Competitiveness in EFL: The Mediating Effect of Competition Self-Efficacy on the Relationship Between Engagement and Self-Determination
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Daniel Bailey; Rhea Metituk; Andrea Rakushin Lee; Frank Bennett
- Source
- 영어교육, 78(2), pp.3-28 Jun, 2023
- Subject
- 영어와문학
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2671-9312
1017-7108
This study investigated the role of competition in academic settings by conceptualizing competitive engagement and examining how competition self-efficacy defined as confidence in one’s ability to outperform others could mediate learner engagement and self-determination to learn English as a foreign language (EFL). Within the context of a videoconference EFL course, a cross-sectional research design was employed during the fourth semester of remote teaching in South Korea due to COVID-19. Statistically significant relationships existed among variables. Students reported high levels of cognitive and behavioral engagement but low levels of competitive engagement. Through structural modeling, competitive engagement emerged as a conceptually unique form of engagement. The relationship between competitive engagement and self-determination to learn English when attending an EFL videoconference course was fully mediated by competition self-efficacy. Partial mediation was observed in the relationship between cognitive engagement and self-determination. These findings suggest that both competitive and cognitive engagement are powerful indicators of learning outcomes, especially when learning EFL.