Acculturation, Social Integration and School Achievement among Low-ability Seventh Graders' School Achievement in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

Data have not been adequately available for examining effects of acculturation on low-ability students' school achievement. In view of the shortcoming, the present study investigated school achievement based on 170 seventh graders in a low-ability school in Hong Kong. Acculturation is an important concern for these students because many of them are new immigrants. Results show that self-assessed acculturation and peer-assessed social integration displayed consistently and significantly positive effects on various forms of teacher-assessed school achievement, including academic, artistic, and conduct grades. They also reveal that acculturation might contribute to motivation and study effort although they did not exert appreciable direct effects on school achievement. These results espouse the explanation derived from social integration theory.