The Relationship between Classroom Environment and EFL Learners' Academic Self-Efficacy

Masoumeh Naghsh Daemi, Abdorreza Tahriri, Amir Mahdavi Zafarghandi

Abstract


The present study sought to examine the relationship between classroom environment and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' academic self-efficacy. To this end, a sample of 200 advanced EFL learners (146 females and 54 males) completed the What is Happening In This Class? (WIHIC) which consists of seven scales including Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Investigation, Task Orientation, Cooperation, and Equity that help to measure classroom learning environment. The Self-Efficacy for Learning Form (SELF-A) was also administered to gauge the participants’ academic self-efficacy. In order to analyze the data, Spearman rank-order correlation was run. The results revealed that there was a significant relationship between EFL learners’ classroom environment and their self-efficacy (rho = .438). The findings reflected that the highest relationship was between task orientation and self-efficacy (rho = .433) followed by the relationship between student cohesiveness and self-efficacy (rho = .353).  However, the lowest relationship was found for the relationship between cooperation and self-efficacy (rho = .199). Overall, the results highlight the relationship between classroom environment and academic self-efficacy. 


Keywords


Academic self-efficacy, Classroom environment, Learners, EFL

Full Text:

PDF

References


Anderson, L. (2004). From chaos to community. Retrieved from https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/from-chaos-to-community

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Battistich, V., Solomon, D., Kim, D., Watson, M., & Schaps, E. (1995). Schools as communities, poverty levels of student populations, and students’ attitudes, motives, and performance: A multilevel analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 627–658. doi:10.3102/00028312032003627

Chemers, M. M., Hu, L. T., & Garcia, B. F. (2001). Academic self-efficacy and first year college student performance and adjustment. Journal of Educational psychology, 93(1), 55–64.

Cohen, A. D. (1998). Strategies for learning and using a second language. New York: Longman.

Croissant, H. (2014). Classroom environment influence on student self-efficacy in mathematics. Texas A & M University Commerce. Retrieved from http://gradworks.umi.com/36/20/3620807.html

Dorman, J. P. (2001). Associations between classroom environment and academic efficacy. Learning Environments Research, 4(3), 243–257.

Dorman, J., & Adams, J. (2004). Associations between students' perceptions of classroom environment and academic efficacy in Australian and British secondary schools. Westminster Studies in Education, 27(1), 69–85.

Dorman, J., Waldrip, B., & Fisher, D. L. (2006). Classroom environment, students' perceptions of assessment, academic efficacy and attitude to science: A LISREL analysis. In proceedings of the NARST 2006 Annual Meeting (pp. 1–32). National Association for Research in Science Teaching.

Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second Language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Ferguson, J. M., & Dorman, J. P. (2001). Psychosocial classroom environment and academic efficacy in Canadian high school mathematics classes. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 47, 276–279.

Hanke, C. Y. C. (2013). A cross-national study of students’ perceptions of mathematics classroom environment, attitudes towards mathematics and academic self-efficacy among middle school students in Hong Kong and the USA (Doctoral dissertation, Curtin University). Retrieved from https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/handle/20.500.11937/2575/199177_Hanke%22014.pdf?sequence=2

Lim, C. T. D. (2013). Learning environments in English classrooms in Singapore: Determinants and effects (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://espace.curtin.edu.au/handle/20.500.11937/829

Madu, N. E. (2010). Associations between teachers' interpersonal behaviour, classroom learning environment and students' outcomes. Curtin University of Technology, Science and Mathematics Education Centre. Retrieved from http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au/R?func=dbin-jump-full&local_base=gen01-era02&object_id=151667

McMahon, S. D., Wernsman, J., & Rose, D. S. (2009). The relation of classroom environment and school belonging to academic self-efficacy among urban fourth and fifth grade students. The Elementary School Journal, 109(3), 267-281.

Midgley, C., Maehr, M. L., Hruda, L. Z., Anderman, E., Anderman, L., Freeman, K. E., Gheen, M., Kaplan, A., Kumar, R., Middleton, M. J., Nelson, J., Roeser, R., & Urdan, T. (2000). Manual for the patterns of adaptive learning scales. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.

Pajares, F. (1996). Self-efficacy beliefs in academic settings. Review of Educational Research,66, 543–578.

Raoofi, S., Tan, B. H., & Chen, S. H. (2012). Self-efficacy in second/foreign language learning contexts. English Language Teaching, 5(11), 60–73.

Spinner, H., & Fraser, B. J. (2005). Evaluation of an innovative mathematics program in terms of classroom environment, student attitudes, and conceptual development. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 3(2), 267–293. doi:10.1007/s10763-0046531-8

Valle, A., Núñez, J. C., Cabanach, R. G., González-Pienda, J. A., Rodríguez, S., Rosário, P., & Cerezo, R. (2009). Academic goals and learning quality in higher education students. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 96–105.

Wang, M. T. (2012). Educational and career interests in math: A longitudinal examination of the links between classroom environment, motivational beliefs, and interests. Developmental Psychology, 48(6), 1643–57. doi:10.1037/a0027247

Williams, M., & Burden, R. L. (1997). Psychology for language teachers: A social constructivist approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Zedan, R., & Bitar, J. (2014). Environment learning as a predictor of mathematics self-efficacy and math achievement. American International Journal of Social Science, 3(6), 85–97.

Zimmerman, B. J. (1995). Self-efficacy and educational development. In A. Bandura (Ed.), Self-efficacy in changing societies (pp. 202–231). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Zimmerman, B. J., & Kitsantas, A. (1997). Developmental phases in self-regulation: Shifting from process goals to outcome goals. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(1), 29–36.

Zimmerman, B. J., & Kitsantas, A. (2005). Homework practices and academic achievement: The mediating role of self-efficacy and perceived responsibility beliefs. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 397–417.

Zimmerman, B. J., & Kitsantas, A. (2007). Reliability and validity of the Self-Efficacy for Learning Form (SELF) scores of college students. Journal of Psychology, 215(3), 157–163.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.5n.4p.16

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2013-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies  

You may require to add the 'aiac.org.au' domain to your e-mail 'safe list’ If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox'. Otherwise, you may check your 'Spam mail' or 'junk mail' folders.