L2 Anxiety, Self-Regulatory Strategies, Self-Efficacy, Intended Effort and Academic Achievement: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Abstract

Factors that contribute to learning achievement have always been a primary research concern in the field of education. In the field of second/foreign language (L2) learning, researchers have been trying to explore many important factors that are linked to successful learning and how these factors may predict the success of language learning. With respect to the factors contributing to language proficiency, many researchers endeavor themselves to the exploration of assisting the learners. The present study aims to explore whether or not the following factors would influence learners’ academic achievement: the process of goal-setting, the L2 anxiety, the effort the learners put into, self-efficacy together with self-regulatory strategies. A total number of 356 senior high school students who were learning English as a Foreign Language participated in the study. A new questionnaire was developed to measure and collect the participants’ responses in respect to the above-mentioned learning factors. In order to investigate the relationships among these factors and the learners’ academic performance, the structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to identify the best fit model. It was found that self-efficacy, L2 anxiety, together with goal-setting processes, are prerequisites for the application of effective self-regulatory strategies, which in turn play an important role in affecting the intended efforts the learners make, and consequently influence the learners’ achievement. According to the findings, we suggest the teacher elevate the students’ self-efficacy, lower the L2 anxiety, help set their learning goals, cultivate their capability of employing strategies and increase their intended effort.