Toward a hierarchical, multidimensional English self-concept.

In this study, the authors examined the hierarchical and multidimensional nature of English self-concept. University students (N = 321) responded to survey items on listening, speaking, reading, and writing self-concepts and a global English self-concept adapted from H. W. Marsh's (1990, 1992) Academic Self-Description Questionnaire. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) found 4 distinct English skill-specific self-concept constructs, demonstrating the multidimensional nature of self-concepts in different skill areas. Hierarchical CFA found that self-concepts of the 4 English skills can be represented by either a higher order English self-concept factor or by a global English Self-concept factor. The correlation between the higher order and global English factors was .97, indicating that they cannot be distinguished as two separate constructs. Within a specific subject domain such as English, academic self-concept can be both hierarchical and multidimensional.