Investigation And Intervention Studies On The Self-Efficacy And Learning Strategies Of Junior High School Students' English Learning In A Rural Area

Self-efficacy and learning strategies are important factors that affect students'academic achievements and they have aroused interests and concerns of many researchers.Studies have shown that students with strong self-efficacy can improve their English achievements by using learning strategies better.Due to the influence of students' poor learning foundation and teachers' insufficient teaching,the English teaching in rural junior high schools has been lagging behind for a long time.Therefore,it needs to be improved urgently.The study of English learning self-efficacy and learning strategies of junior high school students in rural areas is of positive significance for improving English teaching in rural areas.As an effective form of counseling in specific situations,group counseling plays a significant role in adopting positive attitudes and behaviors and stimulating individual potential.On the basis of previous research,this study took 356 students from Grade 7 to Grade 9 of a rural junior high school in Chongqing as the research objects to explore the overall state of self-efficacy and learning strategies and the correlation between the two and English achievements.On the basis of the investigation results,20 students,selected as subjects from the Grade 8,were divided into experimental group and control group according to their scores of Mid-term English Test.The experimental group was given group counseling on self-efficacy and learning strategy use for 8 times,and the control group wasn' t given no any relevant training.The following questions are answered in this study:(1)What is the general state of English learning self-efficacy and learning strategy use among junior high school students?(2)What are the relationships among learning self-efficacy,learning strategies and English achievements?(3)Does group counseling obviously improve students' self-efficacy and level of learning strategy use,so as to improve their English achievements?The results show that:(1)The overall level of English self-efficacy and learningstrategy use in English learning of junior high school students in rural areas is at the lower middle;Students can widely use English learning and memory strategy,cognitive strategy,meta-cognitive strategy,and compensation strategy;but the average level is not high.Students are less likely to use social and emotional strategies;The highest level is in Grade 7 and the lowest level is in Grade 8;The level of Grade 8 is significantly different from that in Grade 7 and 9,(2)There is a positive correlation among English self-efficacy,learning strategies and English achievements of rural junior high school students;There is a positive correlation among the self-efficacy of learning ability,cognitive strategy and memory strategy;The self-efficacy of learning ability,cognitive strategy and affective strategy can explain the 53.9%variation of students English achievements.(3)Group counseling can effectively improve students' level of learning self-efficacy level and learning strategy use level as well as strengthen students' awareness of self-cognition,self-monitoring and planned learning from different levels,so as to improve their their English achievementsBased on the above results,this study found that:The level of self-efficacy and learning strategy use are significantly correlated with English achievements.Teachers should enhance students' self-efficacy and encourage them to apply learning strategies.Group counseling is an effective intervention form to improve the rural junior high school students' self-efficacy and learning strategy sue in English learning.Group counseling is worthy of continuous practice and systematic application by teachers in the daily teaching process,with the combination of specific language contents,so as to promote students'English achievements and independent learning abilities.