A Study On The Relationship Of Academic Self-efficacy, Attribution And English Achievement

Based on the theoretical foundations of Bandura’ self-efficacy and Weiner’s attribution theory,the study adopted quantitative and qualitative approaches and was designed to examine therelationship among academic self-efficacy, attribution and foreign language achievement among68non-English majors. The results are as follows: First, subjects’ academic self-efficacy ispositively correlated with language achievement, and academic self-efficacy has highprediction for English achievement which accounts for38.8%in the variance of Englishachievement. Second, there are significant differences between students’ success attributionand failure attribution in ability and teacher attributional factors, and the mean of effort ismuch higher than that of any other attributional factors. In success attribution subjects’language achievements are positively correlated with ability attributional factor andnegatively with task difficulty and luck attributional factors, and ability and task difficultyhave significant prediction for English achievement which accounts for13.8%in the varianceof English achievement; while in failure attribution subjects’ language achievements arenegatively correlated with ability, effort and luck attributional factors, and effort and abilityhave significant prediction for English achievement which accounts for19.9%in the varianceof English achievement. Third, subjects’ academic self-efficacy is positively correlated withability and teacher attributional factors, and ability has significant prediction for academicself-efficacy which accounts for35.1%in the variance of academic self-efficacy. Fourth,subjects’ language achievements are positively correlated with academic self-efficacy, andability and effort attributional factors, and academic self-efficacy has significant prediction forEnglish achievement than attribution which accounts for38.2%in the variance of Englishachievement. Fifth, the interest in English learning and the limited time for English learning(or the burden of specialized courses) account for large proportion of attributional factors in non-English majors’ success or failure of English achievement.On the whole, the results of present study, which prove the close relationship among academicself-efficacy, attribution and foreign language achievement, are consistent with previous findings ofthe studies on academic self-efficacy and attribution. The results of the present study contributetheoretically and pedagogically to the fields of English teaching and learning in China.Theoretically, this study enriches the academic self-efficacy and attribution theories and helpsto test the universality of several important questions. Pedagogically, the study suggests thatEnglish teachers and learners should be aware of the role of academic self-efficacy andattribution in English teaching and learning in China.