Hanxu Tu, Wan Zhou, Fangxin Lin

Wan Zhou

November 28, 2025

Self-efficacy, Learning engagement, Secondary vocational education, English classroom.

This study examines the relationship between English learning self-efficacy and learning engagement among Chinese secondary vocational students. Participants were 39 Grade-2 mechatronics students from a secondary vocational school in Wuhan, China. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey combined with statistics on homework completion rates, supplemented by classroom observations and interviews. The results showed that self-efficacy was significantly positively correlated with learning engagement (r = 0.45, p < .01). After controlling for prior test scores, self-efficacy still had an independent positive predictive effect on learning engagement (standardized β = 0.40, p < .01). Self-efficacy was positively correlated with the on-time completion rate of English homework, though the correlation did not reach significance, and self-rated engagement was only moderately correlated with homework completion rate. Based on these findings, low-cost instructional intervention ideas such as the “micro-task experience – positive feedback – formative assessment” cycle are proposed to improve students’ engagement.

© 2025, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license