A Study On The Changing Trend Of English Learning Self-efficacy Among Primary School Students From Grade Three To Six

With the developing of globalization,being one of the main languages in the world,English is becoming more and more important.English has been a main course since primary school.As the initial phase of English education,primary school period is of vital importance.The new curriculum reform beginning in 2011 put forward such new expectations as realizing the combination of humanism and instrumentality,cultivating students’ interest in English learning,encouraging students’ use of English actively,making students enjoy foreign cultures,and so on.All of these new requirements reflect the importance of emotional attitude and cultural awareness in primary school students’ English learning.Self-efficacy,as an essential concept in emotional attitude,is not supposed to be neglected.Self-efficacy refers to the belief that people have about their ability to fulfill their own behaviors in the process of accomplishing tasks and goals.This paper chooses all the students from grade three to six in one primary school in Shanxi province as the subjects of this study.By using questionnaires and interviews,this paper aims to explore these three questions.First,what is the current status of students’ English learning self-efficacy in this school? Second,what is the trend of English learning self-efficacy for primary school students in this school? Is there a gender difference in this trend? Third,what are the main causes of this change?Major research findings include the following results: 1.the average value of English learning self-efficacy in this primary school is 4.86(range 1-7),which is above medium level.2.The level of English learning self-efficacy of pupils from grade three to grade six shows a downward trend in general with the highest in grade three,the lowest in grade four and five,and a slight increase in grade six,which is still lower than that in grade three.Moreover,there is almost no gender difference in the level of self-efficacy among these primary school students in English learning.3.The main reason for this change is that students in different grades have obvious differences in four aspects,namely,enactive mastery experiences,vicarious experiences,social persuasion,and physiological and emotional states.On the basis of these results,the following strategies are put forward to cultivate and improve primary school students’ sense of self-efficacy in English learning,i.e.,cultivating students’ correct attribution to success and failure experience,promoting cooperative learning among students,adjusting and improving teachers’ and parents’ feedback provision to meet the needs of different students,and taking student-centered approaches to promote students’ physical and mental health.