This paper examines the connections between academic self-concepts in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and EFL reading competence with particular focus on the subgroups gender, migration background, and parents’ education background. The approach focuses on how realistic the students’ assessment of their EFL competence is (Praetorius et al. 2016).

The academic self-concept is a central motivational construct in educational psychology. It is discussed as key psycho-social variable for motivation to learn and successful learning as there is empirical evidence for positive correlations between academic self-concept and academic achievement (Arens et al. 2018). Furthermore, longitudinal studies have shown that a positive self-concept has long-term causal positive effects on academic achievement (Arens et al. 2018, Praetorius et al. 2016).

The academic self-concept is not an objective reflection of achievement, but is influenced by various factors, for example attributions of success or failure in school (Skaalvik, 1994), internal/external frame of reference and the big-fish-little-pond effect (Parker et al, 2013), perceived competence by teachers and parents (Spinath & Spinath, 2005), and beliefs and stereotypes (Plante et al., 2013). Furthermore, academic self-concepts are linked to motivational and emotional variables. A lower self-concept in a certain subject area correlates with lower enjoyment of the subject and performance anxiety (Stankov et al., 2012). Academic self-concepts specifically refer to the educational context and, in most studies, to specific subjects. General self-concepts, on the other hand, can comprise a variety of other skills and areas of competence. The importance of this distinction was emphasized by several meta-analyses, which have shown that subject-specific self-concepts predict educational outcomes more reliably than constructs of general self-concepts (Huang, 2011).

Gender differences in the global, not competence-specific self-concept are relatively small and, as a large scale meta-analysis (Kling, Hyde, Showers & Buswell, 1999) could show, are in the area of small effects (d about .20) favoring boys and men. When it comes to the overall academic self-concept, depending on the source, no gender differences or small advantages favoring girls can be found, the latter most likely reflecting the effect that girls typically receive higher grades in school (Cornwell et al, 2013).

Shajek et al. (2006) have conducted research on the academic self-concept among teenagers with a migrant background. They analyzed data from the PISA 2000 survey of about 2,500 secondary school students in Germany. The result was that teenagers with a migrant background showed a lower verbal self-concept than their fellow students. Mücke (2008) showed that elementary school students without migrant background had considerably higher self-concepts than students with a migration background.

Buff et al. (2011) showed that higher educational attainment of students’ parents correlates with higher beliefs about their children’s competences. Alexander and Entwisle (1988) claim additionally that the influence of parents with a lower socio-economic status on their children’s self-concept decreases faster in the course of elementary school than the influence of parents from higher strata.

The analyses with 8th grade students are based on the data of the Austrian Educational Standard Assessment in English as First Foreign Language at grade 8 (N = 80.204) for the domain reading in 2013. The review of the educational standards applied to students of the 8th grade in all public and private schools with legally regulated school types (Secondary School, New Secondary School, and Academic Secondary School (AHS)) according to Austrian public law. For the analysis, Secondary Schools and New Secondary Schools are grouped into schools of compulsory general education (APS). In the educational standard assessment, the following three Reference Levels have been defined based on the CEFR (Common European Framework of References) levels for reading competencies: B1 or above, A2, A1 or below (Schreiner & Breit 2014). The self-concept was surveyed with a student questionnaire and the data then categorized into four levels (low, rather low, rather high, high). For the analyses, optimistic, realistic (low/high), and pessimistic self-concepts were formed by combining the four-level self-concept scale with the CEFR reference level of the educational standard assessment in English. Students with an optimistic self-concept either achieve level A1 or below and have a rather high/high self-concept or achieve level A2 and have a high self-concept. Students with a pessimistic self-concept either achieve level B1 or above and have a rather low/low self-concept or achieve level A2 and have a low self-concept A self-concept is considered as realistic low for students who reach level A1 or below and at the same time have a rather low/low self-concept or for students who reach level A2 and at the same time have a rather low self-concept. A self-concept is considered as realistic high for students who reach level B1 or above and at the same time have a rather high/high self-concept or for students who reach level A2 and at the same time have a rather high self-concept. For the optimistic, pessimistic, and realistic academic self- concepts, descriptive crosstabs are used to analyze how they are distributed among the subgroups gender, migration and educational background.

Almost half of the students have a rather high self-concept. Another quarter is convinced of their own competence (high self-concept), and the proportion of pupils with a high self-concept in the Academic Secondary School (AHS) is 35% higher than in other school types. Only 4% of the students consider their competence in English to be very low. With regard to optimistic, pessimistic and realistic self-concepts, the majority of students have a realistic assessment of their own abilities. Only a small percentage of students are pessimistic about their abilities and 17% are optimistic. When comparing school types, significantly more students at the AHS have a realistic self-conception than at the APS and at the APS, more students have an optimistic self-concept than at the AHS. The analysis of the subgroups showed the following first results: More often, girls have an optimistic self-concept in EFL and less often a pessimistic self-concept than boys, but more boys have a realistic self-concept. As far as the migrant background is concerned, it can be stated that students without a migrant background have clearly more realistic self-concepts than students with a migrant background. The proportion of students with a migration background and an optimistic self-concept is almost twice as high as among students without a migration background. With higher educational attainment of a student’s parents, the proportion of realistic self-concepts increases. The lower the educational attainment of a student's parents, on the other hand, the higher the proportion of optimistic self-concepts. The proportion of pessimistic self-concepts is independent of the educational background and is very small. With increasing enjoyment of English, the optimistic self-concept increases. The first findings correspond with the theoretical approaches to the self-concept described in the abstract.

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