Young second language learners' competence and affective self-concept

Recent research has distinguished between the competence and affective components of self-concept. Young learners of English as a second language (L2) in Hong Kong (N = 110) completed survey items on both the competence and affective components and their L2 skills. In support of the domain specificity of self-concept, both components were associated with L2-related variables but not with other academic areas. Analyses of variance found significant effects of both components on classwork and homework. The main effect of competence was significant for reading, writing and speaking whereas the main effect of affective was significant for writing, speaking, and listening. Results support the importance of both components of self-concept but also imply some subtly differential effects on young L2 learners.