Relationships On Individual Difference Factors And Oral Production Of The EFL Learners:A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Oral production is an important indicator of second language(L2)ability,which can be affected by cognitive,affective and other individual difference factors.Up till now,however,only a few studies have investigated the influence of multiple factors on oral production.The complex relationships among individual difference factors and how they interact together on oral production are still unclear.Based on Krashen’s Monitor Theory,this study probed into the relationship between cognitive factors(language aptitude),affective factors(willingness to communicate,foreign language anxiety,oral motivation and emotional intelligence)and oral production using structural equation model(SEM).Specifically,the following two research questions were addressed:1)What are the relationships among EFL learners’ individual difference factors?2)What are the relationships between EFL learners’ individual difference factors and oral production? Among these factors,which has the strongest predicting power?A total of 350 non-English major students from two universities in Jiangsu Province have participated in the study.Adopting the form of questionnaire and test,this study collected oral data and cognitive data through IELTS speaking test and LLAMA test respectively,and collected affective data via online survey using software Wen Juan Xing.Statistical software SPSS 25.0 was employed to conduct normal distribution,exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis of affective questionnaires.Structural Equation Modeling(SEM)was employed via AMOS 23.0 to examine the measurement models and testify the hypothesized relationships among individual difference factors and oral production of the EFL learners.The results showed that: 1)There existed interaction between cognitive factors and affective factors: language aptitude significantly correlated with emotional intelligence and positively affected willingness to communicate.Different affective factors had certain effects on each other: foreign language anxiety negatively affected oral motivation;oral motivation positively affected willingness to communicate;emotional intelligence not only had a direct effect on foreign language anxiety and willingness to communicate,but also had an indirect positive effect on oral motivation through foreign language anxiety.2)Language aptitude,emotional intelligence and oral motivation positively affected oral production;foreign language anxiety negatively affected oral production;among the above individual difference factors,emotional intelligence had the strongest predictive power;willingness to communicate had no effect on oral production.Based on the results of this study,some implications can be drawn: 1)This study examines the essence of individual differences affecting oral production from multiple perspectives.A model on individual difference factors and oral production has been established,which can provide statistical support for the internal relationship among various variables and further improve the mechanism of L2 oral production;2)This study has certain implications for college oral English teaching.Teachers should clarify the importance of cognitive and affective factors in oral practice,carefully investigate students’ individual differences,and timely adjust teaching methods,so as to effectively improve EFL learners’ oral production.