The impact of academic self-efficacy and academic motivation on Chinese EFL students’ academic burnout

Abstract

With the increasing rate of academic burnout among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students, a plethora of research has been undertaken to determine the predictors of this phenomenon. Nonetheless, the predicting role of academic self-efficacy and academic motivation has been less attended to by researchers and practitioners. To address this gap, this research evaluated the determining functions of academic self-efficacy and academic motivation in Chinese EFL students’ academic burnout. To accomplish this, 580 Chinese EFL learners were recruited from different universities in Henan province. Then, to gather essential data, participants received three reliable scales designed to assess students’ academic self-efficacy, academic motivation, and academic burnout. Following that, in order to analyze participants’ answers, correlation tests, structural equation modeling, and regression analysis were implemented. The correlation tests revealed close connections among academic motivation, academic self-efficacy, and academic burnout. The outcomes of structural equation modeling and regression analysis also indicated that both learning motivation and academic self-efficacy were strong, negative predictors of Chinese EFL students’ academic burnout. The outcomes of the current research would contribute to the existing body of knowledge by offering new and profound insights into the interplay between English students’ academic resources and their academic burnout. The outcomes would also be of great help to English teachers in reducing the rate of academic burnout. In light of the limitations of the present research, some valuable suggestions are offered for future investigations.