The study aimed at identifying the association between Bandura's four hypothesized self-efficacy sources and reading comprehension by employing reading self-efficacy beliefs as a mediating variable. A correlational research design was used. A total of 351 Saudi EFL learners were selected from eight public universities of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by employing proportionate stratified random sampling. Two questionnaires including 'questionnaire for sources of reading self-efficacy', and 'reading self-efficacy beliefs questionnaire', and an IELTS reading comprehension test were used to collect the data. Path analysis by AMOS 23 was utilised in order to test the hypotheses. Findings provided support for the proposed conceptual framework, disclosing that all the four self-efficacy sources were significantly associated with reading self-efficacy beliefs. Also, reading self-efficacy beliefs were significantly associated with reading comprehension. Lastly, reading selfefficacy beliefs mediated the association between self-efficacy sources and reading comprehension. This study offered several theoretical and practical implications for EFL learners, instructors, and educational policymakers on the need of inculcating self-efficacy beliefs among learners to facilitate them in English reading comprehension.
Purpose – Academic and psychological adjustment of international students is central to their success while pursuing their degrees abroad. However, acculturation stress is abundant and may pose as a challenge. Thus, in this study we examined whether social support mediates the association between acculturation stress and academic and psychological adjustment.
Methodology – A cross sectional research design was employed. A total of 200 postgraduate international students from three Malaysian public universities were recruited to participate in the study. The Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire was employed to measure their academic adjustment and psychological adjustment. The Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support and the Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students were used to collect data on social support and acculturation stress. Path analysis by AMOS 23 was used to test the hypothesized relationship.
Findings – Results provided support for the proposed model, revealing that social support was associated with greater academic and psychological adjustment among international students.
Significance – The present study has implications for university policies, counsellors, and student affairs departments on the need to take measures to facilitate healthy academic and psychological adjustment among international students.
This study investigated students' perception towards language courses using student-centered learning approach at University Utara Malaysia (UUM). Students' perception was measured through a model termed as environmental, cognitive, affective, and metacognitive mediation (ECAM) which is a common teaching and learning technique used in classroom activities. To assess the implementation of ECAM; qualitative analysis was conducted based on observations of students' activities in two language courses. The findings of the study indicated that the students employed the techniques of ECAM model. However, cognitive mediation learning technique was extensively used by the students. Moreover, audio-taped interviews were also conducted with four voluntary undergraduate students. The findings from the interviews' interpretation revealed that students also explicit positive viewpoints about student-centered learning approach.
This study was conducted to find the association between pronunciation self-efficacy sources and pronunciation self-efficacy beliefs. It was quantitative in nature using a correlational research design. A sample of 155 Malaysian ESL university students was selected from two Malaysian universities by employing proportionate stratified random sampling. Two questionnaires were used to collect the data related to pronunciation self-efficacy sources and self-efficacy beliefs. In order to analyze the collected data, the correlational analysis was carried out with a statistical software named Smart PLS 3.0. Findings indicated that all the self-efficacy sources were significantly and positively correlated with pronunciation self-efficacy beliefs, except physiological state, which was significantly but negatively correlated with pronunciation self-efficacy beliefs. Based on the outcomes of this study, implications for ESL instructors and educational policymakers were presented.
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