Second Language Learners’ Self-efficacy and English Achievement: the Mediating Role of Integrative Motivation

Abstract

In studying second language (L2) learners’ motivation, much research has focused on belief in one’s ability to succeed at achieving language proficiency. However, only limited research has examined whether learners’ L2 self-efficacy is related to integrative motivation, or whether it is related to English achievement in a foreign language context. In this study, we investigated whether integrative motivation mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and English achievement, employing data from 102 eighth-grade adolescent learners in Korea. In a mediation model, with the relations among self-efficacy and integrative motivation variables examined simultaneously, there was definitive evidence that self-efficacy directly influenced English achievement. Adolescent L2 learners’ self-efficacy influenced English achievement indirectly through its effect on integrative motivation. Adolescents with higher self-efficacy reported more integrative motivation, and greater integrative motivation was associated with higher English achievement. The findings suggest that an L2 learner’s integrative motivation plays a prominent role in the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and English achievement in a foreign language classroom.