An Investigation Of The Status Quo Of Junior High School Students’ Self-efficacy In English Reading

According to the English Curriculum Standards for Junior High Schools（2011）,English reading is becoming increasingly crucial in junior high school.Students are in the stage of “adolescent rebellion” and have a sense of boredom and resistance to English learning.Teachers work hard to improve students’ academic achievement but have little effect.Most students have difficulty in English reading.Many front-line educators have been baffled by this.Many studies have discovered that students’ self-efficacy is the most important element influencing their academic achievement when learning a foreign language.In1977,American Psychologist Bandura established the notion of self-efficacy in his social learning theory.Many domestic and international studies are based on college students and disregard junior high school pupils,particularly the examination of the association between self-efficacy and English reading ability.As a result,the focus of this study is on junior high school students’ self-efficacy in English reading.The present research is expected to answer the following questions:（1）What is the status quo of junior high school students’ self-efficacy in English reading?（2）What are the factors that affect junior high school students’ English learning self-efficacy in English reading?（3）What is the correlation between junior high school students’ self-efficacy and their academic achievement in English reading?The author randomly selected 500 students from three junior high schools in Shenyang as the subjects of the study.The purpose of this study is to discuss the status quo of junior high school students’ self-efficacy in English reading and to investigate the factors impacting junior high school students’ self-efficacy in English reading using both quantitative and qualitative research methods.The specific findings of the investigation are as follows: Firstly,junior high school students’ English reading self-efficacy was at an average level,and the three specific aspects of junior high school students’ English reading self-efficacy were at a high level of effort and a medium level of competence and challenge and frustration.There were gender differences in junior high school students’ English reading self-efficacy;Secondly,factors that influence junior high school students’ self-efficacy in English reading are prior learning experiences,family factors,teacher expectations,peer pressure,attribution styles,and physical and emotional states;Thirdly,there is a correlation between English reading achievement and self-efficacy in junior high school students.There is a positive correlation between students’ English reading performance and changes in self-efficacy.The author expects that by doing this research,frontline instructors would become more aware of the importance of psychological elements in the development of English reading abilities,as well as enhance students’ self-efficacy in their classrooms.Given the author’s limited capacity,there are still flaws in this study,and it is anticipated that future research will improve it.