This document summarizes a study that examined the relationship between classroom structure, self-determined motivation, and engagement in elementary foreign language classes in Japan. The study hypothesized that (1) teachers' classroom structure would promote students' feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and (2) these psychological needs would mediate the influence of structure on students' emotional and behavioral engagement. Surveys and observations were used to analyze these relationships in 14 foreign language classes involving 396 fifth-year Japanese students. The results supported the hypotheses, showing that classroom structure positively predicted the three psychological needs and engagement.

1. STRUCTURE AS A PREDICTOR OF SELF-DETERMINED
MOTIVATION IN ELEMENTARY FOREIGN LANGUAGE
CLASSES
A Mixed Methods Approach
EMOTIONAL
ENGAGEMENT
Classes
14
Class groupings
organized by
different
homeroom
teachers
396
Fifth year
students were
observed and
completed
surveys
Students
6
6 public elementary
schools in suburban
western Japan
Schools
Classroom
practices related to high
engagement classes in Japan
Fewer open
ended activities
More full class
activities
Warm/Strict teacher
attitudes
Musical routines
prevalent
Repetition of
linguistic
routines
Enjoyment
of games
over
winning,
points, &
completion
BEHAVIORAL
ENGAGEMENT
TEACHER
STRUCTURE
COMPETENCE
RELATEDNESS
AUTONOMY
HYPOTHESIZED STRUCTURAL MODEL
The most recent course of study for elementary schools in Japan has included a plan for implementing
English language activities in all 5th and 6th year classes, with the intention of improving students’
motivation for language learning (MEXT, 2008). Strength and type of motivation has been posited to be
a predictor of both general learning (Ryan & Deci, 2002) and learning of foreign languages (Masgoret &
Gardner, 2003; Nakata, 2006). One of the most robust areas of recent study in the field of human
motivation has been that of self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2002). According to SDT,
students’ satisfaction of three psychological self-perceptions of autonomy, relatedness, and competence
(ARC) relates to their level of motivation and classroom learning (Reeve, 2002). In order to explore the
realities of the current policy to improve students’ enjoyment communicating in a foreign language set by
the Ministry of Education (MEXT, 2008), this paper investigates the influence of classroom variables on
students’ language learning motivation.
The ARC self-perceptions have been shown to influence students’ classroom motivation and
engagement in class (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Patrick, Skinner, & Connell, 1993). Both behavioral and
emotional engagement can be understood to predict student learning (Skinner, Kindermann, & Furrer,
2009; Skinner, Furrer, Marchand, & Kindermann, 2008). Engagement has been demonstrated as a key
concept in the study of motivation, representing a volitional endpoint of students’ positive ARC self-
perceptions (Reeve, 2012). More recent empirical studies have demonstrated the predictive value of ARC
self-perceptions on students’ engagement (Jang, Kim, & Reeve, 2012; Reeve & Tseng, 2011).
Recent work in the has further demonstrated the importance of both autonomy support and
structure in promoting ARC self-perception and student engagement (Jang, Reeve, Ryan, & Kim, 2009;
Jang, Reeve, & Deci, 2010). Through students’ self-reported data and external observations, these studies
found strong evidence for the predictive power of autonomy support and clear lesson structure on
students’ engagement. In these studies, classroom structure is conceived as clarity and authoritativeness
of the teacher, separate from a more authoritarian point of view. This perspective on structure clearly
coincides with the research on positive classroom management, in which clarity, pace, and teacher
enjoyment of the subject matter are connected with positive student performance (Brophy, 1998; Good &
Brophy, 2008; Kounin, 1970).
Regarding the research on self-determined motivation for young language learners, Wu (2003)
found that focusing on regular routines in the learning environment, structured but challenging tasks
with teacher support, and formative assessment positively influenced young learners’ perceptions of
linguistic competence and intrinsic learning motivation in China. More recently in the Japanese context,
Carreira (2012) indicated that elementary students’ feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness
need satisfaction positively correlated with more intrinsic language learning motivation.
While structure, ARC perceptions, and engagement have been studied within the realm of general
education, these variables have not been applied to language education. Further, previous studies of
autonomy support, need satisfaction, and quality of engagement in a structural equation model have only
looked at the effect of self-perceptions on engagement (Jang, Kim, & Reeve, 2012; Skinner, Furrer,
Marchand, & Kindermann, 2008; Reeve & Tseng, 2011), without looking at how teacher support and
structure might have direct effects on student engagement mediated by internal psychological self-
perceptions.
AIMS
Goals.
(1) Identify a latent variable associated with students’
perceptions of teachers’ classroom structure for foreign
language education
(2) Qualitatively observe and identify teacher practices in
classes which were both high in engagement and
positively rated for teacher structure
Hypotheses.
(1) teachers’ classroom structure would promote
students’ desires for autonomy, relatedness, and
competence (ARC)
(2) ARC self-perceptions would mediate the influence of
teachers’ classroom structure on students’ emotional and
behavioral engagement.
EMOTIONAL
ENGAGEMENT
R2=0.58
BEHAVIORAL
ENGAGEMENT
R2=0.29
TEACHER
STRUCTURE
COMPETENCE
R2=0.61
RELATEDNESS
R2=0.56
AUTONOMY
R2=0.85
Quint Oga-Baldwin, Fukuoka University of Education Yoshiyuki Nakata, Hyogo University of Teacher Education
χ2(190) = 3746.822, ns
RMSEA = 0.057
AIC = 16886.201
CFI = 0.938
TLI = 0.926
0.92***
0.75***
0.78***
0.76**
0.36
0.10 0.04
0.21*
0.5***
0.03
0.11
191
205
Sample
Teachers
?
22 16 Japanese (14
homeroom teachers, 2
specialists)
6 Non-Japanese
language specialists
(Various nationalities)
Quantitative Analyses
Qualitative Analyses
MANOVA test for differences between classes
Independent variable:
Individual classes
Dependent variables:
Structure
Emotional engagement
Behavioral engagement
Results:
Multivariate:
Pillai’s trace =0.355, F(51, 1578)=4.15, p<0.000
Univariate:
teacher structure: F(17, 543)=8.40, p<0.000, partial η2=0.21
behavioral engagement: F(17, 543)=3.69, p<0.000, partial
η2=0.10
emotional engagement: F(17, 543)=5.91, p<0.000, partial
η2=0.16
01234
12 13 14 15 21 22 41 51 52 53 61 71 72
mean of atsupav mean of abengav
mean of aemengav
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
SURVEY ITEMS
Anchor: “In today’s foreign language class:”
Teacher Structure
The teacher’s English was easy to understand
The teacher clearly told us what to do
The activities moved smoothly from one to the next
The teacher appeared to enjoy speaking English
Autonomy
I felt I did what I wanted to do
I was free to decide for myself what to do
I felt free to work in my own way
Relatedness
I felt good working with my classmates
My friends and I were striving together
I became closer to my classmates
Competence
I felt confident in my English
I felt that my English skills are improving
I felt capable of using English
Behavioral Engagement
I spoke a lot of English today
I worked hard on the activities
I continued to participate until the end of the activity
I paid attention to the teacher
Emotional Engagement
Class was fun
I enjoyed the activities
I enjoyed learning new things
I was interested in the activities
Structure
Emotional engagement
Behavioral engagement
Short, clear foreign
language instructions
and teacher utterances
Classes each class was recorded and described
by two independent reviewers in a double-blind
procedure. Classes were ranked, and ranks were
compared with quantitative rankings using
Cohen’s Kappa, K=0.62, p<0.001. Descriptions
of classes were then separated into groups of
high- and low-rated classes. Practices of high
structure and engagement teachers were
extracted and documented.