Study On Self-efficacy And Oral Learning Strategies Of English Majors

The purpose of the present thesis is to investigate the relationship among self-efficacy, oral learning strategies and their oral proficiency of English majors in North China Electric Power University (NCEPU). The author first reviewed the related study by Albert Bandura, Rebecca Oxford, J. Michael O'Malley and other scholars. The author adopted the German psychologist Ralf Schwarzer's "General Self-Efficacy Scale" (GSES) and Oxfort's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). In September 2009,52 junior English majors from three classes of NCEPU made the questionnaires, with the help of SPSS 16.0 through mean, independent-samples t-test and correlation analysis. The results showed that the level of self-efficacy is at high level (M=3.8077), but the use of learning strategies is at intermediate level (M=3.0727). Statistical analyses also confirm the positive correlations among self-efficacy, learning strategies and oral proficiency. However, no significant gender differences are found. The successful learners use memory strategies (M=3.7059) and social strategies (M=3.3647) most frequently, while the less-successful learners use compensation strategies (M=3.1389) most frequently. Based on research findings and analysis, the author put forward some suggestions to enhance the teaching of oral English:Enhancing learners'self-efficacy and oral learning strategies; Realizing the importance of learning strategies'training.