Domain specificity of trilingual teachers' verbal self-concepts

See Shing YEUNG, King Por Edwin WONG

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Teachers from Hong Kong (N=437) responded to English, math, Cantonese, and Mandarin self-concept items. Confirmatory factor analysis found good support for the distinction of 4 domain-specific self-concepts. English self-concept had a low correlation with Mandarin self-concept (r = .09) and a negative correlation with Cantonese self-concept (r = -.19). Cantonese and Mandarin, which presumably pertain to a single Chinese language domain, were also negatively correlated (r = -.11). These very low correlations did not allow the 3 language constructs to form a single verbal factor. The results challenge the assumption of a single verbal self-concept construct for speakers of multiple languages. For trilinguals, the verbal self-concept constructs can be very distinct and unrelated to each other. Copyright © 2004 by the American Psychological Association.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)360-368
JournalJournal of Educational Psychology
Volume96
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2004

Citation

Yeung, A. S., & Wong, E. K. P. (2004). Domain specificity of trilingual teachers' verbal self-concepts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(2), 360-368.

Keywords

  • Teacher Education
  • Teacher Education and Professional Development
  • Domain-specific self-concepts
  • Verbal self-concept
  • Trilingual
  • Teachers
  • English
  • Math
  • Cantonese
  • Mandarin
  • Actor analysis
  • Language domain

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Domain specificity of trilingual teachers' verbal self-concepts'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.