The Effect of Self-Assessment in the Self-Efficacy of Students Studying Spanish as a Foreign Language
Year: 2007
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Self-efficacy, the belief that one can complete a specific learning task effectively, is of vital importance for students studying Spanish as a foreign language. In prior research increased self-efficacy has been correlated with enhanced learner motivation, academic performance, and overall achievement. Theoretically, learners' ability to self-assess their own strengths and limitations during the learning process may be linked to overall self-efficacy. However, this association has not been tested empirically. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a continuous self-assessment component on the self-efficacy of undergraduate students studying Spanish as a foreign language. 104 undergraduate students from two different universities participated in this experimental study. 62 participants were in a treatment group, and 42 participants were in the control group. All participants completed the Spanish as a Foreign Language Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SFL-SEQ) during the second week of the semester (i.e., pre-test) and during the final week of the semester (i.e., post-test). Participants in the treatment group also completed weekly Self-Assessment Questionnaires throughout the semester. Results of an Analysis of Covariance, which tested whether inter-group differences in self-efficacy were different between the control and treatments group at post-test after controlling for participants' pre-test self-efficacy scores (i.e., the covariate) were not statistically significant (F [1,86]=1.77, p=.19). However, results of a follow-up 2X2 Analysis of Variance, which tested whether intra-group self-efficacy increased from pre-test to post-test, were statistically significant (F [1,87]=12.40, p<.01). Pairwise t-tests for dependent measures showed that self-efficacy scores did increase significantly from pre-test to post-test for treatment group participants (t = -7.18 [df=53], p<.001), but self-efficacy scores did not significantly increase from pre-test to post-test for control group participants (t = -.90 [df=34], p=.38). Therefore, Spanish undergraduate students' self-efficacy seemed to be heightened significantly more with continuous self-assessment than without it. In addition, Pearson correlations revealed that participants' Self-Assessment Questionnaire scores were significantly positively correlated with their SFL-SEQ scores. That is, when students rated themselves as learning and knowing more during the course, their self-efficacy scores proportionately increased as well. A detailed interpretation of these results, as well as implications for foreign language education, is provided.
Author: Javier Dejesus Coronado-Aliegro
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W122261445