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Speaking is not a compulsory language skill assessed in the English subject of the National College Entrance Examination in China. This explains why, in elementary and secondary schools, less focus has been placed on the development of English-speaking abilities among Chinese students, resulting in their unbalanced mastery of language skills. Although self-efficacy is a crucial factor influencing students’ language performance, our understanding of speaking self-efficacy is insufficient in terms of its construct, its sources, and the relationships between the two. We, therefore, constructed psychometrically sound instruments to measure speaking self-efficacy, including the EFL Speaking Self-Efficacy Scale (EFL-SSES) and the EFL Sources of Speaking Self-Efficacy Scale (EFL-SSSES), in accordance with Bandura’s 1986 self-efficacy theory. Additionally, we performed path analysis to figure out the relationship between the construct and the sources of speaking self-efficacy. The results revealed the key role of physiological and emotional states and marginal importance of vicarious experience for speaking self-efficacy, advancing our grasp of self-efficacy theory in the speaking domain. Our research sheds valuable light on how to assist researchers and educators in identifying and enhancing students’ speaking self-efficacy via a variety of sources.

Chinese character size is the number of characters that a person can recognize and has been well documented as a critical measure of Chinese literacy. A variety of Chinese character size tests have been developed since the 1930s. However, systematic reviews have not yet been conducted on Chinese character size tests. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of Chinese character size tests conducted between 1930 and 2021 among native Chinese-speaking children and Chinese language learners. There are three main findings. First, most character size tests were constructed using a frequency-based stratified-sampling method to select target characters, a mixed method focusing on both pronunciation and meaning to test target characters, and a holistic method to score the test-takers’ responses. Second, the majority of tests used Classical Testing Theory (CTT) for checking the item quality, reliability, and validity, and only two tests employed both CTT and Item Response Theory. Third, most tests estimated character sizes using CTT, while only three tests constructed character size norms. It is suggested that future studies address cross-group investigation, determine the most robust construction and estimation methods, develop computer-assisted tests, and apply character size tests to classroom settings.

Informed by Segalowitz’s (Cognitive bases of second language fluency, Routledge, 2010) L2 speech production model and MacIntyre et al.’s (Mod Lang J 82(4):545–562, 1998. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb05543.x) L2 willingness to communicate model, this study sought to understand the influence of cognitive, affective and sociocultural individual differences on advanced learners’ L2 Chinese speech performance. A total of 240 advanced L2 Chinese learners in China participated in the study. The participants’ perceptions of the impact of cognitive, affective, and sociocultural factors on their L2 Chinese speech performance were measured by an adapted questionnaire. A speaking test, following the Hanyu Shuiping Kouyu Kaoshi (HSKK, an international standardized L2 Chinese speaking proficiency test for non-native speakers), was employed to evaluate the participants’ L2 Chinese speech performance. The results of multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) analysis show that (1) cognitive factors such as cognitive fluency, expression practice strategy, and assistance strategy, (2) affective factors such as speaking self-efficacy, speaking anxiety, and speaking motivation, and (3) sociocultural factors such as attitudes toward target language class and attitudes toward target language culture jointly influence advanced L2 Chinese learners’ speech performance. Results and implications of the present study are discussed for enhancing learners’ L2 Chinese speech performance.

Engagement plays an important role in students’ success in learning. While learner engagement has been widely examined, the degree to which learners engage in online learning and the relationship between online engagement and learning outcomes, particularly in the domain of second/foreign (L2) language learning, still remain under-explored. To bridge the gap, this study examined college L2 English learners’ profiles of online engagement and their learning outcomes. A total of 85 first-year college students participated in this study. The results showed that college students’ online L2 English learning engagement is multidimensional, including behaviroral, cognitive, affective, and social facets. Additionally, students’ actual behavioral (e.g., task engagement time and task completion rate) and self-perceived online engagement (e.g., behavioral, cognitive, and affective online engagement) are significantly correlated. Nonetheless, among the two levels of online engagement measures, only task score in the actual behavioural engagement is a positive predictor of students’ learning outcomes. The study concludes with practical implications for online teaching.

This study developed the Speaking Strategies for Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire based on Oxford’s (2017) strategic self-regulation model of language learning to cross-validate the multifaceted structure of speaking strategies in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. 963 undergraduate students from a university in Southeast China voluntarily participated in the investigation. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to verify three hypothesized models. Through model comparisons, the results indicate that the 10-factor correlated multidimensional structure is the most informative and robust model. The model sheds light on the relationships between the cognitive, affective, sociocultural-interactive strategies, and metastrategies of the ten lower-order speaking strategies. Through multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that three of the ten SRL strategies were predictive of EFL learners’ speaking competence. The findings imply that Oxford’s (2017) theory can be extended to the field of EFL speaking. The study concludes with implications for fostering strategic awareness among EFL learners.

Informed by the expectancy–value theory and the motivational factors influencing teaching model choices, this case study explored three Chinese-as-a-foreign-language teaching assistants’ (L2 Chinese TAs’) motivational engagement in teaching L2 Chinese as a sustainable and lifelong career in New Zealand. Each TA participated in three rounds of semi-structured interviews in the process of data collection. The findings revealed that (1) the TAs’ expectancy was all student oriented, regardless of their different backgrounds; (2) the different values of L2 Chinese teaching contributed to the TAs’ teaching performance and career choices; and (3) the impact of teaching self-efficacy on the TAs’ profession retention was pivotal, but controversial, when taking their previous majors into account. Implications for the sustainable development of L2 Chinese teachers were discussed.

This study was designed to validate a multidimensional structure of writing self-efficacy in English as a foreign language contexts, conceptualized in self-regulated learning theory and social cognitive theory. The Second Language Writer Self-Efficacy Scale was developed and evaluated through a series of rigorous validation procedures. The researchers collected data from 609 university students in China. Confirmatory factory analyses through structural equation modeling validated the proposed three-dimensional structure of writing self-efficacy, including linguistic self-efficacy, self-regulatory efficacy, and performance self-efficacy. Model comparisons confirmed the hypothesis that writing self-efficacy is a multidimensional construct, in which the three factors are conceptually related. Internal and composite reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity were examined, suggesting satisfactory psychometric properties of the scale. The concurrent validity and predictive validity were checked by examining correlations of writing self-efficacy with motivational beliefs and writing performance. Findings revealed that the three dimensions of self-efficacy had small to moderate correlations with writing performance. Significant correlations were also found between writing self-efficacy and motivational beliefs (e.g., task value, intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation). The findings support a social cognitive view of self-efficacy that acknowledges the interplay of behaviors, personal factors, and environmental conditions. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.

This study revisited Reid’s ( 1987 ) perceptual learning style preference questionnaire (PLSPQ) in an attempt to answer whether the PLSPQ fits in the Chinese-as-a-second-language (CSL) context. If not, what are CSL learners’ learning styles drawing on the PLSPQ? The PLSPQ was first re-examined through reliability analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with 224 CSL learners. The results showed that Reid’s six-factor PLSPQ could not satisfactorily explain the CSL learners’ learning styles. Exploratory factor analyses were, therefore, performed to explore the dimensionality of the PLSPQ in the CSL context. A four-factor PLSPQ was successfully constructed including auditory/visual , kinaesthetic/tactile , group , and individual styles. Such a measurement model was cross-validated through CFAs with 118 CSL learners. The study not only lends evidence to the literature that Reid’s PLSPQ lacks construct validity, but also provides CSL teachers and learners with insightful and practical guidance concerning learning styles. Implications and limitations of the present study are discussed.

Language learning strategies have drawn researchers’ substantial attention since Rubin’s ( 1975 ) and Stern’s (1975) studies on “good language learners”. Nevertheless, research pertaining to speaking strategies is inadequate, especially in relation to learning Chinese as second/foreign language (CSL/CFL). This study, therefore, seeks to address this research gap with an initial attempt of developing an inventory for measuring CSL/CFL students’ strategies in learning how to speak in L2 Chinese: The Speaking Strategy Inventory for Learners of Chinese (SSILC) as a second/foreign language. Given that this is the very first inventory of its kind, the purpose of our study is to validate it so that more teachers of CSL/CFL could be provided with a tool for assessing their L2 Chinese learners’ use and development of speaking strategies. L2 Chinese learners will also be able to use it for monitoring their own progress. Two independent samples of 260 and 135 university L2 Chinese students responded to the SSILC. The data were then subjected to exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), respectively. Results from both EFAs and CFAs provided support for a three-factor speaking strategy inventory with good psychometric properties. The three clusters of speaking strategies are Expression Practice Strategies , Native - like and Involvement Strategies and Assistance Strategies . The correlations between the three clusters of speaking strategies and self-perceived speaking proficiency partially supported the predictive validity of the SSILC. Future research and pedagogical implications for classroom teachers are discussed.