A Study Of English Learning Self-efficacy And Its Influencing Factors In The Online Learning Context

With the application of information technology in the field of learning,online learning has developed rapidly around the world in recent years.The online learning effect is an important part in online learning,which is influenced by many factors.Among the factors that influence the effect of online learning,self-efficacy is one of the important internal ones.However,few studies were conducted on the online English self-efficacy in the domestic English education field.Based on the self-efficacy theory,this study investigated the self-efficacy level of English learning and its influencing factors in the online context of non-English major college students by the combination of the quantitative research and the qualitative research.This study aims to provide some enlightenment for improving students’ self-efficacy level of online English learning,which is conducive to improving their efficiency in online English learning.On the basis of the self-efficacy theory of Bandura(1977)and previous research,hypotheses toward the present self-efficacy level of the non-English major college students and the influencing factors of the online English learning self-efficacy were proposed in this study.In light of characteristics of online English learning,this study designed Online English Learning Self-Efficacy Scale(OELSS)and Influencing Factors of Online English Learning Self-Efficacy Scale(IFOELSS)by adapting the existing English learning self-efficacy scales and online learning self-efficacy scales.In this study,the questionnaire and the semi-structured interview were conducted to measure the online English learning self-efficacy level of the participants who were learning “Academic Communication English” in University A of Jiangsu Province and to verify the hypotheses proposed by this study.The data collected were analyzed by SPSS 26 and Microsoft Excel.The results of the present study are presented as follows:(1)The online English learning self-efficacy of the participants surveyed is at the medium level in general.More specifically,the overall self-efficacy level,the general self-efficacy level and the special self-efficacy of the participants are all at the middle level on average.In addition,there are no significant individual differences of online English learning self-efficacy level among the participants.Specifically,the differences of the participants’ self-efficacy level in the computer operation level and online learning experience are not significant;(2)The influencing factors in four aspects(the personal aspect,the interactive aspect,the environmental aspect and the curricular aspect)hypothesized in this study influenced participants’ self-efficacy level to varying degrees.Different from previous studies,the impact of the influencing factors in the personal aspect and the environmental aspect on participants’ self-efficacy level is not as significant as the influencing factors in the interactive and the curricular aspects.Specifically speaking,the support,the feedback and the recognition of others and the expectations of family members in the interactive aspect influence participants’ self-efficacy level to a great extent;the quality of the online English course-“Academic Communication English” and the teaching level of teachers in the curricular aspect affect the participants’ self-efficacy level to a large extent.Based on the results of this study,some implications can be drawn:(1)The adapted scales(OELSS and IFOELSS)adopted in this study can provide a new perspective for measuring students’ self-efficacy of English learning in the online context,which can be applied to the practice of improving their self-efficacy level;(2)Some enlightenment can be brought to the participants of online English course leaning to improve students’ self-efficacy level.Online learners may fully exert their subjective initiatives to enrich their online learning experience and learn to relieve their learning pressures;teachers may improve their teaching ability and adopt appropriate teaching approaches.;(3)Some inspirations may be provided for online English course developers such as textbook compilers and online course platform designers in English course development and online learning platform design.The present study may help them fully consider the influencing factors of students’ self-efficacy level when they develop textbooks of online English courses with high-quality,design curricula or plan interactive activities for online learning.