Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica 2020, Vol. XXIX, N°1, 1319-1324
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.190 1319
C
ORRELATION
A
NALYSIS BETWEEN
S
ELF
-E
FFICACY AND
P
SYCHOLOGICAL
A
NXIETY OF
C
OLLEGE
E
NGLISH
L
EARNERS
B
ASED ON
T
RIADIC
R
ECIPROCAL
D
ETERMINISM
Xiangfa Zeng, Song Wang, Fen Zhang*
Abstract
Many college students in China face great difficulties in English learning. Their learning psychology is directly affected by the self-efficacy. This paper introduces the triadic reciprocal determinism (TRD) to identify the correlations between self-efficacy and psychological anxiety of college English learners. A questionnaire survey was conducted to in a university of Shaanxi, China, to measure the self-efficacy and psychological anxiety of college students in English learning. Based on the survey data, the correlations between the two factors were discussed through regression analysis, using the General English Self-Efficacy Scale and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. The results show that the self-efficacy of college students in English learning belongs to the general level; the psychological anxiety in English learning is very prominent; for college English learners, their self-efficacy has a significant negative correlation with psychological anxiety. The research results enrich the theories on self-efficacy and psychological anxiety, and promote the reform of college English teaching.
Key words: Triadic Reciprocal Determinism (TRD), English Learning, Self-Efficacy, Psychological Anxiety, Correlation.
Received: 18-04-19 | Accepted: 20-08-19
INTRODUCTION
As an international language, English is one of the compulsory basic courses for all college
students. However, the survey shows
(Martocchio, 1994) that due to their poor basis of high school English or the inability to adapt to college English teaching mode, the college students have the problems in English learning; many have lost interest in English learning, and even produced negative and anxious emotions, which also directly affect students' learning motivation and effects (Woodrow, 2001).
In 1977, American psychologist Albert Bandura proposed the concept of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a kind of prediction and judgment
Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu 610500, China. E-Mail: [email protected]
by individuals on whether they can complete certain tasks according to their actual ability and
level (Aydin, Uzuntiryaki, & Demirdögˇen, 2011).
It can affect students' behaviour in many ways. Students with high self-efficacy will overcome anxiety and rise to difficulties in the learning process (Endler, Speer, Johnson et al., 2001). Domestic and foreign scholars and experts have compiled self-efficacy scales, in which the general self-efficacy scale developed by Schwarzer et al. is widely used internationally (Martinez, Kock, & Cass, 2001); Yufang Bian draw on the self-efficacy theory and TRD, and divided the learning self-efficacy into four aspects: sense of ability, effort, control and environment (Hermann and Betz, 2004). Zhong Yan et al., Jones, Aiwu Jia and Zhifeng Zhang established the English Learning Self-Efficacy Questionnaire from different dimensions respectively (Grusec, 1992). In 1986, American psychologist Horwitz,
XIANGFA ZENG,SONG WANG,FEN ZHANG
1320
EK proposed the concept of English learning anxiety (Everett, Salamonson, & Davidson, 2009). Then, Macinty, Gardner and Arnold et. respectively defined English learning anxiety, in terms of the three types of anxiety: state, situation and trait (Smedslund, 2008), and English learning anxiety can be considered as a type of situational anxiety, that is, the bad emotional experience that learners have in the process of English learning. Some researchers classified it into negative evaluation anxiety, test anxiety, and communication anxiety (Ganschow, 2011). External stimuli, social support, and learners themselves are the three main factors affecting English learning anxiety (Hwang, Hsu, Lai et al., 2017). As one of the emotional factors affecting learning, anxiety received extensive attention from scholars in the 1940s and 1950s. Among them, Horwitz compiled a more systematic Foreign Language Classroom Learning Anxiety Scale (Scovel, 2010); Zhao Yan and Wu Fang respectively established the anxiety scales of junior high school and college English learning
suitable for China's national conditions
(Macintyre, 1995). Yanhong Yu 's research on English learning anxiety of high school students showed that girls were more likely to have English learning anxiety than boys, and senior high school students' self-efficacy of English learning was higher than fresh students of high school (Gardner, Day, & Maclntyre, 1992). Through the analysis for the research results of English learning self-efficacy and psychological
anxiety at home and abroad, it’s found that
although there have abundant research results currently, the results obtained by different researchers are not consistent, and the correlation between them has been less studied (Hurd, 2007).
In view of the above, this paper aims to study the correlation between self-efficacy and psychological anxiety of English learners based on Bandura's TRD. For this, it conducts a brief analysis for the theoretical basis of English learning self-efficacy and psychological anxiety. The questionnaire method was adopted using the college students in one university of Shannxi Province as research objects. Finally, the results showed that English learning self-efficacy and
psychological anxiety were significantly
negatively correlated, that is, the higher the self-efficacy of English learning, the lower the degree of anxiety.
RELEVANT THEORETICAL BASIS
Triadic Reciprocal Determinism
Based on cognitive psychology, humanistic
theory and constructivist theory, and
behaviourism theory, Bandura proposed the TRD theory, arguing that environmental factors, personal factors and behavioural factors are theoretical entities that can interact and determine each other. Figure 1 shows the model of the TRD, that is, the environment is the
potential factor determining a person’s
behaviour, the interaction between the person and the environment determines the behaviour, and the behaviour is the interaction of the three.
Figure 1
. Model of ternary exchange definite
interaction
People
Environment Behavior
Behavior-induced environmental events
The resulting environmental event can change the direction
or intensity of the activity Change the impression
of the individual without being affected by the environment
Expectations and values affect behavior
Different physiological characteristics and social attributes trigger different environmental reactions
Different social treatments affect individual self-concepts
Self-efficacy in English learning
As early as 1977, Bandura presented the concept of self-efficacy. At present, there has been no unified concept of self-efficacy at home and abroad. By reading relevant references at home and abroad, self-efficacy can be summarized as a prediction or judgment of the individuals on whether they can complete certain tasks according to their own abilities and other actual situations. English learning self-efficacy refers to the confidence level of the English learns on whether they can complete their English learning according their own
learning and behavioural ability. It’s affected by
the factors such as English learners' learning motivation, previous English learning success-failure experience, their own psychological resilience level, parents' education methods,
teacher feedback and peer’s demonstration role
CORRELATION ANALYSIS BETWEEN SELF-EFFICACY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ANXIETY OF COLLEGE ENGLISH LEARNERS BASED ON TRIADIC RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM 1321
Psychological anxiety in English learning Anxiety is defined differently by the scholars. Simply speaking, anxiety can be considered as a negative emotional experience when the individual encounters a danger, threat or mental attack. Anxiety can be usually divided into three types: state, situation, and trait type. English learning psychological anxiety is a kind of situational anxiety, that is, the bad emotional experience that learners have in the process of English learning. some researchers have further classified it into negative evaluation anxiety, test anxiety, communication anxiety.
CORRELATION BETWEEN SELF-EFFICACY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ANXIETY OF COLLEGE ENGLISH LEARNERS
Research methods
This paper selects students from grade 1 to grade 3 of a university in Shaanxi Province as the research objects. A total of 460 questionnaires were distributed and 423 valid questionnaires were returned, including 193 male students and 230 female students with an effective rate of 92%.
Using the English Self-Efficacy Scale adapted by Shufen Zhang, the survey was conducted from the four dimensions: the sense of ability to overcome difficulties in English learning, feeling of frustration, the sense of confidence in achieving goals, and the sense of ability to complete tasks. Besides, the five-point Likert scale was used to measure the self-efficacy of the students, ranging from 5 to 1 (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree).
The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale compiled by Horwitz, EK was also used in
the four dimensions of test anxiety,
communication anxiety, negative evaluation anxiety and English learning psychological anxiety in English learning. Similarly, the five-point scale was used to measure the psychological anxiety of college English learners. The collected data were statistically analysed using SPSS 17.0 to obtain the final survey results.
Research results
1) Research results of college students' self-efficacy in English learning
Figure 2 shows that the four dimensions of college students' self-efficacy scored between 2-3 points, with an average score of 2.49, which
was between the “agree” and “neutral” of the
five-point scale, indicating that the students
weren’t sure whether they have the ability to
overcome difficulties, the feelings of frustration, the sense of confidence in achieving goals, and the sense of ability to complete tasks in their English learning. The student's self-efficacy score was 2.75 points, slightly higher than the average of 2.5 points, indicating that college students had a general self-efficacy in English learning.
Figure 2
. Self-efficacy and the average of its
four dimensions
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Ability to overcom
e
difficu lties Feeling o
f
frustratio n
A sense of confid
ence
in achie ving the
goal Sense
of ability
to comp lete the tas
k
Self-effi cacy
Table 1 shows the statistical results of college students' self-efficacy in English learning in terms of genders. Figure 3 shows the average scores of self-efficacies of different genders. It can be seen from both that the average score of self-efficacy in males' English learning was lower than that of female students, but not significantly, P=0.075, over 0.05; the P-values of the feelings of frustration and the sense of ability to complete tasks were 0.037 and 0.02, respectively, below 0.05, indicating that there are significant differences between male students and female students in these two
aspects, and the males’ were significantly lower than females.
XIANGFA ZENG,SONG WANG,FEN ZHANG
1322
Table 1.
Gender Differences in College Students' Self-efficacy in English Learning
—— The average score Standard deviation T P
Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl
Self-efficacy 2.67 2.93 0.803 0.54 3.28 0.075
Sense of ability
to complete the task 2.23 2.77 0.83 0.66 5.75 0.02
A sense of confidence
in achieving the goal 2.95 3.43 0.98 0.80 3.40 0.73
Feeling of
frustration 2.51 3.11 0.33 0.75 5.52 0.037
Ability to overcome
difficulties 2.62 2.87 0.98 0.88 0.91 0.341
Figure 3
.
Average score of self-efficacy by
gender
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Ability to overcom
e
difficu lties Feeling o
f
frustratio n A sense of c
onfidenc e
in achie ving the goa
l Sense
of ability
to comp lete the tas
k Self-effi
cacy
Boy Girl
2) Research results of college students' psychological anxiety in English learning
Figure 4 shows the survey results of the psychological anxiety in college students' English learning, in which the average score of test anxiety was the highest, and the score of psychological anxiety in English learning was 3.11s, which was higher than the average score of 2.5 points, indicating that the anxiety problem of college students in English learning was more prominent.
Table 2 shows the statistical results of college students' English learning psychological anxiety in terms of different genders. Figure 5 shows the average scores of English learning anxiety in different genders. It can be seen from both Table 2 and Figure 5 that the average score of female students' English anxiety was lower than that of males, and the average scores of females' communication anxiety and other anxiety were lower than those of males; the P-values of English learning psychological anxiety for males
and females were greater than 0.05 in all four dimensions, indicating that male and female students are not significantly different in the psychological anxiety of English learning and its four dimensions at the 0.05 level.
Figure 4
.
Research results of college
students' English learning anxiety
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Other a nxiety Test an
xiety Commun
ication
anxie ty Negativ
e evalua tion
anxie ty Englis
h learn ing
psycho logical
anxiety
Figure 5
. Average scores of English anxiety in
different genders
2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8
Other a nxiety Test anxiety Commun
ication
anxie ty Negativ
e evalua tion
anxie ty English
learnin g
psycho logical
anxiet
Boy Girl
CORRELATION ANALYSIS BETWEEN SELF-EFFICACY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ANXIETY OF COLLEGE ENGLISH LEARNERS BASED ON TRIADIC RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM 1323
Table 2.
College Students' English Learning Psychological Anxiety Gender Difference
—— The average score Standard deviation T P
Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl Boy Girl
English learning psychological anxiety 2.93 2.86 0.69 0.58 0.091 0.765
Negative evaluation anxiety 2.69 2.98 0.89 0.71 2.075 0.156
Communication anxiety 2.94 2.79 0.81 0.70 0.43 0.52
Test anxiety 3.32 3.65 0.81 1.86 0.630 0.433
Other anxiety 2.78 2.62 1.03 1.01 0.29 0.587
3) Research results of the correlation between college students' self-efficacy and psychological anxiety in English learning
Figure 6
.
Research Results of Correlation
between College Students' Self-efficacy in
English Learning and English Learning
Anxiety
-0.65 -0.60 -0.55 -0.50 -0.45 -0.40 -0.35 -0.30 -0.25 -0.20 -0.15 -0.10
Ability to overcom
e
difficu lties Feeling o
f
frustratio n
A sense of confid
ence
in achie ving the
goal Sense
of ability
to comp lete the
task
Self-effi cacy
English learning anxiety Negative evaluation anxiety Communication anxiety Test anxiety Other anxiety
Figure 6 shows the statistical results of the correlation between English learning self-efficacy and anxiety in English learning. Self-efficacy in English learning were significantly correlated with the psychological anxiety, negative evaluation anxiety and communication anxiety at 0.05 level, and with test anxiety and other anxiety at the 0.01 level; the sense of ability to complete tasks was significantly correlated with English learning psychological anxiety, negative evaluation anxiety and communication anxiety at the 0.05 level, and with test anxiety at 0.01 level, but not with other anxiety; The sense of confidence in achieving the goal was significantly correlated with English
learning psychological anxiety, negative
evaluation anxiety and communication anxiety
at 0.05 level, and with other anxiety at 0. 01 level, but not with the test anxiety; the feeling of frustration was only significantly correlated with test anxiety at the 0.01 level, but not with other psychological anxiety indicators; the ability to overcome difficulties was not significantly correlated to test anxiety, but with the other psychological anxiety indicators at the 0.05 level.
CONCLUSIONS
The way to effectively improve the English teaching effect in colleges and universities is one of the important parts of the current educational research. The low self-efficacy and negative emotions of college students in English learning will affect their learning effect. This paper studies the correlation between self-efficacy and psychological anxiety of college English learners based on TRD. The specific conclusions are as follows:
(1) College students had a general self-efficacy in English learning, and there was no significant difference in the average score of self-efficacy between the male and female students, although that of males in English learning was lower than females;
(2) College students' psychological anxiety problem in English learning was more prominent. Although the average score of female students' anxiety was lower than that of male students, there was no significant difference between the two;
(3) There was a significant negative
correlation between self-efficacy and
psychological anxiety in English learning, that is, the higher the self-efficacy of English learning, the lower the degree of psychological anxiety.
Acknowledgement
This work has been supported by Sichuan Applied Psychology Research Center. Project Title: Study on the Effect of College English
Length-XIANGFA ZENG,SONG WANG,FEN ZHANG
1324
Approach Writing Instruction on the Writing Anxiety of Medical College Students, Project No: CSXL-183009.
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