Perception of Parental Encouragement for Learning Chinese with Chinese Academic Achievement of Grade 3, Grade 4, and Grade 5 Students at Ain International School in Thailand

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between Grade 3, Grade 4, and
Grade 5 students’ level of motivation for learning Chinese, perception of parental encouragement for learning Chinese with their Chinese academic achievement at an international school in Thailand. An adapted version of attitude/motivation test battery was used to collect data from 55 Grade 3 students, 52 Grade 4 students, and 48 Grade 5 students during the second semester of academic year 2016 – 2017. Descriptive statistics – means, standard deviations, and multiple correlation coefficients were used to analyze the data. The findings suggested that Grade 3, Grade 4, and Grade 5 students at this school had high levels of motivation for learning Chinese and high levels of perception of parental encouragement for learning Chinese. Motivation for learning Chinese was found to correlate significantly with students’ Chinese academic achievement, while parental encouragement for learning Chinese did not significantly correlate with students’ Chinese academic achievement.