This study examines the antecedents and outcomes of classroom engagement of 412 Turkish English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Grounded in self-determination theory and the self-system model of motivation, this mixed-methods study examined the relations between context (perceived autonomy-support from the instructor), self (basic psychological needs), action (behavioral, emotional, agentic, and cognitive engagement), and outcome (achievement and absenteeism). The results of structural equation modeling supported the hypothesized model and showed that learners' perception of their teachers' autonomy-support within the classroom predicted their need satisfaction, which in turn predicted self-determined engagement. Engagement predicted achievement and absenteeism within English courses. Semi-structured interviews showed patterns consistent with the quantitative results, and also that students felt their engagement would best be supported in classes with a positive social atmosphere. As well, their comments underscored the important role of language teachers in supporting learners' psychological need satisfaction, classroom engagement, and positive academic outcomes. The findings suggest strategies for English language educators to bolster students' engagement within the classrooms, including students who seem to be unmotivated, reluctant language learners.

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This study tracked change over time in sleep quantity, disturbance, and timing, and sleep's covariations with living situation, stress, social support, alcohol use, and grade point average (GPA) across four years of university in 186 Canadian students. Women slept longer as they moved through university, and men slept less; rise times were later each year. Students reported sleeping fewer hours, more sleep disturbances, and later rise times during years with higher stress. In years when students lived away from home, they reported more sleep disturbances, later bedtimes, and later rise times. Living on campus was associated with later bedtimes and rise times. Alcohol use was higher and GPA was lower when bedtimes were later. The implications of these observed patterns for understanding the correlates and consequences of university students' sleep are discussed.

Research suggests that students put more effort into language learning when they feel that it is a voluntary and self-relevant activity or they enjoy the process of mastering that language (i.e., they have a more self-determined orientation). This orientation is fostered when learners feel autonomous, competent, and related to others in their learning environment. We followed 162 university students of French across one semester to examine these causal claims longitudinally. Latent growth curve modeling showed that feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness and self-determined motivation increased across the semester while engagement declined. Parallel processes growth curve modeling showed that declines in engagement across the semester were attenuated to the extent that self-determined motivation increased. Auto-regressive cross-lagged analysis showed that, contrary to expectation, more engagement as the semester started predicted greater self-determination mid-semester (instead of vice versa), but these relations became reciprocal from mid-semester on. These findings are consistent with a dynamic model of motivation that emphasizes the reciprocal interplay between motivational constructs over the duration of a language course. The implications of these findings for motivation theory and instructional practices are discussed.

This study examined trajectories of perceived control and their association with parents' education and personal educational experience (educational attainment and years of full-time postsecondary education) in 971 Canadian high school seniors tracked 7 times across 25 years. Latent growth models showed that, on average, perceived control increased from age 18 to age 25 and decreased by age 32, with a further slower decrease by age 43. Parents' education contributed to a growing gap in perceived control, however, such that among individuals with at least 1 university-educated parent, perceived control increased across 25 years, reaching its highest level at age 43. Personal educational attainment (completion of a university degree or not) was not associated with growth in perceived control, but individuals who were higher on perceived control at age 18 were more likely to complete a university degree. Parallel process modeling found that perceived control at age 19 predicted gains through age 32 in years of postsecondary education. Postsecondary enrollment at age 19 did not predict gains in perceived control over time. Parents' education predicted both higher levels of perceived control and enrollment in full-time postsecondary education at age 19. Family socioeconomic status contributes to perceived control early in the transition to adulthood and may lead to diverging trajectories over the next 25 years, and perceived control contributes to subsequent postsecondary educational experience. Further longitudinal research should explore the development and determinants of perceived control across the full life span.