IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING MOTIVATION, SCHOOL ANXIETY, AND SOCIAL COMPETENCE, FOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF THE FIRST GRADE PUPILS

Abstract

While intelligence is often posited to be the primary factor contributing to academic achievement, previous studies have identified a wider range of contributing factors, including learning motivation, social competence and school anxiety. However, studies of links between these factors and academic achievement in primary school remain few and far between, even though academic achievement in primary school represents a strong predictor of academic success in later years. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to assess the importance of learning motivation, school anxiety, and social competence for academic achievement of the first grade pupils. Subjects in the present study were 395 first-graders (172 boys and 223 girls) attending 14 large schools in the second largest city of Lithuania. Academic achievement in native language and mathematics was measured by means of a 5-point Likert scale completed by teachers. Learning motivation was assessed using the 14-item Elementary School Motivation Scale developed by Guay et al. (2010). School Anxiety Scale developed by Lyneham et al. (2008) was used to measure school anxiety. Social competence was assessed by the 29-item Primary School Social Competence Questionnaire developed for the present study. Results revealed that of the three variables studied, social competence was the strongest predictor of academic achievement for both boys and girls. There was also a significant negative link between academic achievement and school anxiety. Surprisingly, learning motivation was only weakly linked to academic achievement for boys, while for girls this link had no significance. KEYWORDS: primary school, academic achievement, learning motivation, school anxiety, social competence. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/atee.v1i0.677