earticle

영어

This study examines self-efficacy, defined as a person’s beliefs or personal judgments about his or her competencies, in relation to the English proficiency of university students in Korea. It also discusses the interaction of culture and self-efficacy in this context. Cross-cultural studies on the topic indicate that, in Asian countries with Confucian societal backgrounds, students’ high academic achievement is often accompanied by relatively high levels of anxiety and self-doubt, and relatively low levels of confidence and self-efficacy, in comparison to students in Western countries. This study’s data consist of the completed surveys of 29 students who had TOEFL scores of 110 or above (the highest possible TOEFL score is 120). Three types of data were considered in this study: the means of their TOEFL scores, the means of their self-efficacy ratings and the percentage of errors in their writing. The study finds that the participants’ ratings of their own English proficiency are, overall, lower than other indicators of their proficiency would suggest. It speculates about possible cultural reasons for this discrepancy between the participants’ self-efficacy and their actual proficiency, and discusses potential implications for educators.