Relationship Between L2 Proficiency and Psychological Traits With Self-Assessment Bias Among L2 Speakers

Abstract

Self-assessment is sometimes used to assess second language (L2) skills, but it has a degree of error that is possibly caused by L2 learners themselves, resulting from their L2 proficiency level and psychological traits. This study, involving 196 Japanese university students, calculated the self-assessment bias of L2 speakers using many-facet Rasch measurement. Correlation analysis explored the relationship between self-assessment bias and L2 speaking proficiency with psychological traits including self-esteem, English speaking anxiety, and English speaking motivation. The results showed that self-assessment bias was related to the belief in effortism, in which a person correlates ability with intensity of effort, and the Dunning-Kruger effect, in which high-proficiency learners tend to underestimate and low-proficiency learners tend to overestimate their abilities. Specifically, overestimation related to low proficiency prevents L2 learners from accurately assessing their performance, whereas underestimation related to L2 learners’ belief that they lacked the effort to improve their speaking skills. 自己評価は時折第二言語技能の評価に使用されるが、ある程度の誤差が生じる。おそらくこの誤差には、第二言語 (L2) 習熟度や心理的特徴など、学習者自身によってもたらされる誤差が含まれる。本研究では196名の日本人大学生を対象に、多相ラッシュ分析を使ってL2スピーキング自己評価のバイアスを測定した。そして相関分析を用いて、自己評価バイアス、スピーキング習熟度、心理的特徴（自尊心、L2スピーキングの不安とモチベーション）の関係を調査した。その結果自己評価バイアスは、努力主義の信念とダニング・クルーガー効果と関連があることが明らかとなった。特に英語習熟度の低い学習者は自身のスピーキングパフォーマンスを過大評価する傾向があり、一方でスピーキング技能を伸ばす努力が不足していると考える学習者は過小評価する傾向にあることがわかった。