SELF-CONCEPT AND INITIAL PERFORMANCE IN READING AND WRITING

Abstract

In this research, we aimed to investigate the relationship between self-concept, understood as the individual's perception of themselves, and the reading and writing performance of students in the 3rd year of Elementary School in three public schools. Self-concept was assessed with the Self-Concept Scale (Sisto and Martinelli, 2004) and performance in reading and writing with the Reading and Writing Monitoring Test (Guaresi, Palles and Abreu, 2020). Data analysis revealed that, despite of mathematical variations in the means of self-concept and performance in reading and writing, the correlation between these variables was not statistically significant (R = 0.238). Furthermore, the majority of students in the group with established academic delay do not present a deficit in the self-concept test. This suggests that, in the context of the present study, self-concept does not have a statistically significant influence on reading and writing performance in the population assessed. Unlike the literature reviewed, the results indicate that, for the sample evaluated, the impact of self-concept on academic performance may be limited, possibly due to the lack of awareness of their own academic delay in this age group. Future studies could expand the sample, especially regarding age group, and incorporate qualitative methods to further explore the relationship between self-concept and academic performance, offering more detailed insights into how emotional factors can influence learning.