University Students’ Perceptions of Motivation, Attitude, and Self-Efficacy in Online English Language Learning

Abstract

The study examines university students’ perceptions of their motivation, attitude, and self-efficacy in online English proficiency classes. Existing research indicate that these individual differences directly affect learning especially during the period of online instructions; as students may suffer from the feeling of isolation and loneliness, being far away from an immediate learning community. A set of questionnaire score was created from the adaptation of five existing surveys to measure the individual differences. It was distributed to 270 participants via convenient sampling at a university in Malaysia. The results of this study demonstrate the students’ perception of a strong self-efficacy of their digital and technical ability in managing, completing, and submitting English language tasks via online medium. Relatedly, students perceive a high positive attitude and decent motivation for online English learning. Furthermore, the students demonstrate a preference for a synchronous session, which is linked to forming a community of learners as an academic support system. The findings are discussed in relation to human factors and pedagogy. It considers students’ needs for engaging sessions, and teachers’ limitations in creating content while emphasising creative and fun language activities.