The Effect of Ethnic Identity and Bilingual Confidence on Chinese Youth’s Self-Esteem

This study examines the interrelated issues of private and public domains of self-esteem, ethnic identity formation, and bilingual confidence among youth of a minority group in a city in western Canada. One hundred, ten Chinese students aged 11-18 from a Chinese-language school were randomly surveyed. Most items of the instrument are derived from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Cultural-Free Self-Esteem Inventories, and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure. Participants’ self-confidence with the English and Chinese languages is also investigated. Zero-order correlate analysis and a two-way MACOVA controlling for GPA are used to examine potential factors that influence Chinese youth’s global, academic, and social self-esteem. The results confirm the importance of ethnic identity on minority youth’s global self-esteem. Moreover, self-confidence with bilingual proficiency has a great effect on Chinese youth’s global, academic, and social self-esteem.