Abstract
The relationship between social and cultural capital and academic achievement was explored in this study by administering the Social and Cultural Capital Questionnaire (SCCQ) to 320 undergraduate students majoring in English language, and correlating the respective subscales with the learners’ university GPA. All five factors of SCCQ were found to be correlated significantly with the learners’ GPA. Moreover, having conducted the regression analysis, the researchers found out that literacy and cultural competence were predictive of higher GPA. The researchers then entered parents’ educational levels into the regression model. The results of this analysis indicated that, together with literacy, mother’s educational level predicted 23% of the variances in learners’ GPA. However, father’s educational level was not a good predictor of academic achievement. The implications of the results were discussed within a foreign language context and suggestions were made for future research.
Highlights
Cultural capital refers to individuals’ access to different cultural goods such as, Internet, computers, pictures, paintings, books, and dictionaries
The relationship between social and cultural capital and academic achievement was explored in this study by administering the Social and Cultural Capital Questionnaire (SCCQ) to 320 undergraduate students majoring in English language, and correlating the respective subscales with the learners’ university GPA
Has proved to be an important predictor of academic success (e.g., Eng, 2009; Israel & Beaulieu, 2004; Israel, Beaulieu, & Hartless, 2001). In their attempts to find an answer to the question “For whom does the school bell toll?” (p. 127), Beaulieu, Israel, Hartless, and Dyk (2001) conducted a study to examine the role of family, school, and community on students’ educational achievement
Summary
Cultural capital refers to individuals’ access to different cultural goods such as, Internet, computers, pictures, paintings, books, and dictionaries. Another study conducted by Sandefur, Meier, and Hernandez (1999) examined the effect of social capital on the probability of students’ graduation and entering a post-secondary education They concluded that social capital had a significant impact on high school graduation and college attendance. Israel, Beaulieu, and Hartless (2001) did a study to investigate the effect of social capital on promoting educational achievement among public school students They showed that social capital (both family and community) influenced high school students’ educational achievement. Among the ten factors studied, parent-school encouragement and facility, parental consultation, family relationship, and family support, correlated significantly with the diploma GPA In their attempts to explore the effect of EFL learners’ social status on their foreign language achievement, Pishghadam, Noghani, and Zabihi (2011) designed a questionnaire of social and cultural capital, and administered it to undergraduate university students. This research is conducted to find out answers to the following questions: Q1: Is there a significant relationship between students’ social capital and their academic achievement?
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