Impact of bilingual practice on EFL learners’ self-efficacy

Abstract

Acknowledging the increased appreciation of the learner’s L1 for L2 learning, this study reports on a criteria-based implementation of bilingual activities in a course of 26 young adult EFL learners at a Turkish university. To investigate potential effects of the bilingual practice on the learners’ self-efficacy, a self-efficacy scale of English was administered before and after the 14-week course. Interviews were conducted to triangulate the results of the comparative analysis of the self-efficacy scale. The analysis revealed that only five out of 25 students’ self-efficacy perceptions (related to speaking and writing) changed significantly with moderate effect size. The findings from the interviews suggest that changes in self-efficacy were only partly associated with the implementation of bilingual activities, and that unfavourable conditions of the course context overshadowed potential positive effects of the bilingual practice. However, the results also indicate that the bilingual practice was perceived conducive to L2 learning and that it may serve as a tool to addresses the specific needs of learners with diminished self-efficacy.

Keywords

• bilingual practice; self-efficacy; English as a foreign language; methodology; young adult learners

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