A Correlative Study On English Learning Anxiety, Self-efficacy And Academic Achievement For College Students In The Web-based Environment

With foreign language teaching and learning shifting from teacher-centered to studentcentered, with the development of humanistic psychology, researchers find out that learners’ affective factors are important factors that influence foreign language learning efficiency and these affective factors are closely related to each other. Anxiety and self-efficacy are two important affective factors and are respectively studied a lot. However, there are few studies on the relationship between English learning anxiety, self-efficacy and English academic achievement, especially in the web-based environment. Ever since the promulgation of College English Curriculum Requirements, the students-centered teaching model with the assistance of computers and Internet has attracted widespread attention. Keeping this background in mind, the research mainly investigates the situation of English learning anxiety and self-efficacy, explores the correlation between English learning anxiety, self-efficacy and English academic achievement by means of questionnaire and interview.The empirical study was conducted by administering two questionnaires to 300 nonEnglish majors from Northwest A&F University and interviewing 20 students. The Network English Learning Anxiety Scale(NELAS) is made by Xiong Suchun(2012) on the basis of Horwitz’s(1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Meanwhile, the Network English Learning Self-Efficacy Scale(NELSES) is made on the basis of Xie Youru’s(2011) Network Learning Self-Efficacy Scale. Interview, an auxiliary tool in this research, mainly aims at questionnaire items.The results of the study indicate that:(1) The general situation of web-based English learning anxiety is at a relatively low level; students’ individual differences have a significant impact on anxiety which has a significant relationship with family background and online learning experience, but does not have a significant relationship with gender; English learning anxiety and English academic achievement are negatively correlated.(2) The general situation of self-efficacy is above the medium level; individual differences have a significant impact on self-efficacy; English learning self-efficacy and academic achievement are positively correlated.(3) There is a negative correlation between English learning anxiety and selfefficacy in the web-based environment.Based on the research results, five suggestions are put forward to reduce learners’ anxiety and enhance learners’ self-efficacy in web-based English learning:(1) building a good teacher-student relationship;(2) setting up appropriate attributions and learning goals;(3) adopting web-based collaborative learning approach;(4) establishing a scientific evaluation system;(5) conducting web-based English learning strategy training.