| The concept of self-efficacy was proposed by Albert Bandura, a cognitive psychologist in 1977. With the publication of Social Foundations of Thought and Action, Bandura (1986) proposed a view of human functioning that emphasized the role of self-referent beliefs. Self-efficacy beliefs affect the choices people make, the effort people expend on activities, the perseverance and resilience people show in the face of adversity. For a long time, we have been paying more attention to the content of English instruction than the psychology of students. In fact, students'psychology, for example, self-efficacy has great influence on the students'English learning in College. The study of language self-efficacy and oral English performance is of practical and theoretical importance in China. The research on language self-efficacy can help learners find more effective ways to study English, strengthen their confidence and enhance their autonomy and independence in language learning.The thesis focuses on the study of the impact of self-efficacy on oral English performance. There are totally five parts in the thesis: chapter 1 is the literature review of self-efficacy, which introduces Bandura's self-efficacy theory, the theoretical basis of self-efficacy, and the related research on self-efficacy. Chapter 2 gives a historical review of oral English teaching research in China and emphasizes the importance of oral English for college students. Chapter 3 makes a general introduction to the objects, subjects, instruments and procedures of the paper. Chapter 4 is the analysis of the results and major findings, which is the main part in the thesis. And in the last chapter, pedagogical implications of the research, the author provide some suggestions for students, teachers and the college.This study applies both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Questionnaire and semi-structured interview are used in the study. 286 college students at age of 20-24 of Grade One from China University of Petroleum with an average of 8 years of learning English, which shows their definite fundamental knowledge of English, attended this research. 28 of the subjects were invited to attend in the interview as further research. At last, the data of the valid 277 questionnaires and the records of their oral English grades were processed by Microsoft Excel and SPSS statistical software to investigate the status quo of college oral English and correlation between oral English and self-efficacy.By researching into the data from the questionnaire and the interview, the positive correlation between language self-efficacy and oral English performance is found. This study proves the role of self-efficacy as a predictor of students'achievement, and as an important mediating variable in students'oral English study, such as students'activity choices, efforts, persistence, and emotional reactions, which confirms that students'self-belief about speaking abilities does play an essential role in their motivation to speak. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future study are provided at last. |
