Role of Achievement Goals in Children's Learning in Taiwan

Abstract

To address the debate over the need for revised achievement goal theory, the author investigated the validity of the trichotomous framework of achievement goals in the context of the Taiwanese classroom. Participants included 198 sixth-grade Taiwanese children. On the basis of the revised framework, the author explored relations between achievement goals and students' use of cognitive strategies and motivational processes. As suggested by the trichotomous framework, mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals predicted Taiwanese children's distinctive patterns of learning. Mastery and performance-approach goals positively predicted students' strategy use and intrinsic motivation, whereas both types of goals negatively predicted test anxiety. Mastery goals, however, remained the most adaptive types of goals. By contrast, performance-avoidance goals negatively predicted children's use of effective strategies and intrinsic motivation but positively predicted test anxiety. The author verified the positive potential of performance-approach goals proposed by the revised goal theory. Consistent with the multiple-goal perspective, students who pursued mastery and performance-approach goals demonstrated more optimal patterns of learning relative to students with other goal profiles. The 2 types of approach-oriented goals independently exerted positive effects on students' learning processes. The nature of Taiwanese students' achievement-relevant processes and the implications for education are discussed.