A Study On Interest, Self-Efficacy And Learning Achivement Of Young English Learners

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the current situation and relationship of interest, self-efficacy and learning achievement of young English-learners in China. It also aimed at exploring the impact of situational interest on individual interest in learning English.Research questions included 1) what is the current situation of interest, self-efficacy and learning achievement of young English-learners in China? 2) What is the interrelation between interest, self-efficacy and learning achievement of young English-learners in China? 3) Does situational interest have an impact on developing individual interest in learning English?During the first normal class period of the first week in the spring semester in 2004, students of the fifth grade from the Fifth Primary School of Fengtai District were directed by the teacher to complete Questionnaire 1 and 2 and given interviews afterwards. From the beginning of spring semester of 2004 to the end of autumn semester of 2004, the researcher regularly designed lessons for the chosen class specifically to stimulate their situational interest. Students were asked to finish Questionnaire 3 each time at the end of the lesson. Finally, all of the materials including questionnaires, interviews, observations (the field notes made by the researcher) and test scores were collected and used for analysis and answering research questions.The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was later employed to manage, display and analyze data; independent samples T-Test, paired samples T-Test, Pearson correlation and regression model were applied. Simultaneously, a reliability analysis was also conducted to verify the quality of the researcher-designed questionnaires.The analyses of the combined data of this study indicated that firstly, students in different score group expressed a marked difference both in English learning results and in learning attitude. Similarly, a manifest gender difference existed among interest, self-efficacy and learning achievement of young English learners. Secondly, interest, self-efficacy and learning achievement of young English learners were positively related to each other in general. Specifically, self-efficacy and enjoyment of English lessons were two strong predictors to high learning achievement. Thirdly, the comparison of the results of pre-test and post-test in regard to interest and learning achievement showed that both scores and interest increased. Scores rose prominently; however, there was no significant growth in interest.At the end of the thesis, implications and limitations of the research and suggestions for future study were covered.