Journal of Educational Practice and Research (Jun 2016)
Factors Influencing Junior High School Students’ English Language Achievement in Taiwan: A Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Approach
Abstract
This study aimed to construct a social profile of Taiwanese students’ English language achievement by employing Bronfenbrenner’s perspectives. Data were collected on a sample of 709 ninth graders in central Taiwan via survey questionnaires and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that, first, a Taiwanese Students' English Language Achievement model was constructed by parental involvement, teachers’ beliefs/attitudes, parent–teacher interaction, and mass media/the Internet. Second, mass media/the Internet significantly predicted parental involvement and teachers’ beliefs/attitudes; parental involvement and teachers’ beliefs/attitudes significantly predicted students’ English language achievement; the correlation between parental involvement and teachers’ beliefs/attitudes was significant. Third, the completely mediating effects of parental involvement and teachers’ beliefs/attitudes in predicting students’ English language achievement from mass media/the Internet were supported, and the effect of teachers’ beliefs/attitudes tended to be stronger than parental involvement. These findings were in line with Bronfenbrenner’s theory and demonstrate that the influence of the mass media/the Internet (exosystem) in students’ English language achievement conveyed the degree of parental involvement (microsystem), teachers’ beliefs/attitudes (microsystem), and the interaction between parents and teachers (mesosystem), especially within the context of the socio-cultural atmosphere in Taiwan (macrosystem). Implications and suggestions were discussed and provided to enhance students’ English language learning.
