Perceptions of Taiwanese students to English learning as functions of self-efficacy, motivation, learning activities and self-directed learning

For most students in Taiwan the main purposes of learning English are to get good grades and to pass school exams. The lack of an English-speaking environment in Taiwan deprives students of many learning opportunities and allows students to feel it is not necessary to use English as a communicative tool in their speaking or writing. Of all the possible English learning factors, individual learner differences are the most crucial. It is the aim of this study to investigate the relationships among self-efficacy, motivation, learning behaviors outside classrooms, and self-directed learning in the domain of English as Foreign Language in Taiwan.; The Self-Directed English Learning Survey used in this study was a researcher-constructed survey. Six hundred fifty-four students majoring in English, Business, or Engineering from three technical colleges in Taiwan participated in the study.; The results of a One Way MANOVA indicated that gender, academic major, English score and career goals all had significant effects on students in the constructs of self-efficacy, motivation, out-of-classroom English learning activities and self-directed English learning. In addition, results indicated that learning activities were more related to self-directed learning than to self-efficacy and motivation. The fewer extra activities in which the students were involved in, the lower their self-directed English learning. In order to increase their English learning autonomy, students needed to do more out-of-class English learning activities. Also, students who had higher self-efficacy in English learning were more apt to become self-directed English learners than students with lower self-efficacy.; Intrinsic English learning motivation was significantly correlated with out-of-class English learning activities. Students who were intrinsically motivated tended to engage in more out-of-class English learning activities. Thus, they were more likely to self-direct their English learning.; Overall, participants in the study had relatively high scores in self-efficacy and motivation, but much lower scores in activities and self-directed learning. Participants believed they could learn English well and were motivated to learn; however, they did not become involved in out-of-class English learning activities. The results suggest that students need to enhance their metacognitive ability to plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate their English language learning.