Correlation Between Self-efficacy And Reading Strategy Of English Majors

Among learner factors, affective factors were found to have an influence onlearner’s achievement. As an inseparable part of affective factors, self-efficacy hasdrawn concerns of scholars in different areas since it was put forward. Self-efficacyrefers to one’s beliefs of the capabilities to produce designated levels of performance(Bandura,1986,1989; Schunk,1991). Many studies have shown that self-efficacy isan important variable affecting academic achievement. Due to the importance ofreading, the value of reading strategies has drawn attention of foreign languageresearchers. Reading strategies and self-efficacy are two important variables affectingEnglish learning outcomes.In this empirical study, the author chooses120subjects of English majors in oneuniversity in Ji’nan, Shandong Province. Questionnaires are used as the researchinstrument in the data-collecting process and the software SPSS17.0is employed tomake the analysis. This research intends to investigate the level of English readingself-efficacy and reading strategy use among college English majors and aims toexplore the relationship between them, which can provide bases and inspirations forEnglish reading teaching in China.The results show that college English majors hold English self-efficacy andemploy English reading strategies at moderate level; they use metacognitive strategiesthe least frequently. No significant differences are found between boys and girls in thelevel of self-efficacy and in the use of reading strategies. There are positivecorrelations between English self-efficacy and English reading strategies, betweenEnglish self-efficacy and achievement, and between English reading strategies andachievement.This study is of much significance to enhance the level of self-efficacy andpromote the effective use of reading strategies and improve reading ability of collegeEnglish majors. In addition, it has great practical significance to solve the currentsituation of English reading in China. It extends and enriches the research on therelationship among self-efficacy, reading strategies and reading achievement, which will provide some inspirations and references for the English teaching.