The present research study has included three theoretical constructs of beliefs (the self-efficacy belief, the outcome value belief and the internal control belief) in one structural model to explain college students' engagement and achievement in foreign language learning. Subjects were 285 students who were enrolled in the beginning courses of French, German, Russian, and Spanish in a large southern university. Data were collected in the first few weeks of the semester and at the end of the semester. / Tests of the proposed causal model using Lisrel 7 revealed that a revised model would result in a better fitting and more theoretically meaningful model. / Results of the revised model support the hypothesis that self-efficacy is a mediating factor between various cognitive factors and students' learning results. Self-efficacy was also found to have an effect on students' self study time at the first few weeks of the semester. Students' reported self study time later in the semester was related to their perceived task demand and their earlier performance. Outcome value directly affects students' willingness to persist in learning the target language, and indirectly influences achievement through its direct effect on efficacy expectations. Students' belief in effort also had an indirect effect on achievement through its direct effect on efficacy expectations. It was suggested that two major factors may cause discrepancies in test results of efficacy beliefs: the type of task involved in the study, and the time frame within which measures of efficacy and behavior indicators are collected. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-04, Section: A, page: 0916. / Major Professor: Bruce W. Tuckman. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77153 |
| Contributors | Zhang, Xiurong., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 109 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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