Mediating role of motivation on theeEffects of teacher-student relationships on foreign language achievement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.vi33.26641Keywords:
teacher-student relationships, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, selfdetermination theory, multiple mediation modelAbstract
The present study investigated whether students’ motivational beliefs act as a mediator in the association between teacher-student relationships (TSRs) and foreign language performance with a multiple mediation model. Furthermore, this research examined whether mediating roles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation differ. A total of 1171 eighth graders (583 male, 588 female) were chosen with purposive sampling in China. Studentreported measures of TSRs, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) test based on national curriculum were administrated in October 2017. Results showed that the positive link between TSRs and foreign language performance is partially mediated by intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and the mediation effect of intrinsic motivation is significantly greater than that of extrinsic motivation, controlling for gender and socio-economic status. The results indicated that supportive TSRs can help learners to improve their foreign language proficiency by promoting their motivation, especially intrinsic motivation. The present results may have substantive theoretical and practical implications for teacher education and foreign language learning.
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References
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Claessens, L. C. A., van Tartwijk, J., van der Want, A. C., Pennings, H. J. M., Verloop, N., den Brok, P. J., & Wubbels, T. (2017). Positive teacher-student relationships go beyond the classroom, problematic ones stay inside. The Journal of Educational Research, 110(5), 478-493.
Cornelius-White, J. (2007). Learner-centered teacher-student relationships are effective: A metaanalysis. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 113-143.
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Fernald, A., Marchman, V. A., & Weisleder, A. (2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science, 16(2), 234-248.
Haakma, I., Janssen, M., & Minnaert, A. (2017) Intervening to improve teachers’ need-supportive behavior using self-determination theory: Its effects on teachers and on the motivation of students with deaf blindness. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 64(3), 310-327.
Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2005). Can instructional and emotional support in the first-grade classroom make a difference for children at risk of school failure? Child Development, 76(5), 949-967.
Henry, A., & Thorsen, C. (2018). Teacher-student relationships and L2 motivation. The Modern Language Journal, 102(1), 218-241.
Huan, V. S., Quek, G. C. L., Yeo, L. S., Ang, R. P., & Chong, W. H. (2012). How teacher-student relationship influenced student attitude towards teachers and school. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 21(1), 151-159.
Hughes, J. N. (2011). Longitudinal effects of teacher and student perceptions of TSR qualities on academic adjustment. The Elementary School Journal, 112(1), 38-60.
Hughes, J. N., Luo, W., Kwok, O., & Loyd, L. (2008). Teacher-student support, effortful engagement, and achievement: A three year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(1), 1-14.
Hughes, J. N., Wu, J.Y., Kwok, O. M., Villarreal, V., & Johnson, A. Y. (2012). Indirect effects of child reports of teacher-student relationship on achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(2), 350-365.
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Jang, H., Reeve, J., & Halusic, M. (2016). A new autonomy supportive way of teaching that increases conceptual learning: Teaching in students’ preferred ways. The Journal of Experimental Education, 84(4), 686-701.
Joe, H. K., Hiver, P., & Al-Hoorie, A. H. (2017). Classroom social climate, self-determined motivation, willingness to communicate, and achievement: A study of structural relationships in instructed second language settings. Learning and Individual Differences, 53, 133-144.
Katja, K., & Sara, T. (2016). Teacher-student relationship and academic achievement: A crosslagged longitudinal study on three different age groups. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 29(3), 409-428.
Klee, C. A. (2009). Internationalization and foreign languages: The resurgence of interest in language across the curriculum. Modern Language Journal, 93(4), 618-621.
Law, W. W. (2014). Understanding China’s curriculum reform for the 21st century. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 46(3), 332-360.
Lee, J. C., Yin, H., & Zhang, Z. (2009). Exploring the influence of the classroom environment on students’ motivation and self-regulated learning in Hong Kong. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 18(2), 219-232.
Li, Y., Hughes, J. N., Kwok, O., & Hsu, H. (2011). Evidence of convergent and divergent validity of child, teacher, and peer reports of teacher-student support. Psychological Assessment, 23(23), 44-63.
Liu, Y. B., & Fang, Y. P. (2009). Basic education reform in China: Globalization with Chinese characteristics. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 29(4), 407-412.
Ma, L. H., Du, X. F., Hau, K. T, & Liu, J. (2018). The association between teacher-student relationship and academic achievement in Chinese EFL context: a serial multiple mediation model. Educational Psychology, 38(5), 687-707.
Ma, L. H., Du, X. F., & Liu, J. (2018). Intrinsic and extrinsic value for English learning: Mediating effects of self-efficacy in Chinese EFL context. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 41(2), 150-168.
Malmqvist, A. (2010). Interests and strategies in foreign language reading: As reading students and students of English texts reading and understanding. Language Awareness, 19(1), 69-72.
Morten, M. (2012). The model size effect in SEM: Inflated goodness-of-fit statistics are due to the size of the covariance matrix. Structural Equation Model-A Multidisciplinary Journal, 19(1), 86-89.
Murray, C., & Greenberg, M. T. (2006). Examining the importance of social relationships and social contexts in the lives of children with high-incidence disabilities. The Journal of Special Education, 39, 220-233.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2012). Mplus user’s guide (7ed). CA: Los Angeles.
Opdenakker, M. C., Maulana, R., & den Brok, P. (2012). Teacher-student interpersonal relationships and academic motivation within one school year: Developmental changes and linkage. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 23(1), 95-119.
Pianta, R. C., & Stuhlman, M. W. (2004). Teacher-child relationships and children’s success in the first years of school. School Psychology Review, 33(3), 444-458.
Preacher, K., & Hayes, A. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879-891.
Quin, D. (2017). Longitudinal and contextual associations between teacher-student relationships and student engagement: A systematic review. Review of Educational Research, 87(2), 345-387.
Roorda, D., Koomen, H., Spilt, J., & Oort, F. (2011). The influence of affective TSRs on students’ school engagement and achievement: A meta-analytic approach. Review of Educational Research, 81(4), 493-529.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publishing.
Saft, E. W., & Pianta, R. C. (2001). Teachers’ perceptions of their relationships with student: Effects of child age, gender, and ethnicity of teachers and children. School Psychology Quarterly, 16(2), 125-141.
Sun, J. (2005). Assessing goodness of fit in confirmatory factor analysis. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 37(4), 240-256.
Telli, S., den Brok, P., & Cakiroglu, J. (2010). The importance of teacher-student interpersonal relationships for Turkish students’ attitudes towards science. Research in Science & Technological Education, 28(3), 261-276.
Velayutham, S., & Aldridge, J. M. (2013). Influence of psychosocial classroom environment on students’ motivation and self-regulation in science learning: A structural equation modeling approach. Research in Science Education, 43(2), 507-527.
Verschueren, K., & Koomen, H. M. (2012). Teacher-child relationships from an attachment perspective. Attachment & Human Development, 14(3), 205-211.
Voyer, D., & Voyer, S. D. (2014). Gender differences in scholastic performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 1174-1204.
Walton, G. M., Cohen, G. L., Cwir, D., & Spencer, S. J. (2012). Mere belonging: The power of social connections. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(3), 513-532.
Wang, C. L., & Liou, P. Y. (2017). Students’ motivational beliefs in science learning, school motivational contexts, and science achievement in Taiwan. International Journal of Science Education, 39(7), 898-917.
Wei, M., Zhou, Y., Barber, C., & den Brok, P. (2015). Chinese students’ perceptions of teacherstudent interpersonal behavior and implications. System, 55, 134-144.
Wentzel, K. R., Battle, A., Russell, S. L., & Looney, L. B. (2010). Social supports from teachers and peers as predictors of academic and social motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35(3), 193-202.
White, K. M. (2013). Associations between teacher-child relationships and children’s writing in kindergarten and first grade. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(1), 166-176.
Williams, J., & MacKinnon, D. (2008). Resampling and distribution of the product methods for testing indirect effects in complex models. Structural Equation Modeling, 15(1), 23-51.
Wubbels, T., & Brekelmans, M. (2005). Two decades of research on TSRs in class. International Journal of Education Research, 43, 6-24.
Yıldırım, S. (2012). Teacher support, motivation, learning strategy use and achievement: A multilevel mediation model. The Journal of Experimental Education, 80(2), 150-172.
Zhao, Y. (2014). On how to arouse the students’ learning interest in foreign language teaching. Advances in Intelligent Systems Research, 100, 308-312.
Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss: Vol. 3. Loss, sadness, and depression. New York: Basic Books.
Brackett, M. A., Reyes, M. R., Rivers, S. E., Elbertson, N. A., & Salovey, P. (2011). Classroom emotional climate, teacher affiliation, and student conduct. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 46(1), 27-36.
Cerasoli, C. P. (2012). Incentives, intrinsic motivation, and performance: A meta-analysis and theoretical reconciliation. Academy of Management Meeting, 1, 1-1.
Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014a). Intrinsic motivation, performance, and the mediating role of mastery goal orientation: A test of self-determination theory. The Journal of Psychology, 148(3), 267-286.
Cerasoli, C. P., Nicklin, J. M., & Ford, M. T. (2014b). Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic incentives jointly predict performance: A 40-year meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 980-1008.
Claessens, L. C. A., van Tartwijk, J., van der Want, A. C., Pennings, H. J. M., Verloop, N., den Brok, P. J., & Wubbels, T. (2017). Positive teacher-student relationships go beyond the classroom, problematic ones stay inside. The Journal of Educational Research, 110(5), 478-493.
Cornelius-White, J. (2007). Learner-centered teacher-student relationships are effective: A metaanalysis. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 113-143.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). Motivation, personality, and development within embedded social contexts: An overview of self-determination theory. In R. M. Ryan (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of human motivation (pp. 85-107). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Fadlelmula, F. K., Cakiroglu, E., & Sungur, S. (2015). Developing a structural model on the relationship among motivational belief, self-regulated learning strategies, and achievement in mathematics. International Journal of Science and Math Education, 13, 1355-1374.
Fernald, A., Marchman, V. A., & Weisleder, A. (2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science, 16(2), 234-248.
Haakma, I., Janssen, M., & Minnaert, A. (2017) Intervening to improve teachers’ need-supportive behavior using self-determination theory: Its effects on teachers and on the motivation of students with deaf blindness. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 64(3), 310-327.
Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2005). Can instructional and emotional support in the first-grade classroom make a difference for children at risk of school failure? Child Development, 76(5), 949-967.
Henry, A., & Thorsen, C. (2018). Teacher-student relationships and L2 motivation. The Modern Language Journal, 102(1), 218-241.
Huan, V. S., Quek, G. C. L., Yeo, L. S., Ang, R. P., & Chong, W. H. (2012). How teacher-student relationship influenced student attitude towards teachers and school. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 21(1), 151-159.
Hughes, J. N. (2011). Longitudinal effects of teacher and student perceptions of TSR qualities on academic adjustment. The Elementary School Journal, 112(1), 38-60.
Hughes, J. N., Luo, W., Kwok, O., & Loyd, L. (2008). Teacher-student support, effortful engagement, and achievement: A three year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(1), 1-14.
Hughes, J. N., Wu, J.Y., Kwok, O. M., Villarreal, V., & Johnson, A. Y. (2012). Indirect effects of child reports of teacher-student relationship on achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(2), 350-365.
Jang, H., Reeve, J., & Deci, E. L. (2010). Engaging students in learning activities: It is not autonomy support or structure but autonomy support and structure. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(3), 588-600.
Jang, H., Reeve, J., & Halusic, M. (2016). A new autonomy supportive way of teaching that increases conceptual learning: Teaching in students’ preferred ways. The Journal of Experimental Education, 84(4), 686-701.
Joe, H. K., Hiver, P., & Al-Hoorie, A. H. (2017). Classroom social climate, self-determined motivation, willingness to communicate, and achievement: A study of structural relationships in instructed second language settings. Learning and Individual Differences, 53, 133-144.
Katja, K., & Sara, T. (2016). Teacher-student relationship and academic achievement: A crosslagged longitudinal study on three different age groups. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 29(3), 409-428.
Klee, C. A. (2009). Internationalization and foreign languages: The resurgence of interest in language across the curriculum. Modern Language Journal, 93(4), 618-621.
Law, W. W. (2014). Understanding China’s curriculum reform for the 21st century. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 46(3), 332-360.
Lee, J. C., Yin, H., & Zhang, Z. (2009). Exploring the influence of the classroom environment on students’ motivation and self-regulated learning in Hong Kong. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 18(2), 219-232.
Li, Y., Hughes, J. N., Kwok, O., & Hsu, H. (2011). Evidence of convergent and divergent validity of child, teacher, and peer reports of teacher-student support. Psychological Assessment, 23(23), 44-63.
Liu, Y. B., & Fang, Y. P. (2009). Basic education reform in China: Globalization with Chinese characteristics. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 29(4), 407-412.
Ma, L. H., Du, X. F., Hau, K. T, & Liu, J. (2018). The association between teacher-student relationship and academic achievement in Chinese EFL context: a serial multiple mediation model. Educational Psychology, 38(5), 687-707.
Ma, L. H., Du, X. F., & Liu, J. (2018). Intrinsic and extrinsic value for English learning: Mediating effects of self-efficacy in Chinese EFL context. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 41(2), 150-168.
Malmqvist, A. (2010). Interests and strategies in foreign language reading: As reading students and students of English texts reading and understanding. Language Awareness, 19(1), 69-72.
Morten, M. (2012). The model size effect in SEM: Inflated goodness-of-fit statistics are due to the size of the covariance matrix. Structural Equation Model-A Multidisciplinary Journal, 19(1), 86-89.
Murray, C., & Greenberg, M. T. (2006). Examining the importance of social relationships and social contexts in the lives of children with high-incidence disabilities. The Journal of Special Education, 39, 220-233.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2012). Mplus user’s guide (7ed). CA: Los Angeles.
Opdenakker, M. C., Maulana, R., & den Brok, P. (2012). Teacher-student interpersonal relationships and academic motivation within one school year: Developmental changes and linkage. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 23(1), 95-119.
Pianta, R. C., & Stuhlman, M. W. (2004). Teacher-child relationships and children’s success in the first years of school. School Psychology Review, 33(3), 444-458.
Preacher, K., & Hayes, A. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879-891.
Quin, D. (2017). Longitudinal and contextual associations between teacher-student relationships and student engagement: A systematic review. Review of Educational Research, 87(2), 345-387.
Roorda, D., Koomen, H., Spilt, J., & Oort, F. (2011). The influence of affective TSRs on students’ school engagement and achievement: A meta-analytic approach. Review of Educational Research, 81(4), 493-529.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Publishing.
Saft, E. W., & Pianta, R. C. (2001). Teachers’ perceptions of their relationships with student: Effects of child age, gender, and ethnicity of teachers and children. School Psychology Quarterly, 16(2), 125-141.
Sun, J. (2005). Assessing goodness of fit in confirmatory factor analysis. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 37(4), 240-256.
Telli, S., den Brok, P., & Cakiroglu, J. (2010). The importance of teacher-student interpersonal relationships for Turkish students’ attitudes towards science. Research in Science & Technological Education, 28(3), 261-276.
Velayutham, S., & Aldridge, J. M. (2013). Influence of psychosocial classroom environment on students’ motivation and self-regulation in science learning: A structural equation modeling approach. Research in Science Education, 43(2), 507-527.
Verschueren, K., & Koomen, H. M. (2012). Teacher-child relationships from an attachment perspective. Attachment & Human Development, 14(3), 205-211.
Voyer, D., & Voyer, S. D. (2014). Gender differences in scholastic performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 1174-1204.
Walton, G. M., Cohen, G. L., Cwir, D., & Spencer, S. J. (2012). Mere belonging: The power of social connections. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(3), 513-532.
Wang, C. L., & Liou, P. Y. (2017). Students’ motivational beliefs in science learning, school motivational contexts, and science achievement in Taiwan. International Journal of Science Education, 39(7), 898-917.
Wei, M., Zhou, Y., Barber, C., & den Brok, P. (2015). Chinese students’ perceptions of teacherstudent interpersonal behavior and implications. System, 55, 134-144.
Wentzel, K. R., Battle, A., Russell, S. L., & Looney, L. B. (2010). Social supports from teachers and peers as predictors of academic and social motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35(3), 193-202.
White, K. M. (2013). Associations between teacher-child relationships and children’s writing in kindergarten and first grade. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(1), 166-176.
Williams, J., & MacKinnon, D. (2008). Resampling and distribution of the product methods for testing indirect effects in complex models. Structural Equation Modeling, 15(1), 23-51.
Wubbels, T., & Brekelmans, M. (2005). Two decades of research on TSRs in class. International Journal of Education Research, 43, 6-24.
Yıldırım, S. (2012). Teacher support, motivation, learning strategy use and achievement: A multilevel mediation model. The Journal of Experimental Education, 80(2), 150-172.
Zhao, Y. (2014). On how to arouse the students’ learning interest in foreign language teaching. Advances in Intelligent Systems Research, 100, 308-312.
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Published
2020-01-31
How to Cite
Lihong, M., Xiaofeng , D., & Jian , L. (2020). Mediating role of motivation on theeEffects of teacher-student relationships on foreign language achievement. Porta Linguarum An International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, (33), 129–144. https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.vi33.26641
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