1. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Autonomy support and Academic Emotions in
Foreign Language Classes
False friends or right ones?
Christian Beermann & Hanna Cronj¨ager
christian.beermann@uni-hamburg.de
Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaft, Didaktik der romanischen Sprachen
Universit¨at Hamburg
IATEFL / LASIG, November 26th, 2010
1 / 21

2. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Outline
Autonomy and Emotions
Definitions
Relation between autonomy and emotions
Design
Research Questions
Participants
Population
Measures
Method
Results
Descriptive
Correlations
Model results
Results (Resume)
2 / 21

3. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Outline
Autonomy and Emotions
Definitions
Relation between autonomy and emotions
Design
Research Questions
Participants
Population
Measures
Method
Results
Descriptive
Correlations
Model results
Results (Resume)
2 / 21

4. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Outline
Autonomy and Emotions
Definitions
Relation between autonomy and emotions
Design
Research Questions
Participants
Population
Measures
Method
Results
Descriptive
Correlations
Model results
Results (Resume)
2 / 21

5. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Definitions of autonomy and academic emotions
”Autonomy is essentially a matter of the learner’s psychological
relation to the process and content of learning [. . . ] a capacity for
detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent
action.”
(Little, 1999, p. 4)
The multi-component approach to define emotions.
Emotions are defined by four distinct components (Izard, 1994;
Scherer, 1984):
affective
cognitive
physiological
motivational
3 / 21

6. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Definitions of autonomy and academic emotions
”Autonomy is essentially a matter of the learner’s psychological
relation to the process and content of learning [. . . ] a capacity for
detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent
action.”
(Little, 1999, p. 4)
The multi-component approach to define emotions.
Emotions are defined by four distinct components (Izard, 1994;
Scherer, 1984):
affective
cognitive
physiological
motivational
3 / 21

7. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
The control value theory of academic emotions
In the control-value theory (Pekrun, 2000) autonomy is seen as
an important antecedent of academic emotions.
Environment Appraisals Emotions
Competence Support
instructional quality,
teacher engagement etc.
Autonomy support
vs. control
Achievement
expectancies
Feedback and
consequences
of achievement
Social relatedness
Control
causal attribution,
self-concepts etc.
Values
interest, goals etc.
Academic
emotions
4 / 21

8. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
The control value theory of academic emotions
In the control-value theory (Pekrun, 2000) autonomy is seen as
an important antecedent of academic emotions.
Environment Appraisals Emotions
Competence Support
instructional quality,
teacher engagement etc.
Autonomy support
vs. control
Achievement
expectancies
Feedback and
consequences
of achievement
Social relatedness
Control
causal attribution,
self-concepts etc.
Values
interest, goals etc.
Academic
emotions
4 / 21

9. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Research Questions
With this study we want to explore the relation between autonomy
support and academic emotions in foreign language classroom.
Research questions are:
(How) does autonomy support influence academic emotions in
french foreign language classroom?
(How) does the class level of perceived autonomy support
influence academic emotions?
Is there a difference in the influence on distinct emotions?
5 / 21

10. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Description of the participants
We asked
N = 547 pupils (individual level, within)
N = 31 German 9th grade classes (class level, between)
(schools N = 18)
on their perception of autonomy support and emotions in French
foreign language classroom.
6 / 21

11. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Design
Students were asked to complete a standardized questionnaire at
two occasions in 9th grade.
first occasion (December): perception of autonomy support
second occasion (July): emotional experiences in French class
7 / 21

12. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
How to measure autonomy?
In french class . . .
I can organize my time independently.
I feel that I can make my own decisions.
I can try to solve tasks in my own way.
We are encouraged by the teacher to find our own solutions.
We are taught to work independently.
Im Franz¨osischunterricht . . .
ist es mir m¨oglich, meine Zeit selbst einzuteilen.
habe ich das Gef¨uhl, dass ich eigene Entscheidungen treffen kann.
kann ich versuchen, Aufgaben auf meine Art zu erledigen.
werden wir vom Lehrer/ von der Lehrerin ermuntert, eigene L¨osungen zu
finden.
wird uns beigebracht, selbstst¨andig zu arbeiten.
8 / 21

13. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
How to measure emotions?
Emotions are measured as construct.
Scales make use of the multi-component approach described
above.
Four-item short scales, one item per component / dimension.
All scales:
5-point rating scale, from 1=none to 5=very strong
9 / 21

14. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
”Autonomy is essentially a matter of the learner’s psychological
relation to the process and content of learning [. . . ] a capacity
for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and
independent action.
(Little, 1999, p. 4)
10 / 21

15. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Parceling
Parceling of variables: Subsuming of items by computing their
mean.
Personal Dimension, Parcel 1
I can organize my time independently.
I feel that I can make my own decisions.
Task Dimension, Parcel 2
I can try to solve tasks in my way.
Instructional Dimension, Parcel 3
We are encouraged by the teacher to find our own solutions.
We are taught to work independently
11 / 21

16. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Internal Consistencies
Autonomy
Autonomy Support (α = .78)
Source of the scales: Kunter, 2005, PISA
2003
Emotions:
Joy (α = .83)
Boredom (α = .87)
Anger (α = .75)
Anxiety (α = .75)
Source of the scales: Cronj¨ager, 2009
12 / 21

17. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Method
Structural Equation Modeling – allows for modeling the
outcome and the predictor als latent variable, considers
measurement error
Multilevel Analysis – by using the Type = COMPLEX option,
accounts for clustered data
One model for each emotion
13 / 21

18. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Boxplots of the examined variables
auto autocm joy bor ang anx
12345
Bold Lines = Median
Box = inter-quartile range
ˆ= 50 % of data
Circles = Outliers
14 / 21

19. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Descriptives and Intraclasscorrelation Coefficient (ICC)
M (SD) ICC
auto 2.45 (0.77) 0.20
autocm 2.44 (0.39) —
joy 1.99 (0.77) 0.14
bor 2.75 (1.02) 0.15
ang 2.18 (0.88) 0.15
anx 1.49 (0.62) 0.01
15 / 21

20. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Correlations between autonomy and emotion
auto5 auto5cm joy bor ang
auto5
auto5cm 0.49∗∗∗
joy 0.46∗∗∗
0.27∗∗∗
bor −0.39∗∗∗
−0.29∗∗∗
−0.65∗∗∗
ang −0.37∗∗∗
−0.27∗∗∗
−0.53∗∗∗
0.69∗∗∗
anx −0.21∗∗∗
−0.06 −0.28∗∗∗
0.37∗∗∗
0.61∗∗∗
Note: level of significance:∗∗∗p < .001; ∗∗p < .01; ∗p < .05.; Bivariate
Pearson product-moment correlations
16 / 21

21. Model Results: Joy
Within (individual level)
Between (class level)
autonomy
0.79∗∗∗
autop1 autop2 autop3 joy1 joy2 joy3 joy4
joy
1 1.01 1.17 0.911 0.29 0.84
1 0.91 0.20ns
0.77
joyautonomy
0.22ns
joy1 joy2 joy3 joy4
Figure: Model for joy

22. Model Results: Boredom
Within (individual level)
Between (class level)
autonomy
−0.43∗∗∗
autop1 autop2 autop3 bor1 bor2 bor3 bor4
boredom
1 1.02 1.21 1.381 1.48 1.53
1 0.23ns
0.69 0.77
boredomautonomy
−0.53∗
bor1 bor2 bor3 bor4
Figure: Model for boredom

23. Model Results: Anger
Within (individual level)
Between (class level)
autonomy
−0.67∗∗∗
autop1 autop2 autop3 ang1 ang2 ang3 ang4
anger
1 1.04 1.20 0.821 0.52 0.60
1 0.97 0.02ns
0.65
angerautonomy
−0.42ns
ang1 ang2 ang3 ang4
Figure: Model for anger

24. Model Results: Anxiety
Within (individual level)
Between (class level)
autonomy
−0.30ns
autop1 autop2 autop3 anx1 anx2 anx3 anx4
anxiety
1 1.01 1.17ns
0.61ns
1 0.96 0.86
1 0.70ns
0.83ns
0.59ns
anxietyautonomy
0.09ns
anx1 anx2 anx3 anx4
Figure: Model for anxiety

25. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Model Results
Joy Boredom Anger Anxiety
autonomywithin 0.79∗∗∗
(0.11) −0.43∗∗∗
(0.08) −0.67∗∗∗
(0.09) −0.30ns
(2.81)
autonomybetween 0.22ns
(0.19) −0.53∗
(0.25) −0.42ns
(0.24) 0.09ns
(0.12)
Fit-Statistics
χ2
27.15ns
41.44∗
71.49∗∗∗
34.93∗
CFI 1 0.99 0.96 0.98
RMSEA 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.03
SRMRwithin 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.03
SRMRbetween 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.25
Note: level of significance:∗∗∗p < .001; ∗∗p < .01; ∗p < .05;ns =not significant .N = 547
18 / 21

26. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Results
Autonomy support influences on individual level
joy
boredom
anger
On class level
boredom
19 / 21

27. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
Thank you for your attention !
Merci beaucoup pour votre attention!
Download slides at
www.christian-beermann.de
or contact: christian.beermann@uni-hamburg.de
20 / 21

28. Autonomy and Emotions Design Results References
References
Cronj¨ager, H. (2009). “Emotionen im schulischen Fremdsprachenunterricht: Bedingungen, Wirkungen und
Ver¨anderungen im ersten Lernjahr Franz¨osisch”. Unver¨offentlichte Dissertation. Jena: Universit¨at Jena.
G¨otz, T. et al. (2006). “Academic emotions from a social-cognitive perspective: antecedents and domain specificity
of students’ affect in the context of Latin instruction.” In: The British journal of educational psychology 76.Pt
2, pp. 289–308.
Izard, C. (1994). Die Emotionen des Menschen [Human emotions]. Weinheim: Beltz.
Kunter, M. (2005). Multiple Ziele im Mathematikunterricht. M¨unster: Waxmann.
Little, D. (1999). Learner autonomy. Definitions, issues and problems. Reprinted. Dublin: Authentik.
Pekrun, R. (2000). “A Social-Cognitive, Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions”. In: Motivational
psychology of human development: developing motivation and motivating development. Ed. by J. Heckhausen.
Oxford: North Holland, pp. 143–163.
Scherer, K. R. (1984). “On the nature and function of emotion: A component process approach”. In: Approaches to
emotion. Ed. by K. R. Scherer and P. Ekman. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Chap. 14,
pp. 293–317.
21 / 21