Correlates of self-confidence with English among Chinese students in Toronto.

Abstract

The relation between Chinese students' self-ratings of confidence with and indicators of assimilation and psychological adjustment, respectively, were examined. Factor analysis revealed that confidence with English was positively associated with linguistic assimilation into English-Canadian society and with several components of psychological adjustment (e.g., sense of personal control, selfesteem). Indicators of cultural assimilation (e.g., social distance toward anglophone groups) and involvement in the Chinese community were not, however, related to confidence with English. This pattern of findings suggests that for some minorities in Canada, self-rated confidence with the language of the majority group is not necessarily indicative of the loss of ethno-cultural identity by its members. Research on bilingualism in Canada has demonstrated that the acquisition of a second language is related to ability as well as motivational factors. Among Canadian anglophones learning French, two independent factors have repeatedly been found in factor analytic studies to be relevant to second language acquisition: language aptitude and a factor described as an integrative motive — i.e., a positive orientation towards acquiring a second language and a positive attitude towards the target language group (e.g., Gardner & Lambert, 1972). Similarly, among Canadian francophones learning language aptitude and motivation have been identified as correlates of second language acquisition (Clement, Gardner & Smythe, 1977, 1980; Clement, Major, Gardner & Smythe, 1977). Moreover, these researchers have found two factors pertaining to the motivational aspect of second language acquisition: the integrative motive factor obtained previously and a factor labelled with English, that is defined by high self-ratings of English proficiency and the absence of anxiety when speaking English. This latter factor has been found to be correlated positively with degree of competence in the second language. Clement and his associates proposed that the self-confidence factor was pertinent for Canadian francophones learning English but not for Canadian anglophones learning French. This research was made possible by a Chinese-Canadian History and/or Culture Fellowship to the first author, a SSHRC Sabbatical Leave Fellowship to the second author, and a University of Toronto research grant to the second and third authors. Thanks are due to Bernard C.K. Choi for assistance in back translation of the survey questionnaire from Chinese to English. Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to the authors, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A1. CANAD. J. BEHAV. SCI./REV. CANAD. SCI. COMP. 17 (4), 1985 370 PAK, DION & DION They suggested that this pattern of findings could be interpreted in terms of ethnolinguistic (Giles, Bourhis & Taylor, 1977). Ethnolinguistic vitality refers to the social structural characteristics of a language and its speakers in a society, e.g., its relative prestige, demographic representation, and degree of institutional support. Giles and his associates argued that one possible consequence for members of a language group with low vitality (low prestige, little institutional support, members of language group scattered) is their assimilation into a language group that has greater vitality. Although they have majority status in Quebec, francophones are a linguistic minority in North American society. Clement et al. (1980) suggested that francophones who showed self-confidence with English had perhaps given up membership in the French-Canadian group, were no longer concerned about the loss of their French-Canadian identity, and were comfortable with their commitment to the second language group. In essence, Clement and his associates suggested that self-confidence with the majority language on the part of minority group members may be indicative of assimilation into the language group of the majority. In the present study, we tested this hypothesis with a different minority group in Canada, viz., Chinese university students in Toronto. If a minority's self-confidence with English is symptomatic of assimilation into the majority's language/cultural group, one would expect that those Chinese students who feel more confident with English would report less involvement in the Chinese community and show less social distance to members of the anglophone community. The present study also extended beyond previous research in another regard by examining the relation between self-rated confidence with English and several components of psychological adjustment (e.g., reported stress, self-esteem, sense of personal control). For members of an minority, confidence with the majority group's language should be accompanied by a greater feeling of personal efficacy. Measures of psychological adjustment were expected, therefore, to be positively related to Chinese students' feelings of proficiency in English. To address these issues, we asked a sample of Chinese students at the University of Toronto to complete a questionnaire assessing a number of domains including self-rated English proficiency, participation in the Chinese community, attitude toward the Chinese community, social distance toward the majority and other minority groups, and psychological adjustment. These variables were factor analyzed to test our hypotheses concerning the relation of self-rated confidence with English to measures of assimilation and psychological adjustment, respectively.