Academia Journal of Educational Research 5(2): 024-028, March 2017

DOI: 10.15413/ajer.2017.0302
ISSN 2315-7704
©2017 Academia Publishing

Research Paper

A quantitative study of self confidence in learning English as a foreign language

Accepted 11th March, 2016

ABSTRACT

Self-confidence is a specific area of psychology related to the language learning

Elizabeth Alvarado Martínez* and
Oscar Eduardo Sandoval Villa
Autonomous University of Nuevo
León, Mexico.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
elizalv@yahoo.com.mx.
process development. Learners are commonly exposed to situations that really
block their learning process in a class of English as a foreign language. The
purpose of this study is to describe the role that self-confidence factor plays when
beginner students learn at the language department of Philosophy and Arts School
from Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon. This quantitative study may provide
information about important issues related to the role of self-confidence in an EFL
course. It will offer helpful recommendations to teachers to get students involved
in class and improve their language learning attitudinal factors about deducing
what is necessary to be done in class.
Key words: Self-confidence, foreign language, affective factors, language learning.

INTRODUCTION

Affective factors have a great influence on students´
learning process, above all in the learning of a foreign
language. At the same time, the language learning process
can be influenced by different factors, such as educational
systems, teaching and learning approaches, classroom
conditions, educational technology, socio-cultural,
students’ backgrounds as well as, emotional conditions of
students and teachers (Eldred et al., 2004).
In order for students to communicate and interact in a
foreign or second language they need to experience some
aspects and play against fear of class exposure, delete
previous negative experiences with speaking in class,
experiment cultural beliefs and habits, take an active role
in the classroom and handle the lack of confidence, among
others. These factors are closely related, they affect each
other either positively or negatively; in other words, if one
of the factors increases or decreases, the others will follow
in a direct relationship.
LITERATURE REVIEW
There are several studies related to self-confidence around
the world. One of the most recent is that reported by
Iwamoto (2015) in Japan. This study named Effects of L2
(second language) affective factors on self-assessment of
speaking had the objectives of getting the validity of
students’ self-assessment of L2 oral performance, the
influences of L2 affective variables on their self-
assessment bias and the degree to which the influences of
L2 affective variables differ between high and low
proficiency learners. It followed a quantitative-qualitative
methodology with the application of a questionnaire and
students’ oral interviews using an oral assessment scale
and students self-rating. Among the results, it can be
observed that self-assessment of L2 speaking might not be
a sufficiently reliable or consistent assessment tool.
Therefore, if teachers are considering including self-
assessment in a speaking class, self-assessment training
should be conducted. Besides, after the L2 interview,
students with higher self-esteem who had a positive view
of themselves evaluated their grammar abilities higher,
while those with lower self-esteem who had a negative
view of themselves evaluated lower. Students who spoke
English relatively fluently tended to evaluate their own
fluency higher; then, foreign or second language self-
confidence factor is a predictor to evaluate students
performance.
 Academia Journal of Educational Research; Martínez and Villa.
EFL Instructors and students Writers’ Perceptions on
Academic Writing Reluctance is a research conducted by
Asadifard and Koosha (2013) in Iran. Its purpose was to
discover the causes of the voluntary disengagement from
students and instructors’ viewpoint. They applied a survey
of motivation to engage with writing and a questionnaire
of perception on writing reluctance. It was observed that
when students feel their work may not be thoroughly
checked, they gradually lose their interest in writing,
consequently, reluctance might be the outcome. It was
concluded that some of the possible causes of writing
reluctance according to students are: Linguistic factors,
psychological factors (low self-confidence, anxiety, fear of
writing and low motivation) and methodological factors.
Bippus and Eslami (2013) made a research in the USA
about Adult ESOL Students and Service Learning: voices,
experiences and perspectives. This study focused on
students' perspectives regarding their oral communication
skills. The instruments applied were student journals,
reflection papers, projects, semi-structured interviews,
and personal observations. The participants declared that
they had gained confidence speaking in English. In other
words, service learning brings authenticity to learning
situations and students develop their communication skills
through it since they become more active. It is important
to mention that all students did the activities together.
They were never alone and the teacher in charge of the
group of students was always patient and friendly,
available to help students and offer a measure of comfort.
One more interesting study was conducted by Chuan-Ta
Chao (2003). His research: Foreign language anxiety and
emotional intelligence: A study of EFL Students in Taiwan
had the intention of examining the association between
foreign language anxiety and emotional intelligence skills
among private college students who learn English as a
foreign language. The implemented instruments were two
questionnaires: 1) Foreign language classroom anxiety
scale and 2) Exploring and developing emotional
intelligence skills. The results revealed that students with
high foreign language anxiety have less control of their
emotional intelligence (EI) skills and encounter more El
problems. On the other hand, students with low foreign
language anxiety tend to employ their El skills better and
have a lesser degree of El problems. These findings
showed that enhancing one’s El skills will also enhance
one’s self-confidence and further decrease foreign language
anxiety and raise learning in the target language.
Hence, students who are motivated to learn a language have
a corresponding perception of self-confidence and it is
teachers’ responsibility to encourage learners to boost their
performance in a foreign or second language so they could
interact in any exposed situation without being blocked.
Theoretical background
Learners are commonly exposed to situations that really
025
block their learning process in a class of English as a
foreign or second language. MacIntyre (1999)
hypothesizes that in the context of second language
learning, students with low self-confidence might tend to
underestimate their ability to learn a second language and
have negative expectations about their performance, in
that way, feeling insecured or anxiety in the face of the
language learning tasks is common for beginner students.
Teachers, as facilitators need to be aware of their students'
problems so as to implement strategies in the classroom
which might help them perform in the target language.
Krashen (1985) claims that foreign language learning
process involves four different affective domains such as
motivation, anxiety, attitude and self-confidence; the latter
is the core concept in the development of this research.
Similarly, Clement and Kruidenier (1985) stated that
confidence, motivation and language ability are related
learning dimensions in the field of the second language.
Thus, analyzing these mentioned domains and factors
involved in the process of second or foreign language
learning, it can be observed that self-confidence plays a
central role and has a strong relationship with motivation
since students may sometimes feel anxious and experience
some problems when communicating with others.
Self-confidence is also related to self-esteem. This can be
observed through the definition provided by Branden
(1994). He describes self-esteem as confidence in our
ability to think and cope with the basic challenges of life.
Confidence in our right to be successful and happy, the
feeling of being worthy, deserving, entitled to assert our
needs and wants and achieve our values. As a result,
confidence is part of the connotation of self-esteem and at
the same time self-esteem is an important aspect in the
development of confidence towards foreign language
learning. In addition to this assumption, Dörnyei (2005)
expressed that the concept of self- confidence is closely
related to self-esteem and both share a common emphasis
on the individual's perception of his or her abilities as a
person.
Apart from the different definitions of self-confidence,
Glenda and Anstey (1990) explained that many terms such
as self-evaluation, self-satisfaction, self-appraisal, and self-
confidence can be interchangeable. John and Srivastava
(1999) highlighted self-confidence relating it to the Big
Five personality dimension of extraversion, which, among
other things, an energetic focus toward the social and
material world, sociability and positive emotionality can
be projected.
Glenda and Anstey (1990), Pierce et al. (1989), Brockner
(1988) and Bandura (1982) mentioned that some factors
to build general self-confidence points to self-confidence
being derived from several features. The most important
features are: 1) typical personal experiences; positive
experiences increase self-confidence, while the negative
experiences have the opposite effect and 2) social and
friendly messages received from others, such as school,
 Academia Journal of Educational Research; Martínez and Villa.
community, peers and home are important for self-
confidence improvement. Sending positive messages for
others is thought to be detrimental to the development of
high self confidence, whereas, exposure to negative
messages decreases the level of self confidence. For
sending messages, students need to interact with their
peers. Yashima et al. (2004) claimed that students’
willingness to be part of classroom activities can be
determined by self-confidence.
Krashen (1985) claimed that language acquisition can
take place in a nice atmosphere where self-confidence and
motivation are promoted. This acquisition is a matter of
attitude rather than aptitude, where students can get
involved in the meaningful classroom activities that they
might forget they are applying rules to communicate in a
second or foreign language. This could happen if students
are motivated to interact and have self-confidence. In
other words, the affective filter should be low and the
messages or input students receive should also be
meaningful and comprehensible. In that way, students
could acquire a foreign or second language because the
input may get in as Krashen (1988) exclaimed that
affective filters are a sort of psychological hurdles that
refrain language learners from grasping the available
comprehensible input accurately.
To highlight Krashen´s ideas, Du (2009) pointed out that
the affective filter works as a stop light in the process of
acquisition. When the student has no motivation, feels the
lack of confidence and is worried about his/her failure the
filter tends to be up. By the time the filter is completely
down the learner is relaxed and tries so hard to become an
active learner.
Lastly, Schutz (2007) stated that affective factors such as
self-confidence, motivation and anxiety are important in
the acquisition of a second language. Well-managed, all
these factors might result in the building of self-confidence
in the student as the main aspect in second language
learning. If a student feels good in a language class, he or
she might have more possibilities to reach a better level of
proficiency.
METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this study is to describe the role that self-
confidence factor plays when beginner students learn the
English language at the language department of
Philosophy and Arts School from U.A.N.L. In order to
achieve this, a confidence in speaking questionnaire was
applied. This questionnaire was designed for typical
university students by Griffee (1997: 187) and its
confidence construct is the product of his in-depth inquiry
into the self-confidence variables: ability, assurance and
willing engagement in speaking English as a second
language, where ability is defined “as a command of
grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation; assurance as a
026
feeling of security and comfort in speaking English and
willing engagement as one who is glad to speak English
with native speakers of English".
The anonymous questionnaire was administered the
week 3 of classes to a hundred and sixty-eight (168)
participants and re-administered to a hundred and
seventy-one (171) in the week 14 to see whether students'
sense of confidence in speaking English had changed. The
questionnaire consisted of 12 items with a 5-point Likert
scale to report degrees of agreement (5) or disagreement
(1) in a Spanish version because the young participants are
beginner students who are at their first level of an English
course.
The quantitative analysis shows that the Cronbach´s
alpha of the first application is 0.812 and 0.839 for the
second application. This demonstrates a good level of
reliability according to George and Mallery (2003). The
median in the first application is 32.58 while in the second
application it was 33.47. That is, students tend to agree
with most of the items provided in the instrument; they
show an increase in their self-confidence level.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The data collected from the questionnaires was examined
according to Griffee’s confidence construct where three
self-confidence variables: ability, assurance and willing
engagement compounded it. The three sets were looked
independently and the questionnaire results of the two
applications compared. Thereafter, the results of the three
sets were looked collectively to define which group of
specific aspects of confidence has been most strengthened
over the course.
Questions 1, 4, 7 and 9 are composed of the ability
variable (Appendix). The results of question 1: Can I be
interviewed in English indicated that 47% of students
questioned in the first application agreed they could be
interviewed in English. Hence, there was an increase in the
ability to speak English as a foreign language. In the second
application to the same students, the percentage was 60%,
which meant a difference of 13% in this acquired skill at
the end of the course and that they felt they could manage
the target language. The results of question 4: Can I speak
in English with foreign people measured students' ability
to speak English and showed an increase of 12% because
the results of the first application were 27 and 39% in the
second one, respectively.
In question 7: Can I show a visitor who speaks the
English language all over the University Campus and
answer questions about it? There was an increase of 11%
because in the first application students showed 17% of
agreement while at the end of the course their answer in
agreement was 28%, surpassing the percentage obtained
at the beginning of it. In response to questionnaire item 9,
Can I give opinions in English when speaking with English
 Academia Journal of Educational Research; Martínez and Villa. 027

Appendix: Research questionnaire

S/No. Research questionnaire

1 Can I be interviewed in English?
2 Would I like to study in a country with an English language?
3 Do I like to speak English?
4 Can I speak in English with foreign people?
5 When I speak English Do I feel cheerful and self-confident?
6 Do I speak English easily?
7 Can I show a visitor who speaks the English language throughout the University Campus and answer questions about it?
8 Do I practice English with friends and family every day?
9 Can I give feedback in English when speaking with English speaking people?
10 Do I look for opportunities to speak English?
11 Do I speak English with groups of people who are foreign to my friends and family?
12 Do I feel relaxed when I speak English?

speaking people?, there was a 9% increase due to the
difference between the first application which was 27% up
to 36% in the second application. It means students
increased their level of confidence.
For measuring assurance variable, questions 3, 6, 11 and
12 were designed. The first item: I like to talk in English
did not denote a change, neither in the first nor the second
application. The 65% of the students chosen totally agreed
on the Likert scale. Students’ responses to question 6: Do I
speak English easily demonstrated a 13% increase at the
end of the course, which is the difference between the 28%
in the first application while they showed a 41% of
increase in the second application. Students were in
agreement about speaking English easily as a foreign
language and undoubtedly a good increment of confidence
in language management.
There was a slight increment in item 11: Do I speak
English with groups of people outside my friends and
family? Since the results indicated that a 12% of the
students were in disagreement with speaking to unfamiliar
people at the beginning of the semester, meanwhile the
11% of the students were in disagreement at the end of the
course. Therefore, their level of fear decreased a 1% which
meant students gained some more confidence. Then,
measuring item 12: Do I feel relaxed when I speak English?
it can be said that students agreed to feel more relaxed
when they speak English as a foreign language. As it can be
seen, there was a 5% difference between both
applications, the first one showed a 47% while the second
application reflected 52%. It all means students felt more
comfortable and confident using the English language.
Willing engagement variable is integrated by questions
2, 5, 8 and 10. Based on the comparison of percentages
attained in item 2: I would like to study in a country with
English language, there was a 3% increase of confidence
on students who wanted to study abroad in an English-
speaking country, which reflects a positive change from
the 67% of students who selected total agreement as an
answer in the first application and during the second
application they chose the same answer which showed
70% of students with confidence to live in a country whose
native language is English. According to the results of item
5: When I speak English, do I feel happy and self-
confident? (a) There was a positive change since students
who selected total disagreement answer in the first
application changed their opinions in the second phase
and as such there was a reduction from 3 to 2% in the
applications of the instrument.
Question 8: Do I practice English with friends and family
every day also showed an increase of 7% of confidence
management in students. This percentage is due to the
difference between the first application which was 39%
and the second application that was 46% of agreement.
Lastly, an increase of 3% was shown in item 10 looking for
opportunities to speak English indicating that there was a
favorable increase in confidence management because
46% of the students selected the agreement choice in the
first application and throughout the second application of
the questionnaire there was an increment of 49% which
reflects more confidence of students along the semester.
Some of the perceived results indicated that students are
eager to use the language and they feel fairly confident;
however, most of them do realize that they do not have the
appropriate proficiency level to manage real situations in
English. Even though they try so hard, they are down the
road to progress in their learning. The study demonstrated
that first level students show the common behaviors of
beginner students when learning a second language, so
their level of confidence is quite low.
In general, students show they feel more ability to speak
English in week 14 rather than in week 3; this might be a
consequence of being exposed to more knowledge about
grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. Students also
reported feeling more comfortable when speaking English
during the second application of the instrument, perhaps
to the exposure to the target language and the practice in
 Academia Journal of Educational Research; Martínez and Villa.
the classroom. Results revealed a positive attitude toward
feeling cheerful when speaking in an English country.
Perhaps, this is due to the strategies teachers applied to
make students learn and acquire the foreign language
during the course. Students need to be motivated to gain
confidence. There is a low increase in confidence but not
enough to declare that participants are highly self-
confident.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Even though participants show an increase in the
management of emotional aspects in the second
administration of the questionnaire, they are still afraid of
speaking in the target language. Teachers play a very
important role in language learning. Thus, they have to
develop emotional factors in order to transmit them to
students and make a pleasant and learning atmosphere in
the classroom. This study strongly recommends teachers
to develop activities that can engage students in class
meaningfully.
Additionally, it is important that teachers create the
right conditions in class to make students lower their
anxiety level and encourage them to get involved through
their participation. Once students are involved in class,
their attitude towards language learning will increase and
their self-confidence attained. Teachers should also
provide students with appropriate feedback during and
after classes to encourage them to take risks while they are
in class; these motivational techniques could help go the
extra mile and develop their self-confidence towards
second language learning.
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Cite this article as:
Martínez EA, Villa OES (2017). A quantitative study of self
confidence in learning English as a foreign language. Acad. J. Educ.
Res. 5(2): 024-028.
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