A Study Of The Correlation Between Classroom Environment And Non-English-Major Undergraduates' English Academic Self-Efficacy

Since the 21 st century,a large number of empirical studies on English academic self-efficacy have been carried out by scholars at home and abroad.However,most of them are conducted from the perspective of individual internal factors such as learners' cognitive outcomes and affective factors,rarely from the perspective of classroom environment.Classroom environment is influenced by teachers,students,curriculum and many other internal and external factors.It is usually measured by teachers' or students' perceptions of classroom environment.In the past decade,studies on the relationship between classroom environment and English academic self-efficacy have begun to emerge,but these studies mainly choose primary and secondary school students as subjects.Thus,this study intends to explore the relationship between non-English-major undergraduates' perceptions of classroom environment and their English academic self-efficacy from the perspective of classroom environment.This study aims to investigate the following four questions:(1)What is the general situation of non-English-major undergraduates' perceptions of classroom environment? Are there any differences in their perceptions of classroom environment based on gender,specialty,and language proficiency?(2)What is the general situation of non-English-major undergraduates' English academic self-efficacy? Are there any differences in their English academic self-efficacy based on gender,specialty,and language proficiency?(3)Is there any correlation between non-English-major undergraduates' perceptions of classroom environment and their English academic self-efficacy?(4)To what extent do the perceptions of classroom environment of non-English-major undergraduates predict their English academic self-efficacy?172 non-English-major freshmen from Shandong Normal University are selected as the participants.By using the method of questionnaire survey and semi-structured interview,the data on classroom environment perceptions and English academic self-efficacy of non-English-major undergraduates is collected and analyzed by SPSS20.0.Discoveries are generalized as follows:(1)Non-English-major undergraduates' perceptions of classroom environment are at the moderate to high level.There are no significant differences in the perceptions of classroom environment on the whole between males and females,arts students and science students,but there are significant differences in the overall perceptions of classroom environment among non-English-major undergraduates of high,mediate and low proficiency;(2)Non-English-major undergraduates' English academic self-efficacy is at the moderate to high level.There are no significant differences in the overall English academic self-efficacy between males and females,arts students and science students,but there are significant differences in the overall English academic self-efficacy among non-English-major undergraduates of high,mediate and low proficiency;(3)On the whole,non-English-major undergraduates' perceptions of classroom environment and their English academic self-efficacy are significantly,moderately and positively correlated;As for dimensions,the correlation coefficient between the perceptions of classroom environment on the whole and sense of course dealing is the highest,between the perceptions of classroom environment on the whole and sense of course-competence is the lowest,and the correlation coefficient between overall English academic self-efficacy and involvement is the highest,between overall English academic self-efficacy and task orientation is the lowest;(4)Non-English-major undergraduates' perceptions of classroom environment have an appreciable predictive effect on their English academic self-efficacy.Based on the above findings,the author puts forward some suggestions on English teaching and learning to help improve the perceptions of classroom environment and English academic self-efficacy,proposes the limitations of the current study,and points out the areas to be improved for future researches.