As self-efficacy is task-specific and differs from subject to subject, it is better to inspect self-efficacy in specific areas than adopting general self-efficacy as the measurement. When academic self-efficacy is brought to language classrooms, it is observed that self-efficacy predicts success in language learning with even better prediction power than actual abilities or aptitudes (Raoofi, Tan & Chan, 2012).
Some study of self-efficacy makes inquiries to students’ anxiety. Mills, Pajares and Herron (2006), for instance, takes into consideration of students’ self-efficacy, anxiety and their proficiency in reading and listening. The reading self-efficacy of their college French learning subjects is positively related to listening self-efficacy and negatively correlated with reading and listening anxiety. The same goes for listening self-efficacy, which positively correlates with reading self-efficacy and negatively correlates with listening and reading anxiety.
Self-Evaluation and Monitoring Strategic Outcome
Monitoring
Goal Setting and Strategic Planning Strategy
Implementation and Monitoring
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Zhang and Yuan (2004) also probe into students’ self-efficacy and anxiety in China. Students are divided into the pass and fail group according to their college English test 4 (CET4) scores. And students who pass the CET4 display higher self-efficacy and lower anxiety than students who fail it. Female students also attain higher CET4 scores and self-efficacy. It is concluded that foreign language anxiety is negatively correlated with English scores and self-efficacy when self-efficacy and English scores are positively correlated.
Despite the logical correlation between self-efficacy and anxiety in the above mentioned study, Ç ubukcu’s (2008) study finds no relation among gender, foreign language learning anxiety and self-efficacy. The author suspects the discrepancy is due to the Turkish educational setting, where the study is located. His students are shy and unable to voice their opinions, lacking chances to speak in classes. It might be that those students would prefer speaking with native speakers outside of the classroom and when the study target is put on the self-efficacy and anxiety of real-life language use, the result would differ.
One of the most recurring topics related to self-efficacy in language classrooms is students’ strategy use. As language learning strategies are used to help students deal with comprehension or production difficulties, study of self-efficacy and language learning strategies provides valuable insights to the study of language learning difficulties, such as the present research.
Yilmaz (2010) recruits 140 participants from a university in Turkey to study the relationship of language learning strategies with gender, proficiency and self-efficacy.
It is observed that learners’ self-efficacy is related to certain types of language learning strategies. Among students with different levels of self-efficacy, students with good and fair self-efficacy use more cognitive strategies than students of poor self-efficacy. The
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same pattern goes for the use of compensation strategies. Results from a Tukey test also suggests that good self-efficacy students use more metacognitive strategies than poor efficacy students. The overall pattern indicates that students with higher self-efficacy employ more language learning strategies.
Similar results are found in Wong’s (2005) and Adnan and Mohamad’s (2001) study, both done in Malaysia. Pre-service teachers of English demonstrate a significant positive relationship between self-efficacy and strategy use. Compared with pre-service teachers of lower self-efficacy, pre-service teachers with higher self-efficacy mention greater use of language learning strategies by speaking, reading and writing more in English. They also are more focused while listening and more active in learning new words. Through group interviews, these high self-efficacy pre-service teachers are found to be more confident in reading and listening and more diligent in mastering English, while those low self-efficacy pre-service teachers show less confidence and less passion in learning the language.
Also based in Malaysia, Adnan and Mohamad (2011) study students of Arabic and try to learn the relationship between their language learning strategies and self-efficacy beliefs. By correlating self-self-efficacy believes of different language skills, it is proved that all self-efficacy discussed in the study, referring to reading, speaking, listening, and vocabulary self-efficacy, are interrelated. In addition, all variables of language learning strategies are positively related with all the self-efficacy measured.
It is claimed that self-efficacy would be the best predictor for students’ language learning strategies.
While the above study investigates the relationship of language learning strategies with other factors, including self-efficacy and proficiency, they do not directly measure the relationship between self-efficacy and proficiency. Magogwe and Oliver
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(2007), on the other hand, probe into the relation among self-efficacy beliefs, language learning strategies, and proficiency. Four hundred eighty Students from primary schools, secondary schools and a tertiary institution in Botswana are invited to their study. The result of their questionnaire analysis again shows positive correlation between self-efficacy and language learning strategy use, with moderate relation for primary and secondary students but weak relation for tertiary students. The relation becomes complex when self-efficacy, proficiency, and strategy use are combined together. For primary school students, the relation between self-efficacy and strategy use is not significant for good proficiency students. But for fair proficiency students, the relation is moderate, positive and significant. And for poor proficiency students, the relation of their self-efficacy and strategy use is even stronger, positive, and significant. The results of secondary school students repeat that of the primary students. But at the tertiary level, not only is there no relationship between self-efficacy and strategy use for good proficiency students, students of fair and poor proficiency also display no correlation between self-efficacy beliefs and strategy use. The emerging pattern implies that as proficiency and school of education increases, the correlation between self-efficacy beliefs and strategy use decreases.
A similar study done in China produces slightly different results. Chu and Chou (2010) study college English majors’ self-efficacy, listening comprehension strategies and listening comprehension scores. Their English major subjects show high listening comprehension self-efficacy and the relation between self-efficacy and strategy use is significant. On comparing the relationship of listening comprehension scores between self-efficacy and strategy use, it is found that the relation between listening 11comprehension self-efficacy and listening comprehension scores is higher than the relation between strategy use and listening comprehension scores.
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Implications from psychological constructs with self-efficacy not only involves anxiety but attribution and locus of control. Hsieh and Schallert (2008) find that student achievements are associated with both attribution and self-efficacy, with self-efficacy as the best predictor for students’ learning outcome, whether immediate or delayed. For unsuccessful learners, those who attribute the lack of ability to their failure report lower self-efficacy. And those who do not take lack of efforts as reasons for their failure also get lower self-efficacy.
When self-efficacy and locus of control study is put in Iran, Naseri and Ghabanchi (2014) gather the same result. Significant relationship is found between English reading achievement and reading self-efficacy among Iranian college English majors. Self-efficacy is also correlated with internal locus of control.
Hsieh and Kang (2010) cooperate and repeat the study in Korea. Their results show that ninth grade students’ English achievement is significantly correlated with self-efficacy scores and internal and personal control attributions. Learners with higher self-efficacy are inclined to attribute test outcomes to factors of internal and personal control. Unsuccessful learners with higher self-efficacy assume greater personal control over their learning and those with lower self-efficacy often believe that they have no control over their failure. That is, higher self-efficacy learners take responsibility for their failures, which is one asset that educators would encourage students to possess.
Study in language classrooms has proved that self-efficacy is negatively related to students’ anxiety and positively related to internal locus of control, strategy use, proficiency and achievement. As one of the aims for strategy use is to solve students’
learning difficulties, it is assumed that self-efficacy would be related to students’
learning difficulties. Further, as students’ level of self-efficacy is connected to their perceived control of success or failure, it is interesting to delve into students’
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efficacy and their corresponding learning difficulties. With the prominent role of English listening comprehension, a study of students’ listening comprehension difficulties and their listening comprehension might be a plausible topic.
In sum, the majority of the previous researches agree that listening difficulty is associated with students’ listening proficiency, and students with different levels of listening proficiency prefer distinct listening strategies. The existed literature has recorded listening strategy use of language learners, and these strategies do not necessarily respond to listening difficulty. On the other hand, self-efficacy is proved to be a fundamental factor that influences students’ listening performance. But the connection between English listening difficulty and English listening self-efficacy has yet to be probed. The present study, therefore, seeks the opportunity to investigate the relation between English listening difficulty and English listening self-efficacy as well as some possible coping strategies for English listening difficulty. It is hoped that the results of the study can provide insights to the literature of English listening.
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