The Mediating Role of the Foreign Language Self-Concept: Predicting Preadolescent EFL Learners’ Causal Attributions of Grammar Success and Failure

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceedingContribution to book/anthologyResearchpeer review

Authors

  • Günter Faber

Research Organisations

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Details

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSelf-Perception
Subtitle of host publicationResearch Advances and Clinical Challenges
EditorsJacob A. Sørensen, Nikolaj S. Schultz
Pages1-81
Number of pages81
ISBN (electronic)9781536126921
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2017

Publication series

NamePsychology of Emotions, Motivations and Actions
PublisherNova Science Publishers

Abstract

Academic self-beliefs substantially regulate learners' educational performance. In particular, the learners' individual competence and control beliefs must be considered as cognitive-motivational core variables. Competence beliefs are essentially represented in the learners' academic self-concepts, control beliefs in their academic attributions of own success and failure. Developmentally, both constructs will not only operatein a mutually reinforcing manner. Rather, the self-concept will directly affect the learners' success and failure attributions in a certain academic setting. As empirical findings in the field could demonstrate, interindividually existing differences in causal attributions appeared to be substantially affected by the learners' self-concept. According to the multidimensional feature of cognitive-motivational constructs, these relationships are assumed to be domain-, subject- or even task-specific in nature. Therefore, in order to clarify the relations among academically relevant self-concept and attribution variables, their domain- or subjectspecific representations should be investigated. The present study aimed at analyzing the relations of their self-concepts with their subjective explanations of grammar success and failure in a sample of preadolescent EFL learners from fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms. Additionally, the role of grade level and gender was examined. The results of this study, first of all, could not show any significant grade level and gender effects in the attribution variables. Moreover, multivariate SEM analyses of construct relations could partially substantiate the mediating role of the self-concept variable. In some but not all cases, the learners' causal attributions of grammar success and failure to master a grammar task could be significantly explained by their grammar self-concept which, in turn, reflected their foreign language achievement. Direct achievement effects onto the learners' attributional responses were found only to a minor extent. Furthermore, additionally conducted analyses of variance could demonstrate corresponding attributional patterns mostly depending on the students' grammar self-concept. However, for the learners' ability attributions of grammar success a gender-dependent difference in the high self-concept group occurred. Taken altogether, though not with respect to all causal factors under consideration, the findings of the present study partially confirm the mediating role of the task-specific self-concept with respect to the explanation of related control beliefs in the EFL context.

Keywords

    Attribution patterns, Causal attributions, Gender, Mediating effects, Self-concept

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cite this

The Mediating Role of the Foreign Language Self-Concept: Predicting Preadolescent EFL Learners’ Causal Attributions of Grammar Success and Failure. / Faber, Günter.
Self-Perception: Research Advances and Clinical Challenges. ed. / Jacob A. Sørensen; Nikolaj S. Schultz. 2017. p. 1-81 (Psychology of Emotions, Motivations and Actions).

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceedingContribution to book/anthologyResearchpeer review

Faber, G 2017, The Mediating Role of the Foreign Language Self-Concept: Predicting Preadolescent EFL Learners’ Causal Attributions of Grammar Success and Failure. in JA Sørensen & NS Schultz (eds), Self-Perception: Research Advances and Clinical Challenges. Psychology of Emotions, Motivations and Actions, pp. 1-81.
Faber, G. (2017). The Mediating Role of the Foreign Language Self-Concept: Predicting Preadolescent EFL Learners’ Causal Attributions of Grammar Success and Failure. In J. A. Sørensen, & N. S. Schultz (Eds.), Self-Perception: Research Advances and Clinical Challenges (pp. 1-81). (Psychology of Emotions, Motivations and Actions).
Faber G. The Mediating Role of the Foreign Language Self-Concept: Predicting Preadolescent EFL Learners’ Causal Attributions of Grammar Success and Failure. In Sørensen JA, Schultz NS, editors, Self-Perception: Research Advances and Clinical Challenges. 2017. p. 1-81. (Psychology of Emotions, Motivations and Actions).
Faber, Günter. / The Mediating Role of the Foreign Language Self-Concept : Predicting Preadolescent EFL Learners’ Causal Attributions of Grammar Success and Failure. Self-Perception: Research Advances and Clinical Challenges. editor / Jacob A. Sørensen ; Nikolaj S. Schultz. 2017. pp. 1-81 (Psychology of Emotions, Motivations and Actions).
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