Motivational goals and school achievement: Lebanese-background students in south-western Sydney.

There is a general belief that Lebanese-background students in Australia do not usually perform well at school. This study examines the school achievement of Lebanese-background students and the major motivational factors related to their achievement. A total of 271 Year Nine students (117 Lebanese-background and 154 non-Lebanese background) in three high schools in southwestern Sydney completed the Inventory of School Motivation and the Facilitating Conditions Questionnaire and this information was used to examine the students' motivational profiles and the salience of motivational and other background variables in predicting school achievement.

The study indicates that the Lebanese-background group is lower on variables which predict both their English and Science results, such as their valuing of education, and their perceived family and teacher support. The strongest predictors for achievement for the Lebanese-background group were competition, social concern, recognition, and token reward; however, these variables were not the strongest motivators for the students of Lebanese background. The variable most strongly valued by the Lebanese-background group was power, and that was found to be negatively related to their school achievement.

The significance of these findings is that the Lebanese-background group does not strongly value the positive predictors for school achievement and attention needs to be paid to enhance these among this group; and that the Lebanese-background group shows higher levels of the negative predictors and hence attention needs to be given to diminish the students' negative perspectives which predict lower academic performance.

Keywords

learning

multicultural 

motivation

school achievement

cross-cultural 

Non-English Speaking Background (NESB)

Introduction

At an aggregate level, young people from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) have higher post-compulsory education participation rates than Australian-born and English-speaking background (ESB) migrant groups (Williams, Long, Carpenter & Hayden, 1993). Moreover, it is found that students from NESB have a more positive view of their schooling experience (Ainley, 1995; Ainley & Perry, 1994; Sturman, 1997) and that the academic aspirations of students and parents of students from NESB appear to be higher than for ESB students and parents (Meade, 1983).

On the other hand, studies have also indicated that the apparent high rate of participation in higher education is not in itself a true indication of the success of all minority NESB students in schools and that the school performance of children frequently did not match their high aspirations or the high aspirations of parents (Teese, McLean, & Polese, 1993).While NESB students, on average, have higher Year Twelve participation rates, a larger proportion of them achieve low to medium Higher School Certificate scores in comparison to students whose parents are Australian born, and that English language proficiency appears to be a major determinant of achievement for NESB students. Studies (Meade, 1983; Marjoribanks, 1980; Taft, Strong & Fensham, 1971) also indicate that there are variations within and between ethnic groups in educational achievement; some minority groups perform better than others.

Sturman (1997) argues that one of the major limitations of reviews of research into the educational experiences of immigrant Australians is that most research combines immigrant-background students into very broad categories distinguishing between three blanket groups: Australian-born students; students born overseas in non-English-speaking countries; and students born overseas in English-speaking countries. The problem with this type of categorisation is that there can be variations and differences within a group that are sometimes greater than the differences between groups. For instance, within the group of students born in non-English-speaking countries, Sturman points out that there can be differences in parents' aspirations and students' achievement. There are also differences within groups of students who are born in Australia but whose parents come from non-English speaking countries. While there are Asian students who have difficulty with English and do not satisfy their educational aspirations, there are many Asian students who are academically highly successful.

Therefore, in examining the school achievement of students from different ethnic and migrant backgrounds, it is important to look at specific groups of students and examine some of the circumstances associated with their education in order to understand the factors behind their achievement or lack of it.

Among the groups that have high academic aspirations but low school achievement are the Lebanese-background students (Horvath, 1979; Kalantzis, Cope & Slade, 1989; Meade, 1983). These studies seem to be the most recent and only available data we have on the achievement of Lebanese-background students in schools, although the apparent lack of achievement of these students remains a problem. In qualitative research related to this project (Suliman, 2001), the author found that schools that have a high percentage of Lebanese-background students have expressed their concern about the lack of motivation and low achievement of Lebanese-background students. The two main problems identified by principals and teachers at these schools were an apparent lack of motivation on the part of Lebanese-background students and an apparent lack of support by parents for the education of their children. Both of these factors were believed to have a negative impact on students' school achievement. There was also a prevailing assumption among school administrators that parents are disinterested in what goes on in the school and do not show support for the school or for the education of their children. The concern of principals was how to engage the Lebanese-background students in the process of education and motivate them to achieve better results, and how to gain the support and positive participation of parents in school meetings and in the general educational challenges that face schools and parents. Therefore, lack of motivation on the part of the students and the parents was considered a major cause for the relatively poor school achievement of Lebanese-back-ground students.

While it might be accepted that lack of motivation may have a negative impact on the school achievement of Lebanese-background students, there is inadequate research data to support this belief. There is little empirical evidence on the nature and range of the motivational goals held by Lebanese-background students and the relationship of these goals to their academic achievement. There is also little evidence as to whether Lebanese students are individualist and more Western goal-oriented or collectivist and more traditionalist oriented; and whether their goal orientation is in harmony with the goals fostered in schools or not. We know little about other factors that are believed to impact on school achievement, such as the students' self esteem, their sense of competence, their sense of purpose for schooling and their valuing of education. We have no data to indicate the kind of encouragement and support or lack of it that they receive from parents, teachers and peers and how they feel about school. Although some studies in Australia and the United States have examined the motivational goals of students from different cultural background (Maehr, 1998; Maehr & Midgley, 1996; Maehr & Pintrich, 1995; McInerney, 1990; 1992; McInerney & Swisher, 1995; McInerney, Roche, McInerney & Marsh, 1997), there has been no research in this area concerning students from a Lebanese background.

Hence, this research sets out to fill the gap in available knowledge by examining the school achievement of Lebanese-background students and, in particular, to identify some of the major factors contributing to their achievement or lack of it. In order to do this, we addressed the following research questions:

* What is the level of school achievement of Lebanese-background students in comparison to other students in high schools?

* What are the motivational goals of Lebanese-background students?

* Which goals are predictive of students' school achievement?

In order to better understand the factors behind the achievement patterns of Lebanese-background students and their goal orientation, it is important to give some background information about the Lebanese in Australia in the context of their immigration and social experiences as well as review the goal theory of achievement motivation.

Background

Lebanese immigrants in Sydney

The history of Lebanese settlement in Australia goes back to the late nineteenth century, with the latest phase of immigrants arriving from 1975 onwards as a result of the civil war in Lebanon. The period 1971 to 1977 saw the heaviest influx of Lebanese immigrants to Sydney. Chain migration was the major pattern, with extended families and sometimes almost whole villages migrating together. Most of these immigrants settled in Sydney bringing the number of Lebanese-born immigrants in Sydney to 50,000 by 1996 and making them the sixth largest immigrant group in Sydney. More than half of the total number of Lebanese who arrived during this period was Muslims: sixty per cent, approximately 14,000 people (Humphrey, 1998).

The Lebanese immigrants came to Australia with the hope of returning to Lebanon once the war was over, and therefore saw themselves as temporary residents and were not very serious about finding jobs, learning English or improving their economic and educational status. There was a high rate of unemployment and considerable settlement problems among these people. Many of these arrivals had disrupted education and work experience prior to immigration, due to the civil war. They also had little economic security and limited literacy ability in Arabic.

The situation was made worse with the depressed economic situation in Australia at the time of their arrival: 'The economic situation in Australia at the time with a decline in the number of jobs in manufacturing industries, together with discrimination in recruitment by Australian employers made it harder for these people, with limited skills and experience, to find work' (Clyne & Kipp, 1996, p. 23). Moreover, the influx of Lebanese migrants in big numbers over a period of about six years placed enormous financial and social pressures on the existing Lebanon-born population in terms of the organisation of housing, jobs and financial support, especially for the Muslim population.

Recently, Lebanese unemployment rates were measured at between three to five times that of the national average (Collins, Noble, Poynting & Tabar, 2000). Among those who have jobs, first-generation Lebanese-born immigrants are more likely to be over-represented in blue-collar jobs and under-represented in professional and managerial jobs when compared to other immigrants and the Australian-born. Muslim Lebanese seem to be more disadvantaged than their Christian counterparts. Most Muslim Lebanese in the workforce appear to be employed as unskilled workers in Australia with their Christian counterparts more likely to be involved in small business. Sixty per cent of Australia's Sunni Muslim immigrants rely on welfare and workers compensation for income as do thirty-two per cent of Maronites (Humphries, 1998, in Collins et al., 2000). Therefore, this group of Lebanese immigrants are disadvantaged and the Muslim group more so than the Christian group.

In spite of their disadvantaged status, the Lebanese people in general have very strong family and social relations and they offer support to members of their family and community. Family members, friends and members of the Lebanese community hold strong moral and social values and adhere to cultural traditions, all of which influence individual behaviour. Children within this closely knit family and community unit are expected to adhere to the norms of behaviour of the family unit and the Lebanese community and they are also expected to respect their elders, who, in turn, have high aspirations for them (Bouma, 1994; El-Hassan, 2000; Faour, 1998; McKay, 1989). The Lebanese also receive great support from the many organisations and groups that offer services to the community in Arabic.

The Lebanese image

What is the image of the Lebanese in Australia at the present time? Up until recent times there was no specific focus on the Lebanese community, neither in a positive nor negative way, but recent international incidents--mainly the Gulf and Iraqi wars, September 11 and the association of terrorism with Arabs, especially Muslim Arabs--have contributed to negative stereotyping of all Arabic-speaking people and led to harassment, intimidation and vilification of the Arabic-speaking community. This in turn, had its negative impact on the youth of the community.

A recent study of Lebanese immigrant youth in western Sydney (Poynting, Noble & Tabar, 1999) has pointed out that Lebanese young boys tend to 'stick together' and have strong solidarity for each other and for other migrant groups but in contraposition to Anglo Australians. This 'separateness' from Anglos extends to an attitude of disrespect. They do not regard 'Aussies' with respect, because, they say, this group does not treat them and others of their own ethnicity with respect. These same youth do, however, regard their own parents and members of their community with respect. They express respect for their religion, whether Christian or Muslim, and for their culture and ethnic traditions. For them, being Lebanese entails respect to the family, to traditions and respect for others. They perceive this as an allegiance to their ethnicity and ethnic solidarity.

Studies have also pointed out that there is a power conflict between the Lebanese youth on the one side and the Asians and Australians on the other; and the latter two groups are seen to be superior to the Lebanese students both academically and physically. The Lebanese youth also see themselves and are seen by others to be less academic than other groups (Collins et al., 2000).

Goal theory of achievement motivation

The goal theory of achievement motivation has made a significant contribution in explaining the relationship between students' motivation and their school achievement, while taking into account the schools' and students' cultures and examining the interaction of these factors. The goal theory of achievement motivation stresses that school motivation and achievement for an individual are the product of a complex set of interacting goals that reflect personal, family and cultural values and that the goals held by students direct and guide their cognition and academic behaviour. Personal goals are defined as cognitive representations of the different purposes that students may have in different achievement situations, and are presumed to guide students' behaviour, cognition, and affect as they become involved in academic work. It is also believed that the goals stressed by schools may have dramatic consequences as to whether students are motivated and succeed at school or not (Ames, 1992; Ames & Ames, 1984; Blumenfeld, 1992; Dweck & Elliot, 1983; Elliot & Dweck, 1988; McInerney, Roche, McInerney & Marsh, 1997; Pintrich, Marx & Boyle, 1993; Wentzel, 1991).

Mastery and performance goals

Researchers in the past have focused particularly on two goals: mastery and performance. Mastery goals are intrinsic goals that are self referenced. Individuals who hold mastery goals focus on the intrinsic value of learning and work hard to understand their work, improve their competence and skills and achieve a sense of mastery. Success, for them, is not measured against other students; rather, the focus is on the intrinsic value of learning.

Performance goals, on the other hand, are extrinsic and other referenced. The focus is on obtaining a good grade and being better than others. For students who hold performance goals, rewards and approval from others are very important motivational factors and one's ability, self worth and success are measured in relation to others or to norm-referenced standards. Success is measured by doing better than others and self worth is determined by one's ability to perform and compete successfully. Performance-oriented students appear to focus on getting a good mark or doing better than other students; and they use surface level strategies such as rote learning. Because this approach is associated with social comparison and wanting to be better than others, students may tend to avoid challenging tasks and withdraw from tasks after an initial failure, which may be followed by negative self worth. Research has indicated that performance goal orientation was not significantly related to cognitive engagement or regulatory strategies (Ames, 1992).

How do students become either mastery or performance oriented? Most goal theorists point out that students' goal orientations are dependent on and influenced by school culture (the goals stressed by schools) and that classroom context has dramatic consequences as to whether students work hard and take on challenges, or whether they avoid challenging tasks and give up when faced with difficulties and failure (Ames, 1984, 1992; Covington, 1992; Elliot & Dweck, 1988; Maehr, 1989; Maehr & Midgley, 1996; McInerney, 1995). It is also argued that schools and teachers either implicitly or explicitly reflect these goals through educational structures, such as the nature of the teaching tasks, assessment procedures and power structures used in the classroom. These school goals in turn influence the goals students adopt (Ames, 1992; Blumenfeld, 1992; Meece, 1991).

Mastery and performance goals, however, are not mutually exclusive. Recent research suggests that individuals may hold both mastery and performance goals, varying in importance, depending on the nature of the task, the school environment and the broader social and educational context of the institution (Meece, 1991; Pintrich & Garcia, 1991; Wentzel, 1991). Within school structures, beside mastery and performance goals, there are other relevant and interacting multiple goals that may impact on students' academic behaviour in different ways. The social dimension of schooling, including the influence of parents, teachers and peers, may interact with both mastery and performance goals, and be extremely influential in affecting children's attitudes towards schooling in general and learning in particular (McInerney 1995, 1988, 1989; McInerney & Sinclair, 1992; Pintrich & Schrauben, 1992).

Students may also hold multiple goals reflecting social values such as a desire to please parents, to be important in the peer group, or to preserve a cultural identity; each of which may impact upon their level of motivation for particular tasks in school settings. These multiple goals interact providing a complex framework of motivational determinants of action.

Both mastery goals and performance goals are individualist in orientation: both focus on individual goals, whereas some cultures are collectivist oriented (McInerney, Roche, McInerney & Marsh, 1997). Therefore, reducing a study on motivation to performance versus mastery goals is unsatisfactory when examining the goals of students from non-individualist societies.

Individualist and collectivist

Triandis (1994) draws contrasts between individualist-oriented Western industrialised cultures and collectivist non-Western traditional cultures and points out that it is commonly believed that Western industrialised and heterogeneous societies are more individualist oriented: that is, individuals think of themselves as autonomous entities and their behaviour reflects personal beliefs; they stress independence, emphasise pleasure, are competitive, seek power and control over others and are desirous of individual success through achieving personal goals. On the other hand, non-Western homogeneous societies are more collectivist oriented: individuals see themselves as belonging to a collective and their behaviour is dictated by in-group norms and expectations. They emphasise interdependence and values such as security, obedience, duty, in-group harmony, hierarchy and personalised relationships, and their individual goals reflect in-group goals. It is also believed that Western-type schools foster individualistic goals and place little emphasis on collectivism, which focuses on group goals and affiliation. In these Western-type schools little attention is paid to 'group orientations such as working to preserve in-group integrity, interdependence of members and harmonious relationships' (McInerney, 1995, p. 157).

Goals of Arabic-speaking people

Although very little research has previously been conducted into the goal orientations of Lebanese school students, research on the goal orientation of Arab school teachers (Abu Saad, 1998) and on Gulf States and Egyptian businesspeople (Abu-Saad & Hendrix, 1995; Almaney, 1981; Barakat, 1993; El Sayed-El Khouly & Buda, 1997; Hofstede, 1984;) indicates that Arab people are strongly collectivist oriented and that Arab society tends to de-emphasise the individual as an end in itself, stressing instead the relationships, the obligations and responsibilities of the individual towards his or her immediate community: 'Traditional Arab values put more emphasis on the group than on the individual, on solidarity than on the activity and needs of the individual and on the communion of person than on their autonomy' (Abu-Saad, 1998, p. 379).

In view of the above, the present study sets out to assess the nature of the goal orientations of Lebanese-background students and establish whether they are performance or mastery oriented and individualists or collectivists, and to examine the impact of these goals on their school achievement.

Methodology

Participants A total of 271 Year Nine students in three high schools in southwestern Sydney participated in this study: an all-boys school, an all-girls school, and a co-educational school. We chose the Year Nine level in order to allow us to collect the participants' Year Ten School Certificate results the following year.

Of these students, 117 were of Lebanese-background (LB) and 154 of non-Lebanese-background (NLB). Seventy-two per cent of the students in the study were born in Australia, but only 11.8 per cent of fathers and 14.4 per cent of mothers were born in Australia. Overall, 85.1 per cent of students came from a background where a language other than English is used at home. Approximately 43.5 per cent of participating students came from homes where the father was a tradesperson, salesperson or clerk, while 18.0 per cent of mothers were employed in one of these categories. Approximately 25.2 per cent came from homes where the father was in a labouring or related occupation or unemployed while 56.1 per cent classified their mother's occupational role in this way. Approximately 10.7 per cent of fathers and four per cent of mothers held a professional, para-professional or managerial job. Only 14.8 per cent of fathers and 13.2 per cent of mothers completed schooling to Years Eleven and Twelve. The majority of participants (45.8 per cent) described their religion as Muslim, 37.7 per cent as Christian, 9.6 per cent as Buddhist, and 2.6 per cent as Hindu. Of the Lebanese-background students, (n = 117), 88.0 per cent described their religion as Muslim.

In order to make comparisons between the LB students and others, one primary and three subgroups were drawn. The primary comparison group consisted of all Non-Lebanese-background students (NLB) (n = 154).The three subgroups of the NLB group were: English-background group (EB) (n = 60) made up of students who did not have another language beside English at home; Chinese-background group (CB) (n = 12) made up of students who spoke Chinese at home; and a Vietnamese-background group (VB) (n = 21) made up of students who spoke Vietnamese at home. Sixty-one students who were not part of these three smaller comparative groups also formed part of the NLB group.

Instruments Two instruments were used in this study: the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM) and the Facilitating Conditions Questionnaire (FCQ).

The Inventory of School Motivation is an exploratory instrument designed to measure motivation in cross-cultural settings (McInerney, Marsh, Yeung, 2003; McInerney & Sinclair, 1992; McInerney, Yeung & McInerney, 2001).

Thirty-seven items were used to measure seven scales reflecting students' perceived goals and three scales reflecting students' sense of self. The perceived goals are the respondents' personal incentives in schoolwork: task/effort, competition, power, affiliation, social concern, recognition, and token reward. The three sense of self scales measure the respondents' perceptions, beliefs, and feelings: self-esteem, sense of competence, sense of purpose. The questions were answered using a five-point Likert-type scale anchored with 1 (strongly agree) and 5 (strongly disagree).

The Facilitating Conditions Questionnaire (McInerney, 1989) asked questions about background variables that are believed to facilitate or inhibit the performance of students at school. Twenty-five items measured the following seven dimensions: positive affect to school, perceived peer support, perceived positive family support, perceived negative family support, perceived teacher support, positive valuing of education, negative valuing of education. Items were answered using a Likert-type scale that ranged from 1 (strongly agree) and 5 (strongly disagree).

Both the Inventory of School Motivation and the Facilitating Conditions Questionnaire have been used in several cross-cultural settings (McInerney, 1989, 1990; McInerney & Sinclair, 1992; McInerney, Roche, McInerney, & Marsh, 1997). The Inventory of School Motivation and Facilitating Conditions Questionnaires are available through Professor Dennis McInerney.

The results of the Year Ten School Certificate (a certificate awarded to school students who satisfactorily complete a program of studies in Years Seven to Ten) were used as outcome measures for the school achievement of students in English, Science and Mathematics. The results in each course are issued as grades awarded by each student's school, with the school's grading patterns in English, Mathematics and Science being determined by public reference tests held in mid-year.

As well as collecting information about the motivational goals of students, the survey also sought information on the sociocultural and demographic profiles of participants including place of birth of students and parents, language spoken at home, parental occupation, level of education of parents, religion and cultural traditions practised by students.

Administration of survey

Surveys were administered in each of the three schools by the chief researcher and with the help of teachers' aides from each school.

Statistical analyses

Analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance were used to test for significant differences between groups. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between motivational, sense of self, and facilitating conditions variables and outcome variables.

Hypotheses

From previous studies on the school achievement of Lebanese-background students (Kalantzis, Cope & Slade, 1989) and the impressions gathered from school principals and teachers, it is expected that the school achievement of this group of Lebanese-background students would be lower than that of other groups.

Research on the goal orientation of Arab school teachers and businesspeople has indicated that Arab people are strongly collectivist-oriented. It is therefore expected that LB students would be stronger on collectivist goals such as affiliation and social concern. It is also expected that they would be weaker on individualist goals such as competition and power, and on task/effort, which is considered important within individualist societies that emphasise individual rather than group Success.

Public recognition and approval from parents and other members of the community would be very important to Lebanese students. It is therefore expected that they would seek recognition and praise from members of the community, friends and parents for good work. They would therefore be stronger on recognition and token reward than other NLB students.

Research examining the youth in south-western Sydney indicated that the Lebanese youth have formed an oppositional culture to counteract what they see as discrimination against them by the school and the wider community and that they feel allegiance to their own group but not to others. These studies also indicated that the Lebanese youth see themselves and are seen by others to be less academic than other groups (Collins et al., 2000). From this we can, therefore, draw the hypotheses that Lebanese students would be less inclined than other NESB students to value task/effort, self-esteem, sense of competence, sense of purpose, positive affect towards school, positive value of education and teacher support. It was expected that Lebanese-background students would rate peer support highly.

Studies (Suliman, 2001) indicated that parents have high aspirations and expectations for their children. It is, therefore, expected that

parents would be supportive of the education of children and encourage them to achieve academically in order to reach the professional and social status aspired for them. Lebanese students would, therefore, be stronger on positive family support for education and weaker on negative family support.

The following hypotheses were drawn for the Lebanese-background students: Perceived goals Hypothesis One: LB students would be weaker on task/effort than NLB students.

Hypothesis Two: LB students would be stronger on affiliation and social concern than other NLB students.

Hypothesis Three: LB students would be stronger on competition and power goals than other NLB students.

Hypothesis Four: LB students would be stronger on recognition and token reward than other NLB students.

Sense of self goals Hypothesis Five: LB students would have lower self-esteem, lower sense of competence and lower sense of purpose than NLB students.

Facilitating conditions Hypothesis Six: LB students would have stronger perceived family support for their education than other NLB students. Hypothesis Seven: LB students would have lower positive affect towards school and lower perceived teacher support than other NLB students.

Results

School Certificate

The first objective of this study was to examine the level of school achievement of Lebanese-background students. Results of the Year Ten School Certificate were used as outcome measures for the school achievement of students in English, Science and Mathematics.

An analysis of the frequencies for the Year Ten School Certificate results for the whole group--Lebanese-background (LB) and non-Lebanese-background (NLB)--indicated that in all subject areas (English, Science and Mathematics), there is a high concentration of students in the two lower grades and a low concentration in the two top grades. These results indicated that a high percentage of the cohort of students at these three schools achieved in the lower grades in comparison to other students in the state of New South Wales.

An analysis of the Year Ten School Certificate results for LB students and other comparative groups (NLB, EB, CB, VB) indicated that in English, Science and Maths there was a higher percentage of LB students achieving lower grades, higher than that for the non-Lebanese-background students. Similarly, in all subject areas, the percentage of LB students achieving top grades was lower than that for all the comparative groups.

Examination of the means indicated that in English, Science, and Advanced, Intermediate and General Mathematics, the mean for the LB students in each of these subjects was lower than it was for any of the other four comparative groups, and in many cases significantly lower (see Table 1).

Results also indicated that the LB students achieved significantly lower than the NLB group in English, Science and Intermediate Maths; significantly lower than the EB group in English, Intermediate Maths, and Science; significantly lower than the CB group in Science and Intermediate Maths; and significantly lower than the VB group in Science (see Table 1).

Motivational profile of students

The second objective of this study was to identify the motivational goals of students. For this purpose, a set of Manova analyses was used to describe the motivational profiles of the LB students and to examine similarities and differences between them and the NLB students.

The Inventory of School Motivation measured the perceived goals: task/ effort, competition, power, affiliation, social concern, recognition and token reward.

The Facilitating Conditions Questionnaire measured sense of self variables: self-esteem, sense of competence, and sense of purpose; and facilitating conditions variables: positive affect, perceived peer support, perceived positive and negative family support, perceived teacher support, positive and negative value of education.

Multiple regression analyses were then conducted to identify goals that are predictive of students' achievement. These analyses indicated that each of the three sets of scales was able to explain a significant amount of variance in English and Science scores for both the LB and NLB groups. The most successful set appears to be the facilitating conditions, which explained thirty-one per cent of the variance for English results and thirty-five per cent for Science results. This was followed by the motivational goals, which explained thirty-two per cent variance for English and twenty-three per cent for Science. Last was the sense of self scales, which explained nine per cent of variance for English and fifteen per cent for Science.

Perceived Goals

Task/Effort It was hypothesised that LB students would be more collectivist than individualist and therefore would not be strong on task/effort (Hypothesis One). The research findings run contrary to expectations and clearly indicate that there is no significant difference between the LB and NLB groups on task/effort--the LB students endorse this mastery goal as strongly as the other groups.

Multiple regression analyses indicate that task/effort is a significant and strong predictor of English and Science results for both the LB and NLB students. For both the LB and NLB groups, those students who strive for individual excellence in their schoolwork and are willing to put in the effort, are more successful in English and Science.

Affiliation and Social Concern It was hypothesised that LB students would be significantly stronger than NLB students on both affiliation and social concern (Hypothesis Two).

The multivariate analysis in this study indicate that LB students are significantly stronger on social concern for others in the school setting but that, contrary to hypothesis, there was no significant difference between them and the NLB students on affiliation.

Multiple regression analyses indicated that neither affiliation nor social concern are significant predictors for the school achievement of LB and NLB students. This means that their social goals at school appear not to be related to their school achievement.

Competition and power It was hypothesised that LB students would be less competitive than NLB students (Hypothesis Three). Evidence from this study suggests the contrary: that LB students are significantly more competitive than others in the school setting, but for them competition is not a significant predictor for any of the school certificate results, whereas for the NLB students competition is a strong predictor for Science results.

It was also hypothesised (Hypothesis Three) that LB students would be less power oriented than other students. The multivariate results of this study ran contrary to hypothesis and indicated that LB students are significantly more power oriented than other students in the school setting. Multiple regression analysis indicated that for the LB students, however, power is a negative predictor of school achievement. This means that LB students who are high achievers are not power oriented and those who are power oriented are not high achievers.

For the NLB students, power is also significantly and negatively related to their results in English and Science. Therefore, for both the LB and NLB groups, power is significantly and negatively related to both English and Science results. The more successful students are less power oriented.

Recognition and token reward Because approval by parents and the community are important to young Lebanese, it was hypothesised (Hypothesis Four) that for the LB students recognition and token reinforcement from others is very important. In support of Hypothesis Four, the multivariate analysis of variance indicated that LB students are significantly more token-oriented and recognition seeking than others.

Multiple regression analyses indicated that for the LB students, neither recognition nor token reward were significant predictors of their school achievement. For the NLB students, recognition and token were significant positive predictors of English results and token for Science results.

Sense of self

Self esteem, sense of competence, and sense of purpose It was hypothesised that LB students would have low sense of competence and low self esteem which would also infer low sense of purpose (Hypothesis Five).

Multivariate analysis of variance in this study has indicated that, contrary to hypotheses, there were no significant differences between the LB and NLB groups on self esteem and sense of purpose. On sense of competence, the LB students were significantly stronger than the NLB students. Although the literature reviewed earlier indicated that the LB students perceived themselves and were perceived by others as less intelligent and less academic-oriented than others, this has not negatively affected their sense of competence. In fact, the LB students express more competence than other students.

Multiple regression analyses indicated that, among the three sense of self factors, self-esteem was found to be a significant predictor of achievement in Science for both the LB and NLB students and in English for the NLB group. This means that for both groups, those who are successful in Science have high self-esteem.

For the LB students, sense of competence is a significant and negative predictor of English and Science results. The results suggest that high-achieving LB students have a low sense of competence and low achievers have a high sense of competence. Sense of competence in this study is defined as an ability to work on one's own and feeling confident and able to do school work and not being worried about difficult work. This anomalous result may be explained by assuming that those students who are successful in English and Science feel they have achieved this by putting in a great deal of effort and by getting help from others and that they are not over-confident about their competence as measured by this scale. It may also mean that they perceive competence as something that is never actually achieved because there is more to learn and new things to master all the time.

Facilitating conditions

Positive affect Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that contrary to hypotheses, the LB students are stronger than others on positive affect: they like school and look forward to going to classes more than the NLB students.

Perceived positive and negative family support Contrary to Hypothesis Six, the LB students do not feel strong support from parents.

Perceived teacher support, perceived peer support, positive and negative value of education Contrary to Hypothesis Seven, results indicated that there are no significant differences between the LB and NLB students in any of the above goals.

Multiple regression analyses indicated that among the seven facilitating conditions factors, three factors indicated a significant prediction of the school achievement of LB students: teacher support was a weak positive predictor for English and Science achievement; positive family support was a significant positive predictor for Science results; negative valuing of education was a significant negative predictor for both English and Science results. This indicates that students who receive positive encouragement from parents and teachers and who see the value of education as a means to future success are good achievers. None of the other variables were significant predictors for the LB students' achievement.

For the NLB students, negative family support was also a strong negative predictor for English and Science results. Therefore for both the LB and NLB groups, positive family encouragement and support are important predictive variables for their success at school.

Summary

This study clearly indicates that the LB students are falling behind in their school achievement in all three subjects of the School Certificate. Examination of the goal orientation of the same group of students indicated that the LB students were significantly stronger than the NLB group on perceived goals of competition, power, social concern, recognition and token reward but there was no significant difference on task/effort and affiliation.

Results also indicate that among the sense of self factors, there was no significant difference between the LB and NLB groups on self esteem and sense of purpose. The only significant difference between the two groups was on sense of competence, the LB students being stronger than the NLB group.

Among the facilitating conditions factors, there were significant differences between them and NLB students on positive affect, positive and negative family support. The LB students have stronger positive affect but weaker positive family support than the NLB group. Although there are no significant differences between the two groups on peer support, teacher support and positive and negative valuing of education, the means for the LB students for peer support and positive valuing of education indicate that they are stronger than the other group on these variables, but weaker on positive teacher support.

Among the seven perceived goals variables, task/effort was found to be a significant positive predictor and power a significant negative predictor of LB students' achievement in English and Science.

Among the three sense of self factors, self esteem was found to be a significant positive predictor of achievement in Science for the LB students. Sense of competence was a negative predictor for both English and Science indicating that those who are high achievers do not have a strong sense of competence as measured by this scale.

Among the seven facilitating conditions factors, the strongest predictor of achievement for the LB group was negative valuing of education followed by negative family support, both found to be negative predictors for English and Science results. This means that those students who value education and who receive family support are more successful. Teacher support was also a significant predictor for achievement in both English and Science achievement.

Discussion

This study has enabled us to assess the school achievement of a group of LB students in south-western Sydney and to describe their motivational characteristics in terms of achievement goal theory and to explain the differences between them and other students.

Some of the findings of this study run counter to widely held views about Lebanese-background students in Australian schools. Contrary to the stereotypical view that Lebanese-background students are non-academic, this study indicates that there were no significant differences between them and the non-Lebanese-background group on task/effort. Many Lebanese-background students, like others, try hard at schoolwork because they are interested in their work; they need to know they are getting somewhere with their schoolwork; try hard to understand new things at school; and try harder when they see improvement.

Contrary to hypotheses, there were no significant differences between the two groups on affiliation. Both groups appear to like working with other people at school and work best and enjoy work more when working with and helping others. These results may be explained by the fact that some of the non-Lebanese-background students come from backgrounds that could be construed as collectivist, for example, the Chinese and Vietnamese students. It is, for example, argued that Chinese students are more collectivist than Western students, and that they are highly achievement motivated and that this is directed towards the benefit of the group, rather than the individual. It is also pointed out that other people such as family members set the standard of achievement for the individual and they place greater importance on family and group goals than on individual goals and 'they are very concerned about loss or gain of their collective face in their pursuit of achievement' (Salili, 1995, p.76). It is also found that although Chinese culture is very much influenced by the collectivists traditions of Confucius, Taoism and Buddhism, among the Chinese there are both collectivism and individualism, especially among the young people.

Contrary to hypotheses, this study has also indicated that the Lebanese-back-ground students are stronger on positive affect to school, and have stronger self esteem and stronger sense of competence than the non-Lebanese-background group. Although literature reviewed indicated that the Lebanese-background students perceived themselves and were perceived by others as less capable and non-academic, this has not affected their self esteem and sense of competence. In fact, the Lebanese-background students have stronger self esteem--they feel they can do things as well as most people at school; feel they are bright enough to complete their schooling and feel they succeed at what they do at school. The Lebanese-background students also feel more competent than other students--they feel that most of the time they can do school work by themselves and they are confident, try new things and like to think for themselves at school. Surprisingly, and contrary to expectations, the Lebanese-background students have stronger positive affect to school than the other group; that is, they find school subjects interesting and like school.

Contrary to hypotheses but in agreement with generally-held beliefs, Lebanese-background students' feeling of support from parents is not as strong as it is for other students. This means that many Lebanese-background students do not feel that they receive strong encouragement from their parents for their studies. They feel more positive about teachers' support than about parents' support.

In agreement with hypotheses, there are significant differences between the two groups on competition and power. To the Lebanese-background students, winning is important, competition makes them work harder and they are happy only when they are one of the best. Lebanese-background students are also found to be more power oriented--being a leader of a group, being put in charge of things, feeling important, and being noticed by others are significantly stronger variables than for other students. The Lebanese-background students are also stronger on social concern. They value helping and caring for each other at school and enjoy helping others to do well. Both recognition and token rewards are also significantly more important to Lebanese-background students than for others. Praise and encouragement from friends and parents as well as rewards from teachers and parents such as presents and merit certificates are very important.

The results of this study indicate that Lebanese-background students are stronger on a range of collectivist and individualist variables. Socially and within their own families and community the Lebanese are strongly collectivist and give a lot of support and help to each other. Within the school setting, this study indicates that the Lebanese-background students have retained this collectivist characteristic in being more socially concerned than others, but that they are also stronger on individualist goals such as competition and power.

These results support other research studies which indicate that there is no simple polar contrast between the individualist and collectivist groups and that significant differences may arise mostly as a matter of degree rather than direction of values held: 'It is not possible to say the individualistic groups are competitive, individualistic and power seeking, while the collectivist groups are noncompetitive, non-individualistic and non-power-seeking' (McInerney, Roche, McInerney & Marsh 1995, p.15). The Lebanese-background students were found to hold both collectivist and individualist goals: they are significantly stronger on social concern, and at the same time they are more competitive and more power-oriented than the non-Lebanese-background group.

It is possible that the findings indicating that the Lebanese-background students are stronger on a large number of scales may reflect response bias. It is evident from the academic outcome measures that the Lebanese students did more poorly in English, Mathematics and Science, so it is somewhat paradoxical that their self-esteem and motivational value beliefs were so high. There is evidence from other research (Hacker & Bol, 2004) which indicates that lower-achieving students are more inaccurate and usually over-confident when judging their performance. Perhaps the Lebanese-background students, who according to achievement results are the lowest achieving students in this study, were also more inaccurate in estimating and judging their level of ability and motivation. It is possible that low-achieving students may demonstrate a self-serving bias repeatedly overestimating their performance to protect their self-worth or their image of themselves as relatively good students in comparison with others. This is an empirical question worth investigation.

As mentioned earlier, research indicates that students' goals direct their behaviour and attitudes towards learning and achievement and that the goal orientation of schools affects students' goals and the way they view education and achievement. In looking at ways to enhance the educational outcomes of the Lebanese-background students, it is important that schools aim at developing and enhancing those goals which are found to be strong predictors of the school achievement of Lebanese-background students. Schools need to consider ways by which parents and teachers can show more support to students. Students also need to see the value of education as a means to a better and more successful career path and life style. Moreover, attention should be paid to other variables which were strongly held by the Lebanese-background students but which were not predictors of their school achievement, such as competition and power. Therefore, tasks which involve competition and which give Lebanese-background students the opportunity to be in charge and to be leaders, together with public recognition and reward can prove to be successful techniques. In trying to improve the educational outcomes of Lebanese-background students in schools it is important to identify their goal orientation to understand the type of things that motivate them to learn. At the same time, it is equally important that schools take into consideration these goals when planning and implementing teaching strategies and learning tasks for students.

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Rosemary Suliman

Dennis M McInerney

University of Western Sydney

Rosemary Suliman is Senior Lecturer in Languages in the College of Arts at the University of Western Sydney. Her specialisations are interpreting and translation, and multicultural education.

Dennis M McInerney is Professor of Educational Psychology and Research Professor in the SELF Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney. He is the author of several textbooks including Educational Psychology: Constructing Learning (Pearson) and Developmental Psychology for Teachers: An Applied Approach (Allen & Unwin).

Correspondence for this article should be directed to Professor Dennis M McInerney, SELF Research Centre, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, Penrith, 1797, Australia. Email: [e-mail]

Table 1 Means, standard deviations and significance
levels for School Certificate Results for the
Lebanese (LB), English (EB), Chinese (CB),
Vietnamese (VB) and NLB background groups

                               Means, Standard Deviation
                               and Significance Levels

                 LB         ES         CB         VB        NLB

English
Mean            2.17       2.72       2.50       2.52       2.59
S.D.            1.02       1.01       1.17        .98       1.02
Significance                .001 *     .302       .150       .002 *

Science
Mean            1.92       2.66b      2.66b      2.76       2.62
S.D.             .82        .93       1.07        .94        .96
Significance                .000 *     .005 *     .000 *     .000 *

Adv. Maths
Mean            2.31       2.50       2.33       2.83       2.61
S.D.            1.16       1.00       1.53       1.53       1.27
Significance                .653       .981       .293       .402

Int. Maths
Mean            2.03       2.69       2.86       2.71       2.65
S.D.             .88       1.05       1.46        .95       1.16
Significance                .009 *     .048 *     .906       .007 *

Gen. Maths
Mean            2.49       2.77       3.00       2.75       2.75
S.D.            1.12       1.11        .00        .95        .95
Significance                .330       .330       .654       .251

Note: Adv. Maths = Advanced Maths, Int. Maths = Intermediate
Maths, Gen. Maths = General Maths.

Table 2 Multivariate and Univariate Results for the LB and
NLB Groups on Perceived Goals, Sense of Self and Facilitating
Conditions variables

          Perceived Goals

          Multivariate Analysis              Univariate

          Lambd  F      df     P

            a                         F      P      Means  SD

            .93   2.90  7,266   .006
Task/Eff
LB                                     2.29   .131   1.76    .64
NLB                                                  1.87    .57
Comp
LB                                    14.30   .000   2.33    .93
NLB                                                  2.77    .98
Power
LB                                     9.67   .002   3.02   1.05
NLB                                                  3.36    .82
Afi
LB                                     0.01   .912   2.33    .75
NLB                                                  2.34    .83
Soci
LB                                     3.97   .047   2.21    .73
NLB                                                  2.38    .68
Rec
LB                                     4.47   .035   2.23    .73
NLB                                                  2.42    .82
Token
LB                                     5.47   .020   2.53    .97
NLB                                                  2.79    .89

          Sense of Self

          Lambd  F      D f    P

          a                           F      P      Means  SD

           0.92   7.39  3,267  0.000
LB
NLB
Soc
LB                                     9.08   .003   2.07    .59
NLB                                                  2.29    .61
Sop
LB                                     1.19   .278   1.70    .63
NLB                                                  1.62    .56
Est
LB                                     0.24   .624   2.20    .69
NLB                                                  2.23    .59
           0.88   4.74  7,261   .000
Posaff
LB                                     9.01   .003   2.49   0.94
NLB                                                  2.83   0.89
Peersup
LB                                     0.33   .566   2.21   0.89
NLB                                                  2.15   0.81
P/Fam
LB                                     7.21   .008   1.70   0.86
NLB                                                  1.47   0.67
N/Fam
LB                                    14.86   .000   4.04   1.19
NLB                                                  4.53   0.85
.85
Teach/s
LB                                     1.33   .250   2.61   0.86
NLB                                                  2.38   0.84
Pos/Val
LB                                     3.23   .073   3.35   1.09
NLB                                                  3.57   0.91
Neg/Val
LB                                     3.28   .071   1.78   0.77
NLB                                                  1.61   0.76

Note: The questions were answered using a five point Likert-type scale
anchored with 1 (strongly agree) and 5 (strongly disagree).
Lower mean = stronger; higher mean = weaker

Key: Task/Eff = Task/Effort; Corn = Competition; Afi = Affiliation;
Soci = Social Concern; Rec = Recognition; Soc = Sense of Competence;
Sop = Sense of Purpose; Est = Self Esteem Posaff = Positive Affect;
Peersup = Peer support; P/Fam = Positive Family Support;
N/Fam = Negative Family Support; Teach/S = Teacher support;
PosNal = Positive value of Education;
Neg/Val = Negative value of Education.

Table 3 Sets of standardised beta weights and multiple
regression coefficients for perceived goals for
Lebanese-background (LB) and non-Lebanese-background
(NLB) groups for English and Science results

Scales                   English Results

                                LB

Perceived                     R = 0.568
Goals                 [R.sup.2] = 0.322

                      Beta        T        P

Task/Effort           .345      3.12    .002
Competition          -.205     -1.61    .112
Social Power         -.281     -2.67    .009
Affiliation           .010      .110    .914
Social Concern        .068      0.59    .552
Recognition          -.116     -0.92    .357
Token                -.173     -1.25    .216

Sense of Self                  R = 0.300
                       [R.sup.2] = 0.09

                      Beta       T         P
Sense of
Competence           -.282     -2.09    .038
Sense of
Purpose               .229      1.62    .109
Self Esteem           .221      1.56    .122

Facilitating                    R= 0.555
Conditions             [R.sup.2] = 0.308

                      Beta       T         P

Positive Affect      -.155     -1.55    .125
Peer Support          .014      1.44    .154
Positive Family
Support               .155      1.49    .141
Negative
Family Support       -.211     -1.92    .058
Teacher
Support               .211      2.08    .040
Positive Value
of Education         -.059     -0.54    .592
Negative Value
of Education         -.248     -2.39    .019

Scales                  English Results

                              NLB

Perceived                      R = 0.425
Goals                  [R.sup.2] = 0.180

                      Beta         T       P

Task/Effort           .198      1.95    .054
Competition           .224      1.79    .075
Social Power         -.286     -2.53    .013
Affiliation          -.096     -1.03    .303
Social Concern        .047      0.43    .665
Recognition           .238      1.97    .051
Token                -.359     -2.87    .005

Sense of Self                  R = 0.324
                       [R.sup.2] = 0.105

                      Beta        T        P
Sense of
Competence           -.090     -0.75    .455
Sense of
Purpose               .062      0.59    .558
Self Esteem           .343      2.77    .006

Facilitating                    R= 0.399
Conditions             [R.sup.2] = 0.159

                      Beta       T         P

Positive Affect       .002       .02    .986
Peer Support         -.059       -56    .573
Positive Family
Support               .034       .33    .738
Negative
Family Support       -.342     -3.55    .001
Teacher
Support               .138      1.38    .171
Positive Value
of Education          .015       .15    .878
Negative Value
of Education         -.053      -.58    .565

Scales                    Science Results

                                LB

Perceived                      R = 0.747
Goals                  [R.sup.2] = 0.225

                      Beta        T        P

Task/Effort           .425      3.53    .000
Competition          -.186     -1.34    .184
Social Power         -.264     -2.29    .024
Affiliation          -.024     -0.23    .821
Social Concern       -.087     -0.69    .493
Recognition           .074      0.54    .592
Token                -.119     -0.79    .431

Sense of Self                  R = 0.386
                       [R.sup.2] = 0.149

                      Beta        T        P
Sense of
Competence           -.344     -2.62    .010
Sense of
Purpose               .197      1.41    .163
Self Esteem           .369      2.65    .009

Facilitating                    R= 0.591
Conditions             [R.sup.2] = 0.349

                      Beta        T        P

Positive Affect      -.059     -0.59    .551
Peer Support          .060      0.61    .542
Positive Family
Support               .285      2.75    .007
Negative
Family Support       -.206     -1.93    .056
Teacher
Support               .230      2.28    .025
Positive Value
of Education         -.261      -2.4    .018
Negative Value
of Education         -.287     -2.84    .005

Scales                    Science Results

                               NLB

Perceived                     R = 0.375
Goals                 [R.sup.2] = 0.140

                      Beta        T        P

Task/Effort           .248       2.38    .019
Competition           .268       2.10    .038
Social Power         -.244      -2.10    .038
Affiliation          -.028       -.29    .771
Social Concern       -.005       -.05    .963
Recognition           .029        .24    .811
Token                -.353      -2.75    .007

Sense of Self                  R = 0.346
                       [R.sup.2] = 0.119

                      Beta        T        P
Sense of
Competence           -.111     -0.93    .355
Sense of
Purpose               .009      0.08    .932
Self Esteem           .409      3.33    .001

Facilitating                    R= 0.399
Conditions             [R.sup.2] = 0.159

                      Beta        T        P

Positive Affect       .102      0.99    .326
Peer Support         -.184     -1.81    .073
Positive Family
Support               .036      0.36    .720
Negative
Family Support       -.353     -3.77    .000
Teacher
Support               .067      0.69    .490
Positive Value
of Education          .109      1.18    .240
Negative Value
of Education         -.022     -0.24    .809