Factors that Influence College-Level English Language Learning: A Structural Equation Perspective

Abstract

The development of Internet technology has made it difficult for the traditional English teaching model of college students to meet the latest requirements. It is therefore necessary to explore the factors that influence college student English learning and to provide scientific support that will promote efficient English teaching. This paper collects data related to five aspects of the English learning situation of college students, specifically learning attitude, environment, input, motivation and status. It then constructs a structural equation model of college student English learning behavior. It distributes questionnaires to freshmen and sophomores at Hohai University’s Changzhou Campus and draws on data obtained from 326 questionnaires (386 were distributed). It combines the model's path system and constructs eight hypotheses (H1-H8) that are found to significantly influence the five aspects. The results show that learning attitude and input exert significant positive effects on learning. The paper concludes that educators who teach English to college students should focus on active learning, as this will drive improvements in the effect of English teaching.