The relationship of student self-esteem and classroom communicative potential in early French immersion

Anstey, Glenda L. H. (1990) The relationship of student self-esteem and classroom communicative potential in early French immersion. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the self-esteem of early French immersion students to discover how it is related to the communicative potential of processes observed in the classroom. Communicative potential was a construct developed for this study out of a review of the literature on the communicative approach to second language learning. It refers to the theoretical level of communicativeness of a classroom based on processes selected by the teacher for use in the classroom. -- The sample consisted of all grade one, two, and three French immersion classrooms in Newfoundland (excluding those in Labrador City), whose teachers volunteered to participate in the study. This yielded a total of twenty-three classrooms from a variety of sociometric backgrounds, and included 259 grade one students, 143 grade two students and 122 grade three students. -- Two instruments were used in the study. The McDaniel - Piers Young Children’s Self-Concept Scale (YCSCS) was used to identify the level of self-esteem of each student. The French Immersion Classroom Processes Structured Observation Form was used to record classroom interaction between the teacher and students. The major statistical procedure used in the study was correlational analysis. -- The results of this study suggest that the mean self-esteem of students is dependent on the communicative potential of classroom processes selected by the teacher. Processes which allow for increased interaction and negotiation of meaning with the teacher and the peer group provide more opportunity for feedback from these significant others thus enhancing student self-esteem.

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