Academic Motivation and Self-Esteem as Correlates of Academic Achievement in English Language among Senior Secondary School Students in Imo State

Abstract

This study investigated academic motivation and self-esteem as correlates of academic achievement in English language among senior secondary school students in Imo State. Three research questions guided the study while three null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. This study adopted correlational research design. The area of the study is Imo State Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of all the 5,498 senior secondary year two (SS2) students in the 456 public secondary schools in Imo State. A sample of 1,200 SS2 English language students was used in this study using proportionate sampling technique. The students’ academic motivation questionnaire (SAMQ) was adapted from ‘Students’ Motivation towards Science Learning (SMTSL) Questionnaire’ which was a 20-item questionnaire. The students’ Self-esteem Scale (SES) was a 30-items questionnaire used to ascertain self-esteem of SS 2 English Language students. The academic achievement test was measured by English Language examination scores derived from SS 2 English Language students’ termly results for 2019/2020 academic session. Students’ Academic Motivation Questionnaire was an adapted instrument and therefore subjected to face validation by three experts. Cronbach Alpha Method was used to determine the internal consistency of SAMQ and a co-efficient of 0.81 was obtained. Pearson Product Moment was used to answer the research questions while correlated samples t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. The finding revealed that there is very weak negative and significant relationship between secondary school students’ academic motivation and their academic achievement in English language. The finding also revealed that there is a weak negative and significant relationship between secondary school students’ self-esteem and their academic achievement in English language. Based on the findings, it was recommended amongst others that parents and teachers should team up to encourage their students in building their positive self-esteem and to provide basic needs of their children/ward which are related to their teaching subjects in order to improve their academic performance.