Effects of Parents’ Education and Academic Involvement on ESP Learners’ Self-Regulation and Language Achievement: A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis

Subject Areas : Research in English Language Pedagogy

Mahnaz  Azad ¹ (English Language Department, East Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
Shokouh  Rashvand Semiyari ² (English Language Department, East Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)

Received: 2019-04-01 Accepted : 2019-06-02 Published : 2020-01-01

Keywords: Parents’ education levels, Language achievement, ESP, Parents' academic involvement, Self-regulation,

Abstract :

Self-regulated learning is among the factors receiving considerable attention in educational psychology. Moreover, parents’ education and their academic involvement have found to have their own places in learners’ academic success. Considering the importance of the issue, the present study probed the relationship between parents’ education levels and their academic involvement, with Iranian ESP learners’ self-regulation and language achievement. The participants of this study were 460 Iranian university learners selected out of 575 students. As the instruments of this study, a demographic data sheet, Ryan (2005) Parental Involvement Questionnaire, as well as the modified version of Tseng, Dornyei, and Schmitt’s (2006) self-regulatory scale were used. In order to analyze the data, Structural Equation Modeling was used through the AMOS program. The results of the proposed model demonstrating parents’ education levels, parents’ academic involvement, as well as learners’self-regulation and language achievement fit well with the data. The results of SEM showed that parents’ education levels positively and significantly correlated with the learners’self-regulation. Furthermore, the findings of path analysis showed a positive and significant indirect relationship between parents’ education and learners’language achievement. Therefore, it was concluded that parents’ involvement mediated the relationship between parents’ education levels and learners’self-regulation and language achievement.

References:

AsadKhan, R.M., Igbal, N., & Tasneem, S. (2015). The influence of parents’ educational level on secondary school students’ academic achievements in District Rajanpur. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(16), 76-83. (ISSN: ISSN-2222-1735)

Azhar, M., Nadeem, S., Naz, F., Perveen, F., & Sameen, A. (2013). Impact of parental education and socio-economic status on academic achievements of university students.International Journal of Academic Research and Reflection, 1(3), 25-33.

Butler, G. Y. (2013).  Parental factors and early English education as a foreign language: A case study in Mainland China. Asia Pacific Education, Language Minorities and Migration (ELMM) Network Working Paper Series, 8. The University of Pennsylvania.

Enever, J. (ed.) (2011). ELLiE: Early language learning in Europe. London: British Council.

Fatemipour H., & Najafgholikhan, M. (2015). The impact of self-regulated strategy development on vocabulary learning among English language learners. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(5), 249-258. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s2p249

Gu, Y., & Johnson, R. K. (1996). Vocabulary learning strategies and language learning outcomes. Language Learning, 46(4), 643–679.

Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. M., & Black, W. C.  (1998). Multivariate data analysis (5th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Jafarigohar, M., & Morshedian, M. (2014). The effect of self-regulation on improving EFL readers’ ability to make within-text inferences. Issues in Language Teaching (ILT), 3(2), 263-286.

Kline, M.S. (2013).  Application of structural equation modeling in educational research and practice. Perth, Australia: Curtin University.

Mahmoodi, M.H., Kalantarib, B., & Ghaslanic, R. (2014). Self-regulated learning (SRL), motivation and language achievement of Iranian EFL learners. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98(2014), 1062 – 1068. International Conference on Current Trends in ELT  DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.517

Moinifar, H. S. (2011). Higher education of women in Iran: Progress or problem? International Journal of Women’s Research, 1, 43-60.

Oxford, R. L., & Nyikos, M. (1989). Variables affecting choice of language learning strategies by university students. The Modern Language Journal, 73(3), 291-300.

Sahebkheir, F., & DavatgariAsl, H. (2014). the role of think-aloud protocols on developing

            Iranian EFL learners’ written performance. Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences, 4 (S3), 1-7. ISSN: 2231– 6345 (Online)

Schumacker, R. E., & Lomax, R. G. (2010). A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling. New York, NY: Routledge.

Shahabadi, Z., Saraee, H., & Khalajabadi Farahani, F. (2015). The role of individualism in women's reproductive intent on marriage.  Iranian Demographic Association, 8 (16), 29-54.

Tarka, P. (2018). An overview of structural equation modeling: Its beginnings, historical development, usefulness and controversies in the social sciences. Quality & Quantity, 52(1), 313-354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0469-8

Tasnimi, M., & Maftoon, P. (2014). Using self-regulation to enhance EFL learners’ reading comprehension.Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 5(4), 844-855. DOI: 10.4304/jltr.5.4.844-855

Turuk, M.C. (2008). The relevance and implications of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory in the second language classroom. ARECLS, 5, 244-262.

Tseng, W., Dornyei, Z., & Schmitt, N. (2006). A New Approach to Assessing Strategic Learning: The Case of Self-Regulation in Vocabulary Acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 27(1), 78-102.

Zimmerman, B. J. (2011). Motivational sources and outcomes of self-regulated learning and performance.In B. J. Zimmerman & D. J. Schunk (Eds.), Self-regulation of learning and performance (pp. 49-64). Hillsdale, NJ: LEA Publishers.

Zhao, X., Lynch, J.G.,& Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197–206. https://doi.org/10.1086/651257

Zhou, Y., Oxford, R. L., & Wei, Y. (2016). A Chinese student’s early education in U.S. K-12 schools: A multilevel perspective. In W. Ma & G. Li (Eds.), Chinese-heritage students in North American schools: Understanding hearts and minds beyond test scores (pp. 25–40). New York: Routledge.

Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (2011). Self-regulated learning and performance: An introduction and an overview. In B. J. Zimmerman & D. J. Schunk (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulated learning and performance (pp. 1-12). New York, NY: Routledge.

Zou, W. C., & Zhang, S. L.(2011). Family background and English learning at compulsory stage in Shanghai. In A. Feng (Ed.), English language education across Greater China (pp. 189-211). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.