Examining the relationship between university students' self-efficacy in English, anxiety and academic grit levels

The primary purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between university students' self-efficacy beliefs towards English, foreign language anxiety, and academic grit levels and their English learning process in terms of various demographic variables. Accordingly, a descriptive research design using a correlational survey model was employed. The sample of this study consists of 543 students who took a foreign language course at Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University during the 2022–2023 academic year. Within this group, 47.5% (n=258) were female and 52.5% (n=285) were male. The research instruments included the English Self-Efficacy Scale, the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, and the Academic Grit Scale. This study investigates the relationships among English self-efficacy and its sub-dimensions (reading, writing, listening, and speaking self-efficacy), English anxiety, and academic grit. Moreover, it explores whether these variables differ based on gender, academic department, grade level, type of high school diploma track, preparatory class attendance, perceived English proficiency level, weekly study hours for English, and parental education level. The analyses revealed a medium-level, negative, and significant relationship between students' English self-efficacy and their foreign language anxiety. A weak but positive relationship was found between self-efficacy and academic grit. Among the sub-dimensions of English self-efficacy, the strongest positive relationship was observed in the listening domain, followed by reading, speaking, and writing. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of factors such as self-efficacy, foreign language anxiety, and academic grit in contributing to university students' English learning processes. By elucidating the interrelationships among these variables, it aims to enrich the existing literature.