The Effects of Goal Participation on College Students & Self-Efficacy and Task Performance in an English Oral Training Class

The theory of self-regulated learning (SRL) has received increasing attention over the past 20 years. Previous researchers have suggested that self-regulated learning is closely related to success in school (Kauffman, 2004; Zimmerman, 1994; Zimmerman 2001). According to self-regulation theory (Zimmerman, 1989; Schunk, 1990), self-regulated learners are active participants in the learing process. They set personal learnig goals and apply a wide variety of self-regulatory strategies to reach them. Goal setting is an effective technique to motivate and increase in-dividual performance (Ames, 1992; Bandura, 1988; Locke & Latham, 1990; Schunk, 1989) and it can significantly enhance students’ self-regulated learning (Pintrich, 1995). Bandura (1993) identifies two main functions of goal setting: (a) to guide learner efforts to monitor and regulate one’s efforts in a particular direction, and (b) serve as the basis for evaluating one’s performance and intensifying effort or revis-ing the original goals. Achieving one’s goals can enhance an individu-al’s self-efficacy, i.e., the belief that an individual can master specific situations or tasks that consist of ambiguous or novel elements (Bandu-ra, 1995). A large body of research evidence shows the benefits of goal set-ting (Latham & Locke, 2001). Much of the previous research work in this field has involved with 1-12 graders rather than college students, especially the ones with English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It is log-ical to extend the study into col ege classrooms to explore how goal set-ting affects college students’ learning. The purpose of this current study was to examine the effects of goal participation on EFL college students’ self-efficacy and task performance in an English oral training class.