Language of Encouragement: Effects on Mathematics Anxiety, Self-efficacy and Mathematics Performance of College Students in the Philippines

Julie Grace G. Nipaz, Rene R. Belecina, Marc D. Garvida

The main purpose of this study is to determine the effect of language of encouragement on mathematics anxiety, self-efficacy, and mathematics performance of college students. The study utilized the Pre-test Post-test Comparison Group Design. The effect of language of encouragement and praise on mathematics anxiety, self-efficacy, and mathematics performance was determined by comparing the students’ pre-test and post-test scores. The results revealed that techniques have adaptive effects on mathematics anxiety, self-efficacy, and mathematics performance of students. To support the claim that encouragement is better than praise, the mean differences of the post-tests of two groups were obtained using t-test for independent samples. The results showed significant results in all outcome variables which reveals that encouragement can reduce mathematics anxiety, increase self-efficacy, and improve mathematics performance of students much better than praise. Mathematics anxiety and self-efficacy has a significant moderately low negative correlation, mathematics anxiety and mathematics performance has no significant correlation, and self-efficacy and mathematics performance has a significant moderately low positive correlation. Thus, mathematics performance of students can be better determined based on the level of their self-efficacy than on their level of mathematics anxiety.