Factors Influencing Key Competencies For University English Learners

With the intensification of reform and opening-up,as well as the advancement of globalization,the role of foreign language education in colleges and universities in cultivating talents for national strategic development is becoming increasingly crucial.Key competencies for university English learners,which can support their lifelong development and help them meet the requirements of the society,should be cultivated through university English courses.Key competencies for university English learners are categorized into two categories,namely,core-key competency for university English learners and sub-key competencies for university English learners.Among the key competencies,language competency is the core of the cultivation of key competencies in university English courses,which is hence termed core-key competency for university English learners.Meanwhile,sub-key competencies for university learners,i.e.,learning competency,thinking competency,cultural competency,and collaborative competency,should also be emphasized in university English courses.Research on the factors influencing key competencies for university English learners can provide a solid foundation for future research and practice in this area,which bears significant implications both theoretically and practically for improving the quality of English education and talent development in universities.However,research on key competencies for university English learners is still in its infancy.Most of the relevant studies discussed what competencies university English learners or foreign language talents should have,based on theories,speculations,and experience.A small quantity of studies explored how to cultivate university English learners’ key competencies,based on the practice of teaching reform.There are few empirical studies that explore factors influencing key competencies for university English learners.Little is known about which factors and how much these factors influence key competencies for university English learners.Ecological Systems Theory holds that humans gradually adapt to the environment and develop in the process of human-environment interaction,emphasizing the two-way interaction and influence between humans and the environment.This theory provides an important theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between the environment and human development.For university English learners,the university learning environment is the one they closely interact with,in which their teachers play a vital role in the development of their competencies.At the same time,how individual learners perceive the environment and their teachers’ teaching styles,together with their own metacognitive awareness might influence the development of their competencies.The present research investigated the effects of constructivist learning environments,teachers’ teaching styles,and metacognitive awareness on the key competencies for university English learners from the perspective of the Ecological Systems Theory.Based on the research findings,this paper discussed measures to promote the development of key competencies for university English learners through the creation of learning environments,the shaping of teachers’ teaching styles,and the cultivation of metacognitive awareness.A quantitative approach was employed in the present research which consisted of three studies: two pilot studies and one main study.In the pilot studies,after validating the five inventories used in the present research,the hypothesized relationships among key variables were preliminarily examined.The inventories included Core-key Competencies for University English Learners Inventory,Sub-key Competencies for University English Learners Inventory,Constructivist Learning Environment Inventory,Teachers’ Teaching Styles Inventory,and Metacognitive Awareness Inventory.In the main study,data was collected through the Antecedents of Key Competencies for University English Learners Questionnaire,which consisted of a demographic questionnaire and the five inventories.The Core-key Competencies for University English Learners Inventory consists of five dimensions,i.e.,listening ability,reading ability,speaking ability,writing ability,and pragmatic ability,which is used to measure the learners’ self-assessed language abilities.The Sub-key Competencies for University English Learners Inventory consists of four dimensions: learning competency,thinking competency,collaborative competency,and cultural competency.The Constructivist Learning Environment Inventory consists of seven dimensions,i.e.,goal orientation,constructivist teaching,learner autonomy,teacher-student interaction,peer effect,student-student cooperation,and curriculum assessment.The Teachers’ Teaching Styles Inventory is composed of four dimensions,i.e.,legislative,executive,liberal,and conservative.Among them,the legislative and the liberal teaching styles are Type I teaching styles,while the executive and the conservative teaching styles are Type II teaching styles.The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory consists of two dimensions: metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation.Participants in the main study included 15 classes of the second-year English majors,16 classes of the fourth-year English majors,and 29 classes of sophomores majoring in 75 other majors,all coming from a key comprehensive university in Southwest China.Such statistical analysis methods as Pearson correlation analysis,multiple linear regression analysis,and mediation analysis,were used to analyze data collected from 1318 respondents and to test proposed hypotheses.The major results of this research are as follows:(1)Constructivist learning environments positively predicted university English learners’ key competencies.Two environmental dimensions(i.e.,student-student cooperation and student autonomy)had significant effects on university English learners’ key competencies.(2)Teaching styles positively predicted university English learners’ key competencies.The predictive powers of Type I teaching styles,i.e.,legislative style and liberal style,were greater than those of Type II teaching styles.(3)Metacognitive awareness comprising metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation positively predicted university English learners’ key competencies.(4)Metacognitive awareness mediated the effects of constructivist learning environments on university English learners’ key competencies.The mediation effect of metacognitive awareness was more prominent between student cooperation and university English learners’ key competencies.(5)Metacognitive awareness mediated the effects of teaching styles on university English learners’ key competencies.The mediation effect of metacognitive awareness was more prominent between Type I teaching styles and university English learners’ key competencies.The present research has made certain theoretical contributions.Firstly,applying the Ecological Systems Theory to the empirical research in the field of University English education,the present research added empirical evidence to the research of the Ecological Systems Theory,key competencies for university English learners,constructivist learning environments,teaching styles,and metacognitive awareness,enriching the literature of these fields.Secondly,the research framework has significant implications for future research on key competencies for university English learners.Constructs being investigated include the constructivist learning environments,teachers’ teaching styles,metacognitive awareness and the key competencies for university English learners,i.e.language competency,learning competency,thinking competency,cultural competency and collaborative competency.Thirdly,the revised and validated inventories can serve as research tools for future relevant studies.The findings of this research also have significant practical implications for university administrative offices,university English teachers,and university English learners.