outcomes should emphasize an enhancement of specific components of academic self-concept in domain-specific and related curriculum domains for optimal effects.     

Achievement goals,academic self-concept,and school grades in mathematics: Longitudinal reciprocal relations in above average ability secondary school students

This study examined the longitudinal reciprocal relations between academic self-concept, achievement goals (i.e., performance-approach, performance-avoidance, and mastery), and achievement (i.e., self-reported grades) in mathematics. The research aim was twofold. First, we examined the confound hypothesis, which states that performance-approach goals do not feature any incremental validity in predicting achievement over and above students' competence perceptions (i.e., academic self-concept). In addition, we expanded research on the confound hypothesis by also investigating performance-avoidance and mastery goals. Second, we investigated the predictive validity of all three achievement goals for changes in academic self-concept. Seven hundred sixty-nine students (50.78% female) attending the highest track of the German three-tier secondary school system participated in three waves of measurement in Grades 5, 6, and 8. Our findings confirmed the confound hypothesis: Performance-approach goals did not explain achievement over and above academic self-concept. The same findings applied to performance-avoidance and mastery goals. Furthermore, performance-approach goals were positively related to academic self-concept changes, whereas performance-avoidance goals showed a negative relation to academic self-concept changes over time. Mastery goals were not associated to changes in academic self-concept. Academic self-concept and achievement showed positive reciprocal relations. To conclude, our results point to complex relations between achievement goals, academic self-concept, and academic achievement over time.     

A Constructive Program in Silent Reading

ABSTRACT

The authors examined whether self-concept, self-efficacy, and self-esteem show differential predictive utility for academic achievement across age groups and domains. More specifically, the relationships of 3 self-constructs with achievement were examined in mathematics for elementary school students and mathematics and language arts for middle school students in Korea. Task value and test anxiety were hypothesized to mediate these relationships. Consistent with previous reports, domain-specific self-constructs such as self-efficacy and self-concept were better predictors of task value and achievement than was general self-esteem. Task value and test anxiety significantly mediated only the relationships of self-efficacy assessed by the Bandura-type scale to achievement. These domain-specific relationships tended to be stronger for middle school than elementary school students and in mathematics than language arts.     

Individual differences and course attendance: why do students skip class?

Individual differences are theorised as being key predictors of students’ lecture attendance. Understanding students’ (lack of) motivation for studying is an essential first step in supporting these individual differences and potentially increasing class/lecture attendance. The current study explored the role of students’ deficits in motivations (ability/effort/task value) for studying and their predictive relationship with course attendance, while controlling for prior competence and academic self-concept. Second-year students (n = 219; Female = 40) undertaking three semester-long courses in English as a foreign language participated in the year-long study. The structural model tested included prior achievement and self-concept (Time-1; 15 weeks prior), the motivational deficits for studying in the course (Time-2; ability, effort and task value), and class attendance across the two semesters of study. Self-concept negatively predicted all motivational deficits (moderate-large effects), and positively predicted attendance. Two of the motivational deficits (ability and effort) also had strongly contrasting effects (positive and negative respectively) on attendance. The implications and practical suggestions for intervention are discussed.     

The dimensional structure of students’ self-concept and interest in science depends on course composition

Both academic self-concept and interest are considered domain-specific constructs. Previous research has not yet explored how the composition of the courses affects the domain-specificity of these constructs. Using data from a large-scale study in Germany, we compared ninth-grade students who were taught science as an integrated subject with students who were taught biology, chemistry, and physics separately with regard to the dimensional structure of their self-concepts and interests. Whereas the structure of the constructs was six-dimensional in both groups (self-concept and interest factors for biology, chemistry, and physics), the correlations between the domain-specific factors were higher in the integrated group. Furthermore, the pattern of gender differences differed across groups. Whereas male students generally showed higher self-concept and interest in physics and chemistry, a small advantage for male students in biology was only present in integrated science teaching group. We conclude that aspects of the learning environment such as course composition may affect the dimensional structure of motivational constructs.     

An extension to the internal/external frame of reference model to two verbal and numerical domains

Beside interindividual social comparisons, intraindividual dimensional comparisons in which students compare their achievements in one subject with their achievements in other subjects have an impact on their academic self-concepts. The internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model by Marsh (1986) assumes that dimensional comparisons lead to negative paths from achievement in one subject (e.g., math) to self-concept in another subject (e.g., English). In the present study, the I/E model was extended to two verbal domains (German as the native language and English as a foreign language) and two numerical domains (mathematics and physics). Grades and domain-specific academic self-concepts ofN=1440 students from 63 classes were assessed. In support of the extended I/E model, (a) math, physics, German, and English achievement were positively correlated, as were; (b) self-conceptswithin the verbal and numerical domains, while; (c) self-conceptsbetween the verbal and the numerical domains were almost uncorrelated; (d) positive paths were received from math, physics, German, and English achievement on the corresponding self-concepts; (e) negative paths were found from achievement in one domain to self-concept in the other; (f) positive paths were found from math (physics) achievement to physics (math) self-concept. Finally, (g), almost no effects were found within the verbal domain, i.e., from English (German) achievement to German (English) self-concept. Therefore, there is some support for the I/E model between domains; whereas effects from achievements on self-concepts within the domains were not negative.     

Academic Self-Concept and Self-Efficacy: How Different Are They Really?

Academic motivation researchers sometimes struggle to decipher the distinctive characteristics of what appear to be highly analogous constructs. In this article, we discuss important similarities between self-concept and self-efficacy as well as some notable differences. Both constructs share many similarities such as centrality of perceived competence in construct definition; use of mastery experience, social comparison, and reflected appraisals as major information sources; and a domain-specific and multidimensional nature. Both predict motivation, emotion, and performance to varying degrees. However, there are also important differences. These differences include integration vs. separation of cognition and affect, heavily normative vs. goal-referenced evaluation of competence, aggregated vs. context-specific judgment, hierarchical vs. loosely hierarchical structure, past vs. future orientation, and relative temporal stability vs. malleability. We argue that self-efficacy acts as an active precursor of self-concept development and suggest that self-concept research separate out its multiple components and subprocesses and invest more effort toward making students less preoccupied with normative ability comparisons in school.     

The cross-cultural generalizability of a new structural model of academic self-concepts

Prior research on the structure of academic self-concepts has demonstrated academic self-concepts to be domain-specific and hierarchically organized, but has largely failed to support the hypothesis that general academic self-concept is at the apex of the hierarchy. The present study investigates a new multidimensional nested-factor model of academic self-concepts that incorporates both domain-specific and general academic self-concepts, and the position of general academic self-concept at the apex of the self-concept hierarchy. Data were obtained from representative samples of 15-year-old students in 26 countries (total N = 106,680). Results showed that the nested-factor model provided a good fit to the data in each of the 26 countries, and that general and domain-specific academic self-concepts were meaningfully related to gender as well as to student achievement. Moreover, it emerged that the relationships between academic self-concepts and these student characteristics may differ substantially depending on whether the model applied does or does not account for the influence of general academic self-concept on domain-specific measures of academic self-concepts.     

Grade retention and academic self-concept: A multilevel analysis of the effects of schools’ retention composition

Previous studies on the impact of grade retention on academic self-concept suffer from inconclusive findings. There is no consensus if retention yields long-term benefits that could offset its opportunity costs and, if so, under what conditions. Therefore, this article examines whether grade retention decreases academic self-concept and whether this relationship is mediated by sense of belonging. Moreover, we aim to contextualise retention research by accounting for schools’ retention composition. Based on reference group theory, the effect of grade retention composition on academic self-concept is expected to be twofold. Normative reference grouping leads to the assumption that students in high retention composition schools will exhibit lower levels of academic self-concept, because retainees’ values are more likely to spread across all students within the same school. Comparative reference grouping might lead to a moderation effect of retention composition on the relationship between grade retention and academic self-concept. Multilevel analyses on International Study of City Youth data, consisting of 2,354 students in 30 secondary schools in Ghent (Flanders), revealed a negative association between grade retention and academic self-concept, which was mediated by sense of belonging. Students in high retention composition schools had a significantly lower academic self-concept. The impact of being retained on academic self-concept is not affected by the number of retainees within a given context. Implications are discussed.     

Explaining Chinese students' academic motivation: filial piety and self‐determination

This study investigated the relevance of filial piety and the three components of self‐determination, namely, competence, autonomy and relatedness, on academic motivation among Hong Kong Chinese secondary school students. A total of 461 students completed the questionnaire which consisted of five scales assessing attitudes towards filial piety, perceived scholastic competence, perceived autonomous support from parents, relatedness with parents and academic motivation. By using structural equation modelling, a predictive model of academic motivation, with filial piety, competence, autonomy, relatedness, age and gender as antecedents, was developed. All variables explained the prediction of academic motivation, with competence acted as the strongest effect, followed by relatedness and filial piety. The findings highlight the important contribution of the three self‐determination theory (SDT) components and the value of filial piety for Chinese adolescents' academic motivation. The implications of the findings for future research and educational practice were discussed.     

Beyond English language proficiency scores: understanding the academic performance of international undergraduate students during the first year of study

ABSTRACT

Past research into the relationship between English proficiency test (EPT) scores and score profiles, such as the IELTS and the TOEFL, has shown that there is not always a clear relationship between those scores and students’ subsequent academic achievement. Information about students’ academic self-concept (ASC) may provide additional information that helps predict future academic success. Research has consistently shown a positive relationship between students’ ASC and subsequent academic achievement and educational attainment in both school and higher education settings. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between the academic performance of international students and their language proficiency and academic self-concept as well as other characteristics related to academic success. The study focused on first year international students in undergraduate business programs at an English-medium university in Canada. The following information was collected about the student participants: grades in degree program courses, annual GPA, and EPT scores (including subscores). In addition, students completed an academic self-concept scale. To obtain additional information about success in first-year business courses, instructors in two required courses were interviewed about the academic and language requirements in their courses and the profile of successful students. Correlations between the students’ course grades, GPA, EPT scores, and ASC score were calculated. The instructor interviews were analyzed using a content analysis procedure. The findings from all data sources were triangulated and show that language ability, ASC, and other factors impact academic success during the first year in a business program. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Cooperative learning,motivational effects,and student characteristics: An experimental study comparing cooperative learning and direct instruction in 12th grade physics classes

One hundred thirty-seven students in 12th grade physics classes participated in a quasi-experimental study comparing the jigsaw classroom method of cooperative instruction with traditional direct instruction. While no differences were found between the two conditions for physics achievement gains, the results revealed differences in students' experience of the three basic needs (autonomy, competence, and social relatedness as posited by self-determination theory of learning), in self-reported cognitive activation, and in degree of intrinsic motivation. Path analyses showed that the basic needs partially mediated the effects of method of instruction on cognitive activation and intrinsic motivation. Increases in feelings of competence with cooperative learning were associated with better performance in physics. When controlling for competence, however, direct instruction had a facilitating effect on physics performance. Four aspects of students' personal learning characteristics (previous knowledge, academic self-concept in physics, academic goal orientation, uncertainty orientation) were assessed. Method of instruction was found to interact with self-concept: students with low academic self-concept profited more from cooperative instruction than from direct instruction because they experienced a feeling of greater competence.     

Dispositional Predictors of Problem Solving in the Field of Office Work

It was investigated how domain-specific knowledge, fluid intelligence, vocational interest and work-related self-efficacy predicted domain-specific problem-solving performance in the field of office work. The participants included 100 German VET (vocational education and training) students nearing the end of a 3-year apprenticeship program as an industrial clerk (n?=?63) which usually leads to a position in office work, lower or middle management, or a similar apprenticeship program to become IT-systems management assistants (n?=?37). The participants worked on three computer-based problem scenarios dealing with operative controlling, a relevant domain to both training occupations, and completed further assessments to measure the variables listed above. Theoretical considerations, prior research and domain analyses suggested that industrial clerks would have greater domain-specific problem-solving competence (H1a) and domain-specific knowledge (H1b) than IT-systems management assistants and that domain-specific knowledge would be the strongest predictor of problem-solving competence (H2: “knowledge-is-power” hypothesis); all hypotheses were confirmed. Hypothesis 3, the “Elshout-Raaheim hypothesis,” predicts that fluid intelligence and problem-solving competence are most strongly correlated in the context of intermediate levels of task-related content knowledge, however the highest correlation was found in the group with low domain-specific knowledge. The findings suggest that intelligence plays a minor role in later stages of competence development whereas typical problem situations in later stages particularly require prior knowledge. The relationship of intelligence, knowledge and problem solving as well as limitations of the study, particularly weaknesses in the measurement of non-cognitive dispositions, are discussed.     

"I Never Knew I Was a Bilingual": Reimagining Teacher Identities in TESOL

This study examines imagined professional and linguistic communities available to preservice and in-service English as a second language and English as a foreign language teachers enrolled in one TESOL program. A discursive analysis of the students' positioning in their linguistic autobiographies suggests that the traditional discourse of linguistic competence positions students as members of one of two communities, native speakers or non-native speakers/L2 learners. The analysis also suggests that contemporary theories of bilingualism and second language acquisition, in particular Cook's (1992, 1999) notion of multicompetence, open up an alternative imagined community, that of multicompetent, bilingual, and multilingual speakers. This option allows some teachers to construe themselves and their future students as legitimate L2 users rather than as failed native speakers of the target language.