The associations of parental support with first-grade primary school L2 Chinese learners’ ideal selves, motivation, engagement, and reading test performance in Hong Kong : a person-centered approach

Abstract

Research Findings: With a sample of 390 non-Chinese speaking first-grade primary school students and their parents in Hong Kong, this study examines associations between parental support and students’ ideal selves, motivation, engagement, and Chinese reading test performance. Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four groups of students (low-, moderate-, and high-ideal learners and ambivalent learners). Except for those ambivalent learners, students’ ideal Chinese selves were positively associated with motivation to study Chinese. LPA models with external variables showed that high-ideal learners were the most engaged in learning, followed by ambivalent, moderate- and low-ideal learners. High-ideal learners had significantly higher Chinese reading test scores than low-ideal learners, but not the other two groups. Meanwhile, parent-child Chinese reading activity was the most effective predictor of students’ group memberships, whereas number of Chinese books at home the least effective. Practice or Policy: The results affirm the important role of parental support in young L2 learners’ learning, suggesting that parents should spend time reading with their children to increase the kids’ motivation, learning engagement, and academic performance.