Abstract
This chapter addresses the question of “what is self-concept”. Highlighting the key insights to date from psychology, it explores definitional concerns and explains the difference and similarities between key self-related constructs. To provide a framework for the chapter which follows and to contribute towards a thorough understanding of self-concept, the chapter also describes in part the theoretical nature and structure of the self-concept construct as it is understood in mainstream educational psychology. Additional research concerning learner self-concept from both the main disciplines which inform this book – psychology and SLA – are also discussed, in order to describe its key characteristics, situate the construct in relation to other important constructs and elucidate the central role it is believed to play in language learning.
Keywords
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- 1.
A similar discussion has evolved around self-esteem with what is known as the dualistic approach, which sees self-esteem as composed of self-competence and self-liking which are believed to be highly correlated but qualitatively different (see, e.g., Bosson and Swann 1999; Mruk 2006; Tafarodi 1998).
- 2.
Reproduced with kind permission from the Journal of Educational Psychology.
- 3.
ASDQ = Academic Self Description Questionnaires; SDQ = Self Description Questionnaires. (Marsh 2006: 9–16). Instruments available online: http://www.self.ox.ac.uk/Instruments/packages.htm. Accessed 21 May 2010.
- 4.
It is also worth noting that in recent years there have been similar debates concerning self-esteem which so far has largely been viewed as a global and essentially unidimensional construct. Now some researchers question whether, like self-concept, self-esteem may in fact also be multidimensional in nature (see, e.g., DuBois and Hirsch 2000; Dusek 2000; Guindon 2002; Mruk 2006; Rosenberg et al. 1995).
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Mercer, S. (2011). What Is Self-Concept?. In: Towards an Understanding of Language Learner Self-Concept. Educational Linguistics, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9569-5_2
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