SELF-EFFICACY OF ENGLISH LISTENING SKILLS IN JAPANESE COLLEGE EFL LEARNERS: QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSES

The present study employed both quantitative and qualitative analyses to better understand the causes of unmotivated and distracted behaviors among students. Furthermore, the essential development of a cycle of self-regulated learning (Ambrose et al., 2010) was focused upon to promote better learning strategies and to maintain motivation to study English. Our participants were 200 Miyazaki Municipal University freshmen in Japan. Based upon the quantitative and qualitative analyses, we found that (1) all the students except for advanced students made significant improvements on TOEIC during the first term.; (2) all the students except for intermediate II students made significant improvements on self-efficacy; (3) a positive correlation between English listening skills and self-efficacy was found; (4) the establishment of (new) concrete English study reasons have to be prioritized before English activities targeted to enhance self-efficacy can help Japanese college EFL freshmen sustain their motivation to study English; (5) much more consideration needs to be given to help Japanese college EFL learners understand the importance of study plans to carry out necessary tasks to improve their English listening skills; (6) time management skills to prioritize English study need to be taught to help distracted freshmen set a time to improve their English listening skills; and (7) individualized educational guidance sessions need to be re-implemented in our English curricular activities to help Japanese college EFL freshmen understand the significance of time management skills, and of self-regulated skills.